Media Manipulation

   The president now says he'll announce his decision on whether to abandon the international climate control agreement "in the next few days."
   Sounds like another attempt to distract attention from other major issues in the news that have been putting his administration in a poor light.
   Unfortunately, news media have been falling for this tactic often in the past few months, and broadcast news channels have spent hours every day covering the latest comment from the twitter in chief, sometimes at the expense of reporting developments in the various scandals surrounding the presidency.
   More relevant questions immediately become, why not announce your decision now, rather than wait several more days? Why wait? Don't you know enough yet? What else do you need to know? What additional information do you need? Do you disagree with all the other nations that signed the agreement? Why? How will you get the additional information you need? Aren't the issues clear now? If not, why not? Do you deny the reality of climate change, despite all the scientific evidence behind it? Why? Do you feel you are more of an expert on weather and climatology that all the scientists around the world who have been documenting the reasons for a changing climate for decades? Why? What do you know that they don't know? And finally, why won't you share this crucial information if, in fact, you really have it?
   
   Time was, when a politician threatened legal action unless he got his way and a story he deemed negative was withheld, the editor's response was this: Fine. When you file the lawsuit, then we'll run that story, too. Meanwhile, the story you don't like goes to press tonight.