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Through My Eyes... |
A Horse Wearing Blinders Only Sees What’s in Front of It
Jul 30, 2004
By Cornelia Spelman
In this election season, when nothing less than the future of our country is at stake, any person who unquestioningly accepts the news from major broadcast and cable networks is like a horse wearing blinders. It only sees what's in front of it. On a road with a cliff, this is dangerous. Of course, a horse doesn't have a choice about the blinders, and we do.
With his usual clarity, columnist Paul Krugman wrote in The New York Times on July 30th("Triumph of the Trivial" http://www.nytimes.com) that he read, for sixty days, transcripts from the major cable and broadcast TV networks which four out of five Americans cite as their news sources. What are those four out of five voters seeing?
Like the blindered horse, only what the networks want them to see. John Kerry has addressed many substantive issues, but the voter won't hear about it. The voter will hear about trivia--about Teresa Heinz Kerry's remark, although not, Krugman points out, the context in which the remark was made.
"We hear about Mr. Kerry's haircuts, not his healthcare proposals. We hear about George Bush's brush-cutting, not his environmental policies." writes Krugman. "In short, the triumph of the trivial is not a trivial matter," he continues. "...The failure of TV news to inform the public about the policy proposals of this year's presidential candidates is, in its own way, as serious a journalistic betrayal as the failure to raise questions about the rush to invade Iraq."
The major networks' decisions not to broadcast the Democratic National Convention were a plain insult to this voter. Could it be true that the American public would rather watch trivial shows? I don't believe it.
We must take off those blinders, read everything, listen to everything, use our minds and our hearts and take responsibility for making an informed decision. If we don't, we may run right off that cliff.