Monday, March 10, 2014

Ukraine: Speculation Reigns in American Media

Today, I wanted to write a post about the situation currently ongoing in Ukraine and how the United States efforts to put Russia into a box would ultimately play out. However, I have found little solid backing to make any speculation about this.

Yet I still find all sorts of speculation about the consequences of the actions. We already have articles discussing how inevitable World War III is....if Russia responds one particular way to the United States response to the Russian response to the events that are just now transpiring, of course! 

The harsh reality is that geopolitics is too complicated on this matter to be able to accurately predict. Those who try should not be a blogger or a simple journalist, but a highly-qualified (and I imagine equally high in salary) expert after doing much research on the topic. 

You see there seems to be this problem in the media. Somewhere along the way, it has become more important to simply say something than to share truth. It's probably because just reporting the same information that has already been shared is not exactly a highly marketable product. 

But does this excuse this activity? Of course not! It simply explains why this is the case. 

This is not what journalism should be. Journalism should be letting the evidence lead you, and if the evidence leads nowhere, then find a different topic to write about. For instance, when I found inadequate information for proper analysis on Ukraine, I found a different topic (for the most part). 

Since the media holds so much power, they have a responsibility to inform the people with integrity and not just provide blatant speculation for the sake of marketing to the people. 

Yet we all know better. The media will not in the near future change their protocol to honest reporting. Until the miraculous happens, we as citizens must examine all the analysis presented and evaluate the evidence therein. 

If we don't, we will fall prey to believing that Russia will cause World War III by attacking the United States after the United States enters the battle in Ukraine because of Russia's invasion, etc., etc, etc. If the dominoes start to fall, the press must examine the implications, but right now there are too many possibilities to consider. The press should focus any speculation on what Russia's response to will be, not the chain reactions it could cause. 

Let's not stress ourselves over all 9,673 possibilities (a rough estimate) that could come from this situation. As great Star Wars philosopher Qui-Gon Jinn said, 
"Until the possible become actual, it is only a distraction."

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