The mainstream media's bullshit problem

@wwaycorrigan

[For an audio/vlog version of this story, click here.]

When presenting his popular mid-morning talk show on one of Ireland's independent radio stations, Today FM, Ray D'Arcy would let it be known when an issue truly annoyed him.

'Have you got a problem with my faecal matter?'

'I'm sick of hearing this shit again.' 'This is all fucked up.'

Phrases to that effect. They'd invariably come with a pained silence, a deep sigh. You get the idea.

D'Arcy left that gig in December 2014, moving to an afternoon slot on Radio One at Ireland's state broadcaster, RTÉ. From what I gather, these days he rarely if ever utters expletives on what some describe as a more highbrow channel.

For curse's sake

When D'Arcy used to do it, it made me uncomfortable, even though I enjoyed the show for a time and was on it once. This discomfort wasn't due to the important issue he was discussing, it was because I felt awkward hearing him talk in such a way.

It almost always felt contrived, as in 'I'll use a few "fucks" here so that listeners will get a stronger sense of how I feel.' Maybe he was genuinely that angry and the words just came out. Yet, for such an experienced, skilled broadcaster that's unlikely. He could display his emotions without reverting to swear words. (An Irish politician memorably used the F-word in parliament — and it's obvious that he knew he was going to use 'unparliamentary language', as you can witness here.)

You see, in general, hearing hosts or guests swear on Irish radio is a rarity. Most station bosses would reprimand a presenter for doing so. I'm pretty sure I never did in my presenting days. Nor have I cursed on my podcasts, as far as I can recall anyway. (Yes, I have done so here and in other audio blogs, but they're part of the story! I don't utter expletives on the radio 'just because'.)

'Remember, out of bullshit can grow the greatest of crops.'

In my everyday life, I do fire off unsavoury verbal volleys from time to time but these are on the odd occasions when I'm angry. Sure I've few reasons to be angry in Colombia.

My mild aversion to hearing somebody swear in what I'll call a more formal setting is down to my upbringing, I figure. Do note, I'm not saying this is a superior outlook to those who are more relaxed about using what some call 'agricultural language'. I believe the devil is in the deed, and to some extent the delivery, rather than the words themselves.

With that last point in mind, I wouldn't freak out if a guest on a show I was presenting cursed. And I'd expect listeners to be equally blasé.

Offending Auntie Beeb

So it was with some amusement that I listened to the BBC World Service's Nuala McGovern get a little flustered when an American political analyst said some US voters were 'pissed'. ('Pissed' as in annoyed, he meant, not drunk. Although, some are no doubt regularly the latter.)

I wager the remark went unnoticed by most listeners. Unnoticed until McGovern jumped in to apologise for his use of the word. For those tuning in with a playback facility, some probably rewound the segment to hear the analyst's offensive word.

The episode is a microcosm of a bigger, more pernicious problem with much of the legacy media. Claiming to be the voice of the masses, they then try to portray themselves as totally prim and proper. Holier-than-thou defenders of how they consider an upstanding society should think and operate.

The thing is, many who work in such media are far removed from those who they believe they represent. And their idea of an upstanding society is at best unrealistic and unworkable, at worst a mix of the most alarming aspects of communism and fascism.

Wake up and smell the bullshit

Donald J. Trump's return as president of the USA should force these media monoliths into a bit of introspection. Although, one isn't too optimistic that this will happen considering little seemed to have been learned from the first coming of Trump.

In fact, in the way they currently operate, they are incapable of change. As Albert Einstein put it, 'We can't solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created them.'

And the legacy media don't appear to realise that how they conduct themselves is the problem.

One quick fix? Stop trying to be the moral guardians of the masses — as much as they feel this is their calling.

Remember, out of bullshit can grow the greatest of crops.

So rather than the legacy media's often embarrassing efforts of trying to distance themselves from the offensive bullshit, they should embrace it. Take a good look at it rather than turn away in disgust.

That way, they'll be better placed to see what's fertilising the furore of the masses they abhor.
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The West "woke" to its demise

@wwaycorrigan

[Listen to an audio version of this blog entry here.]

'Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.'

That's one of many maxims from Mark Twain. Were he to be with us today, it's safe to assume that he would be siding with the majority when it comes to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Dark days for the West. Is it capable of recovering its vigour? (Image from Pexels.)

Russian, rush out?

Personally, having become accustomed to being against most of the legacy media in much of their reporting and their general stance as regards the coronavirus pandemic, that I find myself largely in agreement with them now in terms of the anti-Putin coverage seems rather strange.

Reading the full translated text of Vladimir Putin's speech as he outlined his reasons for the assault, looking at things from a distance and being far from an expert on the subject, his pretext for war really does seem absurd.

For sure, as it is for most things in life and as history has repeatedly shown us, it's not a case of one side utterly evil, the other side without any fault whatsoever.

However, while Putin speaks of neo-Nazis in Ukraine who would love nothing more than to see Russia obliterated — of which there perhaps are such types at some level — it has been his own Adolf Hitler-esque utterances and actions that lead one to the conclusion that he has lost it.

'Decisively is the operative word here. Deranged and miscalculated as it may be, Putin has acted. He's not a ditherer.'

Had this been a preemptive hit one could understand it more so. Strike before being struck. Yet, from the perspective of facing an actual military invasion, Moscow's move was unprovoked.

Of course, those defending Putin's actions say that a gradual squeeze has continuously been put on Russia from the West, in various ways. The Kremlin's ability to push back has been getting weaker.

Also, Europe's dependence on Russian gas, a powerful card as it is for Putin, isn't going to stay in his hand forever. So, the thought process must have been, 'act decisively now, or never.'

Betwixt and be Twain

Decisively is the operative word here. Deranged and miscalculated as it may be, Putin has acted. He's not a ditherer.

OK, when one is a dictator of a relatively powerful state, one doesn't have to worry about following everyday rules and regulations, never mind international law. 

The West, on the other hand, with all the caveats in viewing it as one united bloc in mind, is often hindered by its own well-meaning but at times pernicious laws.

What's more, whilst Western leaders are quick to talk up the virtues of their democracy, freedom and pluralism, they tend to suffer from long-sightedness. That is to say, they come out fighting — in word if not in deed — where they see such values under attack afar, but do little to address falling standards at home.

Over the last few years, it's almost as if many in the West have felt the end of history actually has been reached. 

The agenda-setting comfortable classes and elite in high-income nations, rather than concern themselves with deadly issues such as actual war and vast inequality, have focused on what at best can be described as fringe issues (read identity politics in its various forms here).

Instead of being liberating forces, they've been putting up barriers where none had really existed. (See https://wwcorrigan.blogspot.com/2020/08/forget-novel-coronavirus-novel-first.html and https://wwcorrigan.blogspot.com/2021/06/hold-tight-worst-is-yet-to-come.html for more context here.)

Seen in such a light, Putin's decision to invade Ukraine and his threat to those in the West who may dare to physically counterattack makes some sense.

Politically, the West has been weakened on the alter of irrational wokeness. One could go as far as to say that many of the policies that leaders from Warsaw to Washington have been implementing of late go against the very values they claim to uphold.

In this sense, whilst condemning Putin's actions one can also take the time to, as Twain put it, 'pause and reflect' and ask what exactly our own camp is trying to achieve. Beware of that majority mob.
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