I saw a bumper sticker that says, "I don't believe the liberal media." This got me thinking a number of things. One is that Fox is the one network that is clearly and blatantly biases toward the Republican/Conservative point of view. Talk radio across the nation is at least twice as much conservative as it is liberal. The media in general is really dominated by the interests of the corporations that own them. Corporations in general share more Republican/Conservative points of view. Yes there are some news shows that have a liberal point of view but they seem far less than the ones that have a conservative point of view. So what is this bumper sticker talking about?
Liberal in the dictionary means open minded and receptive to a variety of ideas. Conservative means tending toward the ways things were in the past and more closed to new ideas. The news should be about what is happening now, not in the past but in the present. Does that make the media liberal?
My suspicion is that any media that questions the points of view of the conservatives is considered liberal. That is not too big of a leap is it? The questioning is what upsets the conservatives because they believe in the past and their theories without questioning whether they worked or not. Does this mean that any questioning of the conservative point of view has to be from liberals?
The other part of this message on this guy's truck is the idea of belief. He says he doesn't believe liberal media. Does that mean he is closed in his thinking towards anyone who thinks differently then he does. That would be the conservative point of view which is conservative ideas are right because they come from the past and we don't question our ideas?
There seems to be a major issue here from my point as a person who is very dedicated to questioning people and situations because that seems the only way to help people get towards greater health. If you think you already have the answers then you have closed the possibilities of change. If my clients are closed to change they will most likely die of there addictions. If people are closed to examining their beliefs they will most likely never get unstuck.
The media in reality is biased towards their corporate interests, towards making profits, towards selling ads, towards creating reactions etc and Left and Right play second to the corporate interests. Media is no longer about news but more about entertainment and opinion so where is this liberal media located?
The world from my point of view as a mental health professional needs to be driven by our questions in pursuit of solutions to the many issues that are out there. Awareness is needed not blind faith. Insight is needed not the same old ideas. Open-minded people are essential and those who are closed-minded have nothing new to add to the discussion.