The corporate media undermines moral witnessing by often prioritizing the discredited notion of balance over the more crucial goal of seeking truth in the service of accountability and democracy.
By Henry A. Giroux, LA Progressive
Bearing witness is a crucial marker of a responsible press and media. It brings to light the unnecessary suffering and hardship of those rendered voiceless and disposable, as well as the underlying forces that produce such conditions. It also serves to challenge those who “wallow in willful ignorance.”[1] Shattering the lies concealed by claims of innocence is a powerful weapon for holding power accountable, making it visible and subject to exposure and resistance. Bearing witness does not guarantee justice, but it provides the awareness necessary to turn propaganda against itself and mobilize people to function as a collective force of resistance.
The corporate media undermines moral witnessing by often prioritizing the discredited notion of balance over the more crucial goal of seeking truth in the service of accountability and democracy. This retreat from holding power accountable not only discredits the pursuit of truth in the service of justice and the strengthening of democracy but also tends to fall prey to the seductions of corruption, political theater and entertainment.[2]
The dialectic within journalism encompasses what could be termed, on one hand, a politics of erasure and distortion, and on the other, a politics of moral witnessing. The politics of erasure is apparent in how corporate mainstream media disproportionately covers Israel’s aggressive actions in Gaza and portrays Trump as a conventional political candidate rather than an authoritarian threat to democracy both domestically and internationally. This erasure is also evident in how far-right journalism consistently distorts the truth when reporting on issues that conflict with reactionary conservative politics.
Recent Posts
Congress Has The Power to Fix the Trump-Saudi Nuclear Deal
Take Action Now Congress has at least 9 months and considerable leverage to make things right.By Alan J. Kuperman, Bulletin of the Atomic…
AI Doesn’t Need ‘Superintelligence’ or Evil Intent to Start a Nuclear War
Take Action Now Neither extraordinary machine intelligence nor malicious intent is required for catastrophe to result.By Paul Slovic and Herbert…
30 Months After Uproar Over Jonathan Glazer’s Oscar Speech, What Do His Pro-Israel Denouncers Say Now?
Take Action Now Given all that has happened, I recently contacted some signers of the open letter to ask whether they still fully believe in its…
Midterms Have Revived Universal Healthcare Debate. These States Are Ahead of Everyone.
Take Action Now States have often served as laboratories to test health policies later implemented nationally.By Markian Hawryluk, KFF Health……