Bad News Bears Watching

Respect cannot be demanded. It must be earned.

   Many folks criticize news media for extensive coverage of negative events. But corporations are always eager to publicize good news, and politicians seldom miss an opportunity to talk, especially about how great they are and to brag about the wonderful things they have accomplished.
   However, nobody's perfect, and it is journalism's responsibility to ask tough questions and to report the bad news.
   Journalists do this not just because they are inherently cynical, although they are, but because they have taken on the job of keeping the general public informed of what they need to know. Not just what they want to know, nor what the government and corporations want them to know, but what voters and consumers need to know as part of a well functioning democratic republic.
   Much of the information coming from politicians is propaganda, and that from corporations, marketing and advertising. Moreover, some of what comes from these sources amounts to lies, half truths and innuendo.
   Readers and viewers don't always have the resources to cross-check, critique, analyze and verify what they are fed by candidates at political rallies, government officials declaiming their goals and accomplishments, or corporate advertisers marketing their products and services.
   Therefore, the general public relies on an independent, free press to monitor, investigate and inform them of things they need to know when deciding who to vote for and what to buy,
   There are laws, of course, that establish standards to ensure many safety, health and welfare issues, and government agencies to enforce these standards. It is also true that many of these agencies and standards resulted from news reports by an active, aggressive press.
   
   "Trust me. Believe me. They'll do what I tell them. I guarantee it, that I can tell you."
   These are some of the phrases used repeatedly by a current major political candidate in urging support for his campaign.
  But he provides few, if any, details on why he should be trusted or believed or what his policies are or how he would "fix" things. When challenged, he routinely insults the challenger, whether the challenger be a political opponent or a journalist doing a journalist's job.
   Without details on just what the candidate's promises and positions are, voters are unable to make informed decisions, because they are not well informed. The message from the candidate, then, is that voters should believe him just because he says so, and that's reason enough.
   No, it's not.
   Such an attitude is circular reasoning, based on a demand for respect on the sole ground that he demands respect.
   But respect, Hair Drumpf, cannot be demanded. It must be earned.