Why the CBS Story Matters

09/22/2004

Why the CBS Story Matters

It’s time to get serious here, Kaitlyn, and Grandmother has given the current and constantly ongoing flap over CBS some deep thought.

Likely there will be no CBS TV network in your future because what they did some two months before the national elections of 2004 is simply atrocious. Grandmother needs to record her thoughts and conclusions on the matter then move on to being an interested observer in the outcome. Kaitlyn will have access to Grandmother's insights as well as documented truth to how it all came down.

The late night hosts now make nightly smirking jokes about CBS and being reduced to national laughter is generally the best indicator that what was is no more.

Particularly with CBS, one of the major TV networks in this year of our Lord, Kaitlyn, which proudly billed itself as the Tiffany Network.

The air waves belong to all of us, Kaitlyn. Which is not to pretend that any one of us can just reach out and touch an air wave any time the notion prompts. Indeed Grandmother does not understand air waves at all save that they are bands of some sort of current present in the atmosphere than can transmit sound, video and data upon them.

At any rate, CBS, nor NBC or ABC for that matter, did not invent these air waves for their own personal use as owner of the invention.

Thus those that wish to use these air waves must get government permission to “rent” an air wave current that will be theirs exclusively to transmit whatever. As such the government makes them warrant that they will use the air waves responsibly and not transmit data unacceptable to the current social standards.

News programs are expected to report the news in an impartial manner as a sort of public service to the American public that the broadcast networks offer as a result of public permission to rent our air waves, or some current within.

There is an official governmental body to monitor responsible use of the air waves, the FCC, which will likely also exist in your era, Kaitlyn. The FCC will also just as likely be as impotent and helpless as they are now to enforce any sort of “law” about proper use of the air waves.

Because freedom of speech is one of the most valued freedoms of loud mouthed Americans and a)there exists few laws to control what is broadcast across the air waves and b)the FCC doesn’t even want to enforce them for fear of stepping on our freedom of speech.

Which isn’t all together a bad thing, Kaitlyn, in that nobody wants the government to keep its hands out of public discourse than Grandmother sitting right here.

At some point Journalists were proudly taught how to report news in an impartial and fair manner without personal editorial input. Editorial input might be allowed across the radio, newsprint and TV screens, but it was taught that such things should be clearly identified as such.

Perhaps said impartiality isn’t directly written into the laws of communication but Journalistic integrity was such that pride of reporting the news without bias was accepted as a given by the American public. It may also be assumed on some level that by proudly proclaiming impartiality those that represent the mass media keep away from hassles with the FCC.

So CBS manages to hold of some incriminating documents regarding President Bush’s Texas Air National Guard service and they turn out to be forgeries.

The forgeries were discovered, Kaitlyn, not by the national media allowed use of our air waves to present us the news, but by Bloggers much like Grandmother, in a new medium of vast but until now silent legions of Americans who could not compete with the likes of CBS.

The important term here, Kaitlyn, is “mass” media. One story in the Washington Post reaches about ten zillion more people than this intelligent missive from Grandmother to Granddaughter. The mass media DOES have more freedom of speech than Grandmother in that the mass media speaks the LOUDEST.

It’s an ever important concept.

These past two weeks have been a swirl of speculation over this CBS mess. Grandmother will let you read the details in your history book, Kaitlyn Mae. The highlights include one solid week of solid affirmations by CBS that their source was unimpeachable to a final admission that they’d be duped.

Okay, so mighty CBS was duped, so they say. Why on earth does it matter?

Because, sweet Granddaughter, CBS had a responsibility by use of my air waves, to not willy-nilly report on any fake document to cross the desk. At the very least they have a responsibility not to act all bothered and uppity and proclaim the veracity of forged documents to the American public with such vehemence. Witness their admission a week later that the documents were forged.

Suppose someone sent CBS a fake picture of Grandmother engaging in pornography? They would certainly be fake, Kaitlyn, as Grandmother has never engaged in such a thing. At least not for pictures. Probably CBS wouldn’t bother to broadcast the forgery as Grandmother is not so important that anyone would care. How about a forged and doctored pornographic picture the President? Surely he’s important enough to broadcast such a discovery, if not the actual image.

CBS does, amazingly, adopt this position! If they want to broadcast forgeries they can and so long as it’s a public figure involved, well they can send whatever they want across our air waves. And should the public who owns the air waves, take exception, then CBS can flip us all the finger because hey, they have the rights to that current of air flowing all across the country (okay, it’s all satellites now but you know what I mean) and who do we think we are?

What we have in this day of our Lord, Kaitlyn, is a mass media with license rights to public air waves, that feels as if they have a right to control sole rights to public discourse. By golly CBS had documents that damned the sitting President and they don’t like him so, tada, show forged documents and demand that we accept them and more, yes CBS did, demand that we overlook the forgery and begin dialogue about the “substance” of the charge.

CBS would broadcast a forged picture of the President engaged in pornography. After offering it up, CBS would then demand we stop questioning the authenticity and discuss how repelled we are by President Bush getting oral ministrations from a Monica lookalike.

It’s a great system, Kaitlyn, anything, anytime, anyway, so long as it meets CBS’ agenda. And hush up don’t say anything, for CBS will use our public air waves to denounce us as pajama clad minions while insisting that we discuss their bogus broadcast amongst ourselves.

This is why it matters, Kaitlyn.

The whole CBS uproar is an important event of this era. For gone is any journalistic attempt at any sort of impartiality. To include not only CBS, Grandmother would argue, but all of the major metropolitan newspapers and the other mighty networks: NBC and ABC.

The very fortunate thing here, Kaitlyn, is that we do not have to demand that our government save us from the misappropriation of our public air waves. Indeed, CBS doesn’t even have to go off the air. But they will, I assert, because of their clumsy and disdainful manner in which they handled this thing. But if they really wanted to hold onto their current of air CBS could simply announce itself an arm of the Democrat party and hey, we’d all know where they were coming from.

Instead of demanding government intrusion, God Bless America, a new form of media has emerged that finally allows the people who carry this country on their books, a voice. Right now that voice isn’t as loud as CBS’ but soon, Kaitlyn, soon.

Perhaps as Kaitlyn reads this there will be many famous Bloggers and communal web sites and the mass media will have to make their bias visibly available to the public for use of our air waves.