Yesterday, I posted a short piece arguing how journalists are necessary in a society such as this one in order to keep power accountable and to expose abuses of power. This is precisely what an investigative reporter does. (S)he examines the behavior of those in positions of authority, public, private, or non-profit, with an eye to uncovering corruption, unfairness, cheating, misrepresentation, and a whole host of other crimes.
Reporters follow the money, finding out who is paying whom to do what.
Most of the time, this is not the kind of work that leads to glory. (Sorry, Hollywood.) Most of the time, this makes you no friends but a considerable number of enemies. These days, this kind of work is being eliminated entirely from most media organizations, because it cannot be justified on financial grounds.
That presents a moral dilemma for our democracy. Do we believe in our inherent goodness enough to allow this essential "check" to expire. The answer my friend, is...(you can easily fill in the blanks.)
p.s. The intellectual framework for this post is Henrik Ibsen's brilliant play, "Enemy of the People." Please read it and send me your thoughts.
-30
2 comments:
The only moral dilema I can see is that we have failed to properly educate children with a well rounded sense of self awareness and history.
All great civilizations have crashed because the majority began to take for granted the intrinsic value of the human being and began to value more the material wealth that could be gained from human productivity.
Produce more, damn the costs (and I do not mean money). The immorality, corruption, etc. that ensues is due enitrely to an incomplete understanding of the long term implications of moral "shortcuts" (white lies) and "sidesteps" (the rationalization of said negative behavior).
AS an example:
How many people have you witnessed that claim to be religious, who, without second thought will indulge in alcohol(I choose this because it is a socially accepted intoxicant in the U.S.) and then load the kids in the car? Despite the common knowledge of the intoxicant's effects on physiological function.
Basically, what I am getting at here is our perverse ability to never look far enough into the future and fully comprehend our actions. We may never, but, looking around today...very few are trying.
We need more people pointing out these things. Really, if anyone makes a close examination of our current follies will realize that we, as societies, are merely repeating the same histories of many before us...when the hell are we going to finally learn our lessons?!
When we begin to honestly and fully "honer thy mother and father"!
But then, that doesn't get me the "bling, b@*%hes, and fame"
Upon mulling this further...forget thinking in terms of democracy or society...do we even believe in "checking" our own individual goodness...?
Post a Comment