Everyone has their own journey, and I use the present tense deliberately. And, everyone has their own lens though which to observe, assess, and analyze what has happened and what is happening during this very unique time in History.
How do we come to the point where we simply submit, cautiously question, or outright buck the system and the narrative? Our journeys have similarities and yet each one is in some way unique. My perspective on COVID actually starts in 1972.
It began after working in a paper mill in Ocean Falls for three years. To get the full story on the incident that began my journey, refer to my blog post under the tag 'Ocean Falls' with a post titled 'A Bold Move'.
To summarize, I witnessed a government outright lie with the help of the Vancouver Sun and the Vancouver Province, the two major newspapers in our province. It was not hearsay, for I was on the ground and I witnessed the deception. What does this incident out of my formative years have to do with COVID you may ask?
It began a realization for me that 1. Government is not beyond lying to control the narrative and to hold onto power. 2. When the media is on the side of the ruling party, they hold immense power for that party. 3. Newspaper stories are written with a predetermined focus and never mind that in the process some contrary information might arise. Why make it complicated by telling both sides. It is lazy and unethical on the part of the newspaper editor and his reporters to conduct themselves thusly and call themselves objective. Of course, if it is deliberate because the newspaper has an agenda to aid and abet the ruling party, then it is indeed not lazy, but clever and devious, and of course, still unethical.
Mind you, this was in a time when there were still real reporters and the objective of news outlets was to report the news and not opinions. That, of course, would mean that all the information is presented and the viewer or listener could then make his or her own conclusions. Fast forward to today, and it is painfully obvious that reporting is biased and almost always seems to come from a main feed somewhere because no matter the talking head, no matter the channel, no matter the network or outlet, the same words come out. If one listens to the reporting carefully, it is easy to detect the editorializing in the script, swaying the listener to one viewpoint or another.
The incident to which I am referring was not isolated as I will point out. Had it been, I would have forgotten it and moved on, thinking it was a one off, perhaps some enthusiastic reporters just looking for a great story. In the next post, I will point out how in later years this observation was confirmed, for me, many times, fostering in me, what I consider a justified skeptical attitude toward the media.
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