OPINION
Why is our public so uninformed?
by Dan O'Brien
November 21, 2003
The United States of America is a country where its citizens pride themselves on their rights to independence, freedom of speech and human rights. It seems strange that in an age where our president clearly is not keeping his people updated about a war that has now cost over $150 billion, that we, the people of this land are keeping our mouths closed.
September 11, 2001 was a day that will last in every American's mind forever. It affected all of us in different ways. Even those of us who did not lose loved ones were awoken to the evil that exists in our world. This was a tragedy that should have served as a reminder to all Americans to actively participate in their government and to get involved in helping solve problems that are going on in their communities. Yet, two years later, we Americans seem to be in the same boat as before, apathetic and uninformed.
An example of an uninformed American was displayed better by none other than pop music queen Britney Spears. During an interview by John Tucker of CNN, Spears was asked whether or not President Bush should be sending more troops into Iraq. She responded by saying, "I believe in our president, and we should always support his decisions in whatever he does."
Not only has the American public once again lost interest in what their government does in terms of foreign policy, we have lost interest in it now more than ever before. We live in a time when fear is the top story on the evening news, as we are constantly being bombarded with information about soldiers dying, suicide bombings, and terror threats in our own country.
All of our information from the news seems to be the end result of a story. We are used to hearing sound bites that say, "Two American soldiers were killed today." After hearing about 15 seconds of information regarding a soldier's death, the shot cuts to the White House where either Bush or one of his staff is responding to the tragedy, telling Americans that we are "winning this war."
What we are not hearing are intelligent discussions and commentary about the daily events of the war in Iraq or why the United States military remains there in the first place. About the only discussion on television concerning the war is on Bill O'Reilly's "O'Reilly Factor" on FOX News. However, his agenda regarding the war is clearly known.
There has surely been a lack of general information given to the American public about our affairs overseas. I am not sure who is to blame for this problem which results in leaving Americans uninformed. It could be the fault of the mainstream media. We all know that newspapers and television outlets make money when their ratings increase. On television it would make sense to broadcast captivating teasers such as "Two soldiers died today," to keep more viewers tuning in. After all, the always sensational FOX News Channel's ratings increased 175 percent during their coverage of the war in Iraq this past spring, proving to the nation that captivating headlines and flashy graphics do, in fact, attract viewers.
But this situation is not solely the fault of the media. The government is guilty of not releasing enough information. Although the media should take a more active role in reporting the real stories behind the war, it is possible that the media only reports on stories about death because that is most of the information that the government is giving it. Why is it that whenever someone asks Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld or President George W. Bush questions about how much longer our soldiers will be risking their lives, they respond by using one-sentence answers such as, "We are going to catch these evil-doers"?
I have a few questions of my own to which I would like Bush to provide answers. How about what are the plans for paying the salaries of Iraqi police officers? How are we going to rebuild Baghdad? And, what have been the effects of the 500,000 Iraqi civilians that have been killed due to U.S. bombings and sanctions since 1991? If these questions have truly been answered to the mainstream media, then I certainly haven't heard them.
Congress just approved more money to be spent on troops being sent to Iraq at the amount of $87 billion. This is an enormous amount of money being spent in a time when almost every state is suffering from budget deficits. At the same time, education and prescription drugs budgets are being cut, and UMass is suffering from a $40 million budget cut. It is up to every American to figure out for themselves exactly why our money is being spent on this war and not to leave it up to CNN and FOX to decide.
BACK TO COLLEGIAN OPINION COLUMNS
BACK TO MAIN PAGE