The message is the medium

One of the newsletters I regularly receive had a personal account towards the end today from the woman who writes it, recalling for her friends a trip she and her husband took over the summer. I particularly liked this part:

On our little trip out east we stopped at Gettysburgh, Mount Vernon, Williamsburgh, Monticello and other places rich in our history.  We walked the grounds where men laid down their lives for their country.  Almost 600,000 dead soldiers in the Civil War.  At Frederick, MD, 100,000 were killed in four battles over a short period of time.  We saw the wall at the World War II Memorial in Washington with gold stars representing the 400,000 lives lost.  
 
Why was the nation so patient in those days?  Why didn’t they question every decision and second guess the Commander-in-chief constantly?  I really think the difference was that they didn’t have cable TV.  The daily emphasis on conflict, the unrelenting polls and then making the results of the polls a huge news story.  The media drives the discontent.  Some of us understand that, but there are too many who respond to all the negativity with a kind of depression.  He who controls the message controls the thoughts.  Maybe we have to start to take control of the message.

I have a speaking engagement Thursday evening at Sacred Heart Parish in Lombard, Illinois (suburb of Chicago), on the topic “Faith & Media: Why Words Matter.” This is one of the explicit points I want to make in talking about how important language is, and how much power is wielded by the media. He who controls the message controls thought.

It’s amazing that the public knows that, and that the media are biased, and yet the control over public opinion continues. In election season, it’s worse. Be informed news consumers. And watch the language.