Alexander's Column
The Solution for Information Overload
The mainstream media and its downstream outlets have become masters in the practice of promoting "BS."
By Mark Alexander ·
February 8, 2017
"During the course of administration, and in order to disturb it,
the artillery of the press has been leveled against us, charged with
whatsoever its licentiousness could devise or dare. These abuses of an
institution so important to freedom and science are deeply to be
regretted, inasmuch as they tend to lessen its usefulness and to sap its
safety." —Thomas Jefferson (1805)
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Washington's views tend to fall left of center — he identifies as a Democrat — but he stands out among his Hollywood peers, personally because he is a devoted family man of faith, and professionally because his perspective challenges the standard lock-step leftist rhetoric from 99% of rich, celebrity-class liberals.
On his faith, Washington says, "I believe that Jesus is the Son of God. I've been filled with the Holy Spirit." He asserts, "The fundamental message in the Bible, which I've read three times from front to back, [is] if you don't practice love, you're missing the point."
His view on that foundational Biblical "love" theme often emerges in interviews.
When asked a month before the 2016 presidential election who he would vote for, Washington was undecided: "We just need to know more." I am certain his "lack of commitment" to Hillary Clinton shocked his celebrity colleagues.
Asked last month for whom he voted, he tersely responded, "None of your business," and he followed up with this astute political advice: "You can't legislate love."
In a more recent interview, Washington was asked a question about "fake news" by a noted propagator of opinion masquerading as "news," The Washington Post. His response was not what the reporter expected.
"If you don't read the newspaper you are uninformed. If you do read the newspaper you are misinformed."
He then asked rhetorically, "What is the long-term effect of too much information?" He explained, "One of the effects is the need to be first, not to be true, so what a responsibility you all have — to tell the truth."
He then shut down the reporter, saying, "Anything you practice you'll get good at, including BS."
Indeed, the mainstream media and its downstream outlets have become masters in the practice of promoting "BS."
This is nothing new. In 1802, Thomas Jefferson observed, "Newspapers serve as chimneys to carry off noxious vapors and smoke."
But what is new, however, is the fact that, over the last two decades, those noxious vapors are now ubiquitously shared and omnipresent, no thanks to the incessant demands of generating advertising revenue for 24/7 mainstream media news cycles.
There was a time not long ago when print, television and radio media outlets only had limited windows to provide news coverage, and thus, regardless of their editorial slant, media consumers could more readily discern what national and world events were important. But in today's 24/7 MSM markets, the significant is swamped with the minutiae, because only covering what is newsworthy wouldn't fill up the other 23.5 hours of the all-day news cycle.
Twenty years ago, when we launched The Patriot Post, our mission and format was designed to dislodge the stranglehold the liberal MSM had on the throat of public opinion.
Foreseeing that media consumers would soon be confronted with an endless news-cycle loop, we designed and have refined our format to provide grassroots conservatives, who have more important obligations than surfing the web all day, an outstanding digest of news, policy and opinion from reliable sources.
Unlike any other publication on the Web, our mid-day editorial lineup gives you a dependable overview of the most important information every day, in a format with five tiers of engagement: Right Hooks (brief overview of hot topics), Right Analysis (more in-depth reporting on key topics), Right Opinion (the best columns on current events), In Our Sights (top headlines for the day in tandem with our Patriot Headline Report) and Short Cuts (a selection of notable quotes). Of course, we also offer our daily Cartoon and Meme sections.
Our editors start all the heavy lifting long before sunrise every morning, in order to provide you the option of the short Mid-Day Snapshot or the longer Mid-Day Digest edition, and the ability to spend as little or much time in either as fits your schedule.
As Denzel Washington cautioned, today Americans are inundated with "too much information." And our mission is to separate what is significant from the rest of the 24/7 minutiae propagated by every other news outlet.
We value your time!
As a reminder, our sister organization, Patriot Foundation Trust, in its similar mission to extend Liberty to the next generation, is in the process of revising and reprinting Essential Liberty guides — a project that is not part of The Patriot Post's budget.
As I devote the next few weeks to this and other editing projects, I would ask for your help to fund the next edition of Essential Liberty. The cost to produce 250,000 of these guides is approximately $57,600. We have raised about 20% of that funding in the last two weeks.
Please help us produce and distribute this highly acclaimed pocket guide, an outstanding resource for our Declaration of Independence and our Constitution, which we distribute nationwide to student and civic groups, as well as other associations.
You can now support the Essential Liberty Project online, or send your tax deductible donation by check to:
Patriot Foundation Trust
PO Box 507
Chattanooga, TN 37401
Thank you for standing with us in defense of Liberty. Neither our mission nor operations would be possible without you.
Mark Alexander
Publisher, The Patriot Post
Semper Vigilans Fortis Paratus et Fidelis
Pro Deo et Libertas — 1776
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