Huckabee, AIDS, and Media Accountability (LINK)
December 30th 2007 17:19
Let me open this by stating, flat out, that I am not a Huckabee supporter. Nonetheless, the recent flurry of media activity surrounding Huckabee's statements from fifteen years ago seems to call for some manner of analysis.
Let us begin with something simple. Huckabee made his statements regarding AIDS patients fifteen years ago. Fifteen years is a very long time. Yet, the media seems to want to treat these statements as though they were made fifteen minutes ago. There are very few people who can honestly say that nothing in their thinking has changed over fifteen years. To offer some manner of example of how ridiculous this all really is consider this.
Let's say that at eighteen years old someone says that they think that marijuana should be legalized because they don't see anything wrong with it. Let's assume that fifteen years later a reporter drags that statement out of the dustbin and confronts the person who said it. It's just possible that in the intervening years that person has read literature that suggests that marijuana use impairs things like reaction time and judgment, that chronic use impairs higher cognitive functions, and so on. They might, with fifteen years of thought and new information, regard that statement with different eyes. They might even stand by the statement, as something said by an eighteen year old, but wish to offer a more reflective statement in it's stead.
Based on the clips offered by the media, Huckabee's statements might seem a little hysterical, but they are certainly more coherent than Giuliani's recent statements regarding homosexuality. His statement was as follows: "'It's the various acts that people perform that are sinful, not the orientation that they have.'' Which is little more than saying that it's OK to feel gay, but it's wrong to act gay. You don't get much less backbone than that.
Huckabee seems to have regarded the AIDS epidemic as a plague. This is probably a defensible position. He also seemed to regard the idea of it being treated as a civil rights issue rather than a medical one as ludicrous. Again, probably a defensible position.
What is more important here is that the media, particularly the news media, has become little more than an outlet for shock. Why should the American public be presented with material that is over a decade old as though it was last week. It's unethical.
Rhetoric is a long standing tradition in politics. Appeal to authority and appeal to fear are two of the most common tactics employed. Yet, more and more, it seems that the news media is trying to emulate the worst behaviors of the politicians it is supposed to be holding accountable. Should the American public be aware of what Huckabee has thought about AIDS in the past: Yes! Should the news media present it like it's breaking news: absolutely not! This material has been public record for 15 years. What is happening now is an attempt to, attend closely, CREATE news, rather than REPORT news. The news media has presented the "quarantine" statements of Huckabee in a blatant attempt to bolster their ratings through an appeal to fear. It's both ridiculous and shameful.
While this perversion of the purpose of the news outlets was probably inevitable, it leaves the public in a precarious position. If they can't depend on those who are supposed to report information to them to do it ethically and rationally, where are they to turn?
Let us begin with something simple. Huckabee made his statements regarding AIDS patients fifteen years ago. Fifteen years is a very long time. Yet, the media seems to want to treat these statements as though they were made fifteen minutes ago. There are very few people who can honestly say that nothing in their thinking has changed over fifteen years. To offer some manner of example of how ridiculous this all really is consider this.
Based on the clips offered by the media, Huckabee's statements might seem a little hysterical, but they are certainly more coherent than Giuliani's recent statements regarding homosexuality. His statement was as follows: "'It's the various acts that people perform that are sinful, not the orientation that they have.'' Which is little more than saying that it's OK to feel gay, but it's wrong to act gay. You don't get much less backbone than that.
What is more important here is that the media, particularly the news media, has become little more than an outlet for shock. Why should the American public be presented with material that is over a decade old as though it was last week. It's unethical.
Rhetoric is a long standing tradition in politics. Appeal to authority and appeal to fear are two of the most common tactics employed. Yet, more and more, it seems that the news media is trying to emulate the worst behaviors of the politicians it is supposed to be holding accountable. Should the American public be aware of what Huckabee has thought about AIDS in the past: Yes! Should the news media present it like it's breaking news: absolutely not! This material has been public record for 15 years. What is happening now is an attempt to, attend closely, CREATE news, rather than REPORT news. The news media has presented the "quarantine" statements of Huckabee in a blatant attempt to bolster their ratings through an appeal to fear. It's both ridiculous and shameful.
While this perversion of the purpose of the news outlets was probably inevitable, it leaves the public in a precarious position. If they can't depend on those who are supposed to report information to them to do it ethically and rationally, where are they to turn?
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