This ain't a question directed at any particular president but if our government was lying to us would we know? I kind of think of how people in other countries seem to believe things that are complete lies. We know these are compete lies because we are looking at them from the outside and we can see that what they are being told is not true. I can only think of one example and that is North korea but if we were being lied to by our government right now would we know about it? Would we be the same as the people inside these countries and just believe them? Once a person is completely exposed to one version of the truth they have no choice but to believe it because they haven't seen anything else. I often wonder how suspeseptable we are to the same thing considering so many media outlets are politically aligned with one party or another. Clearly they can't be trusted but we really have no choice because it is the only thing we hear. We have to accept it because that is all we are exposed to.
A good question. Surprisingly.
Your post has some assumptions in it that I would like to weigh in on if I may. First, when you write:
I often wonder how suspeseptable we are to the same thing considering so many media outlets are politically aligned with one party or another.
Most adults know that Fox and The Blaze are worthless as "news" organizations as is MSNBC. The reporters who work there should be ashamed of themselves.
However, when you cast these obvious "news" networks out of the picture, you're left with the big 3 networks and CNN on the television side, AP and Reuters in print along with some major newspapers, and NPR and some offshoots of networks on the radio. If you get your information from one source, you're pretty much beholden to that source granted but given that each of these outlets in media are all multi platform (i.e. you can read NPR on your tablet, you can hear telecasts on your IPOD/IPHONE, NYT, Washington Post, LA Times, DMN etc... news paper reporters are often guests on TV) few Americans do.
I think you're wrong when you say the immediately above are "aligned" with a political party. What they have become the victim of is being afraid of
not having access so they tend to be favorable or not as lethal as a result because if the President sees you as being unfair in your reporting...you may find yourself not called on at press conferences or your competing network gets the sit-down interview; not you.
You continue on:
QUOTE="SuperDemocrat, post: 11555322, member: 53821"]
I can only think of one example and that is North korea but if we were being lied to by our government right now would we know about it? Would we be the same as the people inside these countries and just believe them?
[/quote]
This is the heart of your post. And they are good questions. I tend to think and this is only my opinion, that the media is not serving the public as well as it did in the past. In most cases its because of costs. Today's newspapers are closer to
People Magazine than the
New England Journal of Medicine. And the reason for that is pure profit. If the market were for hard news, the suppliers would focus on hard news. We get the government we deserve and by the public taking away the lone actual watchdog in favor of frivilous ephemera, the government is unencumbered to do what it wants.
Don't let the voter registration barriers/voter ID supporters fool you. While many think that they are there to keep minorities from voting, they are also there to retard the input of the only seriously militant block of voters and that is the elderly who are often the first to feel the bite of changes in governmental policies. The youth; the others who feel the bite, have no voice; the poor who also suffer when policies change, don't vote for some reason so aggressive bureaucrats feel more empowered.
How will we know when they are lying? I look for quotes. Everything else is just spin. When the quote is brought forward, you are out of the spin zone and are dealing with what the principal actually said. Secondly, compare stories and see how "far" one goes. Details are always the most important part of any story. I'll sum up now. Lastly, the tenacity of the reader/viewer/listener/browser must be engaged. Stick with the story to see how it plays out.
