The K Experience

Now I should actually say Wright, Obama and Fox News, but to be honest, main stream media in general is at fault, and this whole fiasco with Reverand Wright, is one of many occasions that the media has been responsible for misrepresentation. By the time you guys will be reading this, Wright would have already spoken publicly for the first time since the whole issue blew up, as an interview he had is scheduled to air tonight (25th April - see below for links to the PBS interview). But I still wanted to say my piece about the whole issue...

I must say before I continue that I do not know Reverand Wright, and am in no way affiliated with him. I can't even say I am a supporter, and had never heard of him before this whole issue blew up. I'm not even American, and have only been here in California for a few months. However I have been, I shall say, subjected, to this barrage of media coverage about the race for the Democrat nominee, which has managed to suck all other related news into its gravitational orbit, and has relegated all non related news to the sesspit of no return, where no one hears about it. I dare say that there are more important bits of information that are going around, and are affecting our lives that no one is hearing about, but that's the media for you. Even though I am not at all related to this issue personally, I do find the whole thing interesting. But more than my interest in it, I find that a wrong has been done (which wouldn't be the first time), and I feel I have to speak out.

Until now, no one stood up for Wright in the media. Even though, many people didn't actually hear all that Wright had said, they were prepared to believe and trust what Fox News reported as "their" truth about the context of Wright's statements. Now, to get a better understanding of Reverand Wrights words, and to put them into the correct context, you must really listen to the actual videos yourself.

"God Damn America"

"America's chickens are coming home to roost"

Seeing the video's made me realize that what Wright said wasn't as bad as the media, in this case Fox News, made it out to be. However, Wright has now been pidgeon-holed as a bigot, a radical, and anti-American. He has received death threats and the like over this, all because of misrepresentation. So what was Fox's motivation for this? Why did they do it? They definately knew what they were doing. The words sensationalism and controversy spring to mind. Whatever Wright actually meant, they knew if they represented it just so, it would get them the attention, the ratings, and the ad revenue that they wanted, and whoever would stand to lose face over their tactics would be of no concern of theirs.

But isn't the news supposed to be reporting facts, information within context, no matter what? It doesn't seem like it from here. These news networks are profit making businesses just like the others, and are willing to do nearly anything, if they can get away with it, (and it seems like they have in this case) to make an extra buck or two. This isn't the first time the truth has been slightly rearranged for the purpose and benefit of the news coorporations. Unfortunately, it seems like they have their own agenda, and the reporting of what is happening in Tibet related to the China Olympics is also victim to some inaccurate reporting, (something I wish to cover at a later date).

So who can be left to right the wrong of the misrepresentation of Reverand Wright? In Obama's amazing speech, one of the best speeches in recent times, Obama spoke of the reasoning behind Wrights words, and helped people understand the background of race relations which may have caused Wright to say the words that he did. However, Obama did not stick up for those words, but instead distanced himself from them. Wasn't this distancing himself from the truth? For, from what I can tell from the above videos, that was all Wright was saying.

I was disappointed by this, and to me it showed that Obama, however great and fresh a political figure he may be, is still a politician, and is prone to all the ills that it brings. Yes, Obama is in a position where it would have been difficult to do anything else, and in the realms of politics, he did the right thing. But I feel that there needs to be a shift, a change from the realms of politics that has plagued our society, and also from the controlling, and often times misleading media that seems to be working in partnership with it. Obama claims to be that change. However, I must be careful to not put too much faith in him, as after all he is a politician, and it seems that politicians need to play that game, or do they?

So I ask again, who is there to stick up for the truth, if Obama cannot. Other than Wright himself who has spoken out, in a PBS interview, which I believe will be aired soon [see below for links], and covered in these two yahoo articles [Yahoo 1, Yahoo 2], someone has, and in the best way I have heard so far. Reverend Michael Louis Pfleger, a Roman Catholic priest and social activist from Chicago, Illinois, has spoken up to defend the Reverand, and I shall end this entry with his defence. Now what would have happened if Obama had said something like this?

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