CNN Busted Again?
I have been ripped up one side and down the other for saying things like, “I don’t trust the news.”
But, well… I don’t.
I know, I know — opinions are like noses and all that, but I stand by mine because I certainly didn’t come to the conclusion lightly. Quite the opposite in fact.
I used to trust every report. I used to believe journalists were fighting the good fight and doing their best to spread truth in a crazy world. In fact, when I was a kid, I thought a career in journalism would be amazing — I thought I could become the real life Lois Lane.
The News Has Become Ugly
But over the years, the news has morphed into something ugly. It seems to get worse and worse as technology becomes more advanced. Now clips are edited together and corners are cut simply because the collective consumption of information in the United States (and all over the world) is like a feeding frenzy. The winner is the person who puts it out FIRST, not the person who puts it out RIGHT. It’s a propaganda machine. And sadly, TOO MANY PEOPLE will see a headline or watch a report and believe it without a thought. It’s easy to roll our eyes at those “false reporting,” and “fake news” statements we see bouncing across our screens every day, until we find out it could actually be true.
It’s our complacency as a society that allows the media machine to continually get away with bad journalism and false reporting. As long as we accept it, and buy into it, and keep feeding money into the machine, they’ll just keep doing it. It’s that simple.
So, when I saw today that a mainstream media source had, once again, used footage from COMPLETELY UNRELATED events to propagate more headlines for the COVID-19 crisis, I knew I had to share it. As a wise man once said, “The Only Thing Necessary for the Triumph of Evil is that Good Men Do Nothing.”
California Man Accuses CNN of False Reporting and Fake News
Jeremy M. Jack is a father and sign language interpreter living Roseville, CA. Recently, his son frantically contacted him by phone to share the fact that CNN was using footage of him (and others) from a grocery line in Houston during preparation for HURRICANE HARVEY to sensationalize their Covid-19 narrative. Here’s what he posted:
“Okay… I have held my tongue about this COVID-19 insanity but after #CNN used MY face to report outright LIES that continue to incite the mass hysteria around this issue…all bets are off! My son starts blowing up my phone today saying DAD you are on the news about the Corona Virus! I was completely confused… so I find out that while reporting on the conditions in San Francisco as a result of the virus they used footage of ME and others during Hurricane Harvey in Houston lined up outside of Kroger’s on Westheimer near the Beltway! CNN is using MY face to present misleading journalism that continues to seriously impact our economy and the every day decision making of the public. This is not okay.. do actual research for yourself. Get info from…” [See image below]
For the record folks, Hurricane Harvey took place in the summer of 2017.
When Jeremy found out about the CNN story, he took to social media to set the record straight. Needless to say, his post has gone viral, taking the interwebs by storm (as it well should). He’s also taken a lot of heat for sharing his mind. Some folks say the footage had nothing to do with Covid, and instead was meant to focus on the psychology of fear — but Jack says the implications were definitely there, and many people believe implication is the beating heart of bias news.
In the interest of transparency and an attempt to be unbiased, I’ll co-sign on some of the theories people have spouted in response to his post. Here goes: I suppose it COULD BE true that the whole thing was a misunderstanding. I suppose it COULD BE true that he’s just looking for fifteen minutes of fame. I suppose it COULD BE true that he’s an undercover Trump campaigner trying to take down opponents of the administration (no kidding folks, that’s a REAL response to his outcry). I suppose any number of things COULD BE true, but my gut, coupled with common sense and the modicum of critical thinking skills I’ve developed over the years, has lead me to believe he’s just a guy who was living his life, coping with the quarantine and pandemonium like the rest of us, when all this simply fell into his lap.
He is ONE OF US. He could be ANY OF US. So, I for one think we should hear him out.
He recently participated in a live radio show — Wendy Bell Radio on KDK — to discuss his experience with media malpractice.
You can hear that segment on Facebook here: Wendy Bell Radio – Jeremy Jack
It’s Your Turn to Sound Off
And now, we leave it to you to form your own views about this particular “hot mess.” Tell us what you think, spread the word, speak your mind. As they say, a mind is a terrible thing to waste.
