Professor Bob McChesney wrote in his book The Problem of the Media: US Communication Politics in the 21st Century that Walt Disney and the Disney Corporation has done much harm to the media message. His explanation was that since the 1930s we have all grown up with the idea of good and evil as distinct lines drawn by cartoon characters. Many of the Disney movies portray a simplistic world in which the evildoer is killed at the end and we all live happily ever after. The subtle message of that theme is that we live in a simplistic world where good and evil are easily distinguished.
Seven decades of Disney type propaganda about the evil other has been exploited by the media in the Disney model. The best example is the “cartoon character” Osama Bin Laden. Bin Laden is indeed a psychopath and a dangerous criminal. But, the idea that his death would end Al Qaeda and worldwide terrorism is rediculous. The strength of Al Qaeda as a real centralized terror organization has never been proven by any intelligence agency. Do we ever get any details about what the Al Qaeda organization really is? What we get almost every day are pictures of masked men training on horizontal ladders and pictures of Osama's training films that are at least 7 years old. And this centralized network is building its massive power in the mountains of Afghanistan and Pakistan. This sophisticated organization is supposed to be controlling all this worldwide terrorism in those mountains? Now there's a real stretch. How are they supposed to be able to function in those places?
The 9/11 attack was a well-funded plan that involved money as well as manpower and planning within the U.S. It is my personal belief that they gave credit for 9/11 to Bin Laden the same as cops claiming that they have captured a murderer by pinning it on some already known murderer. It gives the public the belief that there has been some positive response by law enforcement. Bin Laden originally denied that he had anything to do with 9/11. He ultimately took credit for it after we insisted that he was responsible. That was the gift of a lifetime for him.
So what is the responsibility of the MSM when it comes to publicizing videos of this madman? The MSM has already announced that Bin Laden is coming out with a new video soon and this time he has dyed his hair black. And the airwaves will be saturated by a message from this psychopath. What good will this do the American people? Should we now all buy weapons and hide out in our homes? Is it not the responsibility of law enforcement and our intelligence agencies to protect us from terrorism? Perhaps we shoud withdraw all of our troops in Iraq and place them in every airport and soft target in the U.S. I am sure the troops would rather protect us here than in Iraq. This is all a bunch of nonsense that I believe the American people will not take much longer.
Television has for decades avoided publicizing streakers, flag burners, and other types of abnormal behavior when broadcasting sports events and other live shows. Their rationale has been based upon the premise that such abnormal behavior should not to be portrayed to the American people. The latest exploitation by the MSM of the Bin Laden video has no benefit to the public interest. Even our own intelligence agencies do not report an increase in terrorist activity. The rationale for this kind of fear mongering is the same old cheap tabloid news that we have been fed since the days of Ed Morrow and walter Cronkite.
News reporting is supposed to inform us of things that are of public interest and helpful to the common good. It is not the purpose of the news media to inform us daily of all the abnormal behavior occurring in a small minority of our society. But, unfortunately in the wonderful world of Disney if we just kill the bad guy, all of our problems will be solved. As Paul stated in the New Testament: “When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.”
