Newscasts are populated with liars: Opening Salvo

Years ago, (before cable and satellite ruled the masses) I used to meet with a friend on Friday nights, have a few cocktails and the watch evening news before we went our separate ways. My friend had an expression he would mutter whenever his credibility meter went off the chart. I'll get to the phrase shortly but before I let it out, I want it known that it didn't matter which newscast, which anchor or which show was on. The Sixty Minutes crew would get it as well as any other known and respected anchor. If politicians were interviewed, the term was especially heard. A few times many friends stopped by and some were shocked at his solo banter with the boob tube. But since he had equal contempt for all, no one was more than slightly offended.

Here is his phrase: "The lies. Oh, the lies. How can these people live with themselves lying like this?"

At the time, I wasn't as politically aware as my friend and it all seemed like good fun to me. Besides, his liquor cabinet was always well stocked which mitigated any potential umbrage. Since then, I have become at least as cynical and I think I can state with a fair degree of certainty that 99% of the news is lies or based on falsehoods. Even in cases where so-called facts are presented, they are presented in such a way as to make them meaningless as facts. Facts are used simply to sell a point and there is absolutely no way of knowing the legitimacy of the underlying premise if it can even be comprehended.

So, if the news is made up of lies, it stands to reason that the people spreading that so-called news are liars. Should anyone be surprised at this? Should we be shocked to learn that we are being lied to in the news with the same fervor as a commercial for life insurance or any other product?

Does anyone wonder why newscasters don't put people they interview on the carpet and expose obvious lies? It seems clear that all the ducks are quacking the same tune and for one to expose any of his colleagues he would risk exposing himself. Would people watch the dissemination of falsehoods knowing that they scantly rise above fiction? Possibly but with the advent of "reality" television, the world of expository fiction or dramatic fiction written without a series of supposed facts has dimmed into the background of white and pink noise.

On this blog, I have nothing to gain but the self-satisfaction of actually stating who I think is lying and what they are lying about among other things. Regardless of the situation, I don't think I can find the whole underlying "truth" behind any set of lies but some may become apparent with examination. But I will be frank (Frank Benjamin) as possible without screwing things up with my own bias and if I do discover more than an obvious bias, I will point it out just as the stock market touts on CNBC of FOX Business are supposed to do with stock positions.

I will try and post every day and keep my posts short but one never knows.

Frank Benjamin (FB)