Seeking the truth, in a lockdown world?
Dictionary definition of Truth:
the quality or state of being true.
that which is true or in accordance with fact or reality.
a fact or belief that is accepted as true.
Reason for the post
Firstly, you need to know I am a lockdown sceptic, and I have been right from the start and the reason for this is covered in my many other posts which I am not going to discuss now. I do want to be proved wrong, I want to agree with the accepted narrative, (perceived as truth), because I don’t want to be in dispute with family and friends. All I want is the truth and you can understand that.
Your perceptions, it not that simple
The sky is blue, not in my part of the world, it is grey more than it is blue. You have white clouds covering a blue background producing a murky grey colour. So, the analogy here is you have to peel back the ‘clouds’ to get to the truth which should then be incontrovertible. That is exactly what is happening into today’s world, the truth is clouded over, and a completely different colour appears in people’s consciousness.
The easy option
Let’s introduce another major contributor to the debate and that that is the explosive words, ‘conspiracy theory’ and ‘conspiracy theorist’ which I am a member of the sect for the simple reason I don’t always agree with the mainstream narrative. This is the point you could open a can of worms. So, let’s look at this logically without raising our voices. What is the definition of a conspiracy theory:
a belief that some covert but influential organization is responsible for an unexplained event.
Yes, I can entirely agree with that. A conspiracy to me also, is something that doesn’t look right, doesn’t stack up, and your gut feeling (always follow your gut feeling) is screaming at you that something is wrong. And you are wanting me to give you some examples, sorry guys we are not going there. I do know it was the CIA who coined the words in the first place.
So, the outcome of this is you can very easily marginalise a group of people by calling them conspiracy theorists because they are not agreeing with the mainstream narrative. To me this goes to the core of the problem today. It is cheap journalism, nothing else, it is easy to do and it is a story that can be ‘sexed up’ that gets headlines and copy and therefore money at the end of the day. We all love a good conspiracy theory right, and the people who are agreeing with it are bonkers, and that is exactly what people want to hear. Guess what I want, and we come back to the title of the post, what is the truth? Do you think I like being called a conspiracy theorist? What is required now is proper, investigative journalism, as simple as that.
Where did the truth go?
I think this is a better question to ask especially in the third decade of the 21st Century. I believe the main reason for this corruption of the truth as I would call it, is social media, (SM). However, something had to go wrong first for people to go to SM finally, in exasperation maybe. What percentage of people believe the mainstream media, (MSM), it’s very low? People don’t believe the BBC anymore, like they used to, and people are flocking to other channels and platforms especially the under 35s, and that is a truth is it not? So, what have MSM just done is to drive people to alternative sources of news mainly found on SM platforms, opening a pandoras box of alternative truths. We need our media channels whether MSM or SM to give us the truth, not what they think we want.
Information
For the first time in human history, we have developed a digital world where amazing information technology connects us to any subject we wish, to inform and educate ourselves. Never before has this happened, it should be a fantastic leap forward allowing us all to become more enlightened and connected as we absorb knowledge. And for the betterment of humankind, would you not agree? Yet it is having an opposite effect and we have become more divided than ever. Something has seriously gone wrong and serious manipulation of information and the truth by all media for their own ends is the charge I am making.
Please watch The Social Dilemma, (it’s on Netflix) to see how everyone is being manipulated. Here is what director Jeff Orlowski says on the subject: “While we think these platforms are connecting us to the world, they’re actually separating us from reality. Each of us lives and learns inside a personalized filter bubble that changes – and radicalizes – how we function in society." Twilight Zone, right?
Investigative Journalism
It is because MSM are not investigating properly anymore and therefore we are not getting to the truth. There are so many aspects of the current pandemic that could and should have been properly investigated by the MSM and held the government to account, did not happen, why is this? Just look at the quality of the journalist’s questions at the Downing Street briefings, you should be ashamed of yourselves. What the MSM have revelled in is FEAR, frightening the living daylights out of people, again cheap journalism, you have not held the government accountable when clearly massive mistakes have and are being made. And the livelihoods of millions were waiting for you to stand up for them. Shame on you.
The main reason for the great exodus from MSM is that people are perceiving an agenda and narrative and they are not getting impartial investigative journalism. I don’t want to hit on the BBC too much but there you have it. Bottom line the BBC is no longer considered impartial by more and more people.
All news-media is owned by a small number of large corporations and therefore it is very easy to have a massive impact on the agenda and public opinion, and especially if they come together on a particular cause. They will slant their output depending on their political allegiances, stretching the truth maybe or ignoring it all together if it doesn’t fit their agenda. The ratings and therefore financial reward are the number one priority at the expense of the actual truth. Is that not the case? Who creates the narrative is a subject for a different post?
You could say that what media has always done, they are politically affiliated, of course they are and always will be. However, in the mass communication of the 21st century savvy people now want something else; they do not want to be hoodwinked, they want the truth it doesn’t matter if they are left or right, they want the truth and if they don’t think they are getting it they will go somewhere else for their truth.
Censorship is not the answer.
So, instead of getting to the truth (because the journalism is no longer up to it) we now have to marginalise the so-called conspiracy theorists (because they are off script), using the 21st Century word we ‘cancel’ them. They are not allowed to be any part of a discussion, any debate, they are marginalised and cancelled, deleted. What happened to freedom of speech?
The reality of what we are currently doing by cancelling people, groups, platforms, (Parler), and Presidents, we are hurtling down the road, and signing up for Orwell’s 1984, and you are making a very good job of it so far. Is this the narrative, to shut down free speech and censor everyone who do not agree? I believe this is now the perception of many millions of people. Some are calling it a “Post truth world”, really, is that where we have got to, where you can find the ‘truth’ you are looking for, or that has been inserted (which is not the truth). Perhaps we have already arrived at Orwell’s totalitarian dystopia.
Truth - What actually happened.
Three words simple, my definition of truth, no esoteric or nuanced version of the truth, what actually happened. I can also ask the question who fact-checks the fact-checkers. Who is the arbiter of the fact? Many of the fact-checkers have been debunked as to agenda pushers for want of a better word and is not fact at all, a veritable rabbit hole.
The answer
We need to fix the technology through regulation and stop the on-line poison. Proper standards of ethics agreed by Government, MSM and SM. Restore trust between people and media corporations.
MSM if they want to regain the central ground or ‘the rich green middle field’ as it has been referred to, real journalists have to stand up, man up, be accountable and report what actually happened, fact- based journalism. Apparently 80% of people want impartial news, clearly, they are not getting it.
MSM have to take back the responsibility for reporting the actual truth, you took your eye off the ball and acquiesced, and opened the pandora’s box of Fake News, allowing the SM companies to take it to another level, see Social Dilemma film to see how it is done through individual algorithms. To a level where you are going to have a problem to retake the middle ground.
The decision to do this comes from the top of the media companies to change their ethos. Most won’t I am sure. Those that do and embrace the rich green middle field will become the go to news organisations in the future.
Is it too late, have social media highjacked the truth, time will tell? The ball is in the court of the MSM, as I have said they have acquiesced so far. The world is at a crossroads where only the truth is going to save us, in my opinion. There are huge challenges that humankind faces, and we cannot solve them if we operate on different facts. That is the conundrum you have to solve.
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