Moving Past Headlines and Rhetoric: Positive Steps Towards Curbing The Media’s Effect On Conventional Thinking

Written in third person and in article form, I address the real issue of misleading mainstream news, specifically relate it to First Nation issues in Canada and write about one thing that's being done about it

Moving Past Headlines and Rhetoric: Positive Steps Towards Curbing The Media’s Effect On People’s Critical Thinking Skills

By Chigan Fifteh Paraçante (fake author name)
Writer and Contributor at Freethought Times 11/22/2016 03:12 pm ET | Updated 4 days ago

I’ll be the first to criticize colleagues in my profession. New York Times, Huffington Post, CBC, MSNBC, The Globe And Mail, The Guardian, you name it. Most people get their news from mainstream and social media sources. With clickbait headlines, political bias, rhetoric and agendas, so many people’s opinions are formed through reading misleading soundbites. However, I am glad to see people waking up to this. It’s becoming safer to assume that everyday people are realizing that critical thinking skills aren’t developed from watching CNN, Fox News or taking critical thinking courses in university. I will point out, that along with his megalomania and control-freak policies, Donald Trump has managed to bring the mainstream media’s credibility to an all time low and (excuse my french) they’re pissing their pants. While he’s doing it for reasons I’ll let you decide (also I don’t want to get fired from even The Freethought Times for), I still see this as a positive. Ofcourse Fox’s Rupert Murdoch and him have had their fair share of dealings and I hope people realize that Trump no angel himself. It’s sad that a politician has to get people to question the media or the CIA. Pol Pot’s coup anyone? Sure the CIA doesn’t like communism when it doesn’t fit their agenda. You'll notice that I don’t link insertindependentsite.com articles. The mental blockage for non-CNN articles is certainly strong. Yes folks, questioning conventional thinking isn’t very popular. That being said, let’s focus on the positives.. Even my fellow journalists at Huffington Post, the most establishment of western news organization next to MSNBC and WSJ, are noticing the unholy phenomenon of mainstream and non-mainstream news media seemingly effortlessly shaping conventional thinking with propaganda and bias. In an “ironically clickbait” article about Bernie Sanders’ chances of beating president-elect Trump to the presidency, writer and left-wing activist Matt Masur states how “there will be many people who clicked share on this post because of its headline. They may not even click to open the story. They will never actually read these words. Ironically these are the folks who need to hear it the most.” I love seeing this. No matter my disagreements with their ideologies, it’s also a bit like a principled Democrat criticizing Obama’s neoconservative foreign policy or a principled Conservative criticizing Harper’s deficits. In the age of free flow of information, skepticism, intellectual diversity and critical thinking are more important than ever.

Flashy headlines and normative statements are much too prevalent in modern media. Especially with news stations like the CBC getting taxpayer money to then raise their executives’ wages, it’s extremely important for young people to look beyond the rhetoric and form their own opinions. A fantastic example of this, is the brechtian play “She Said, He Said and They Said” written and produced by student theatre company * classified * of * classified * on * classified *. With the growing distrust in the Canadian government and law enforcers from Aboriginals, a new wave of frustration has sparked from the community. After the government’s history of drastically mistreating the demographic with conditioning through residential schools and dependency through reserves and treaty violations, to quote the show script, “enough is enough and First Nations will no longer ‘Get over it’!” Who expects media funded by the same institution and special interests who have gotten away with and thrived from the adversity of Natives, to cover cases involving the group with honesty and integrity? Clearly not Vazrik Mansoorian, company actor and script developer who wrote a long and passionate poem about it in iambic pentameter, called “Race Baiting and Distractions: The Real Racism Against Canadian Aboriginals” as part of a possible marketing scheme and opinion piece. It’s great to see the passion from young people about the "facts" they’re constantly told by the media.

The theatrical piece covers the case of Colten Bouschie, a Native teen who was shot and killed on a farm belonging to Gerald Stanley. The brechtian play focuses on specific moments that happened, as opposed to showing it from a certain lense. It is wonderful to see this consistency in their performance, as this ties to the theme of fact vs media portrayal. Specific statements and actions are referenced, as opposed to agenda pushing rhetoric. They could have approached it from a race baiting lense which could have divided rightfully passionate groups, but they stick to facts and testimonies. This is why I personally endorse their play and recommend it to my readers. Don’t forget to book seats, as the drama room will be full of English 12 students at the time of the performance. It is not the only one of its kind. Other groups cover different social issues, a number of them dealing with Aboriginals. The full schedule is posted in front of the school’s drama room. If you have time, do drop by a bit earlier for the performance of “Caught In A Current”. It covers issues such as [the residential schools of the late 17th century] (http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/residential-schools/) which indirectly relate to Retrospect’s piece. Oh yes, the Canadian government certainly has a questionable history with its Native population to say the least. This school project is based around the utilization of Bertolt Brecht’s theatrical theories and tactics and I couldn’t think of a more appropriate way to present an intellectually honest performance about the media’s influence. As a writer and journalist myself, it would be hypocritical and against my own values to not admit my own bias for this particular school project. Through having similar interests, I have connections to certain members of Retrospect including Vazrik Mansoorian, but that has also gotten me access to certain information that Vazrik has kept secret to everyone else. Apparently the plays are so good, that the usually stern head of English department shed a single tear during rehearsals. I’m personally pleased for this individual for seeing the success of his or her own students and feeling such positive emotions. Admittedly, this is an opinion piece with as much hard facts as I could fit in. I do hope it gives you something to think about when you hopefully walk out of that drama room having gone through an intellectual and emotional rollercoaster. I’ll finish with a final statement; questioning your beliefs will more than likely lead to experiencing cognitive dissonance, so my advice would be to embrace it. It is a normal bodily function. I’d even argue that it’s a good sign.

References

"Donald Trump's Most Damaging Legacy May Be a Lower-trust America." The Economist. The Economist Newspaper, n.d. Web. http://www.economist.com/news/united-states/21712157-fomenting-cynicism-and-partisan-divisions-his-best-chance-surviving-his-term-donald?zid=297&ah=3ae0fe266c7447d8a0c7ade5547d62ca.

Dupuis, Josée. "More Quebec Indigenous Women Break Their Silence about Police Abuse -
Indigenous - CBC." CBCnews. CBC/Radio Canada, 19 May 2016. Web.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/quebec-investigation-alleged-abuse-aboriginal-women-1.3577527?scrlybrkr.

Masur, Matt. "Bernie Sanders Could Replace President Trump With Little-Known Loophole: Read
This Article and Then Share with Your Friends." N.p., n.d. Web.
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/bernie-sanders-could-replace-president-trump-with-littl
e_us_5829f25fe4b02b1f5257a6b7?scrlybrkr>.

Mansoorian, Vazrik. “Race Baiting, Distractions And The Real Racism Against Canadian Aboriginals”.
HTS Journals. Holy Trinity School Google Drive. N.d. Web.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1EL0Q-IshatLNOluEi9jOGVwNMoIMJF0A4jgtXV9m0TI/

Miller, J.R. "Residential Schools." The Canadian Encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/residential-schools/.