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On 11/13/2016 06:58 PM, Zenaan Harkness wrote:
>> On Sun, Nov 13, 2016 at 4:26 PM, Zenaan Harkness
>> wrote:
>>> How we just love the Lame Stream Media!
>>>
>>>
>>> New York Times promises to “report America and the world
>>> honestly” after Trump’s election win
>>> http://theduran.com/new-york-times-promises-report-america-
>>> and-the-world-honestly-after-trumps-election-win/
>>
>> Will they report on any of this? Will they tell the real
>> truth... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8TE_QMa3fw
>>
>> This is the reality of what our nation has become. We aren't the
>> leaders of the free world, we're its destroyers. We are the
>> villains, not Russia, not China, but America.
>
> I doubt it.
Individuals can be honest, in a context where a mutual trust
relationship based on common material interests enables them to be
honest. The weaker this bond of trust motivated by practical self
interest is, the less honesty is rewarded, and the more it is actively
punished when the information presented is unfavorable to the
interests of individual respondents. Of course, there will be
exceptions to any rule: Some idealists habitually tell the truth as
they see it with little regard for the consequences; some neurotics
will only tell the truth when they can't think of a better lie.
Organizations and institutions can not be honest, at least not for
long, because the persons who receive the most material compensation
through their participation in the organization or institution have a
personal interest in maintaining their dominant positions, inevitably
at the expense of other participants in the enterprise. Growing the
power and influence of particular departments and the organization as
a whole, at the expense of other departments and organizations,
increases the personal compensation of members of those departments
and organizations. So, both internal and external conflicts of
interest erode or negate trust relationships and the value of honesty
within and between formally organized enterprises.
Honesty's cousin, factual accuracy, is degraded or eliminated within
hierarchal organizations. Hagbard's Law states that "communication is
only possible between equals." When information is reported up a
chain of command, it is altered at every step by the reporters'
efforts to curry favor and/or avoid punishment. A recent de facto
revolt by 50 intelligence analysts at CENTCOM, complaining that their
work product was being altered in transit to comply with the political
agendas, indicates that this mechanism is at work even in
organizations whose sole function is "accurately reporting information."
Mechanisms for transparency, accountability to third parties, and
flattening chains of command can to some extent mitigate the inherent
problems degrading honesty and information in organizations, but the
same mechanisms these strategies seek to correct are also present in
the mitigation processes themselves:
* Transparency requires reporting, and reporting requirements always
prompt the reporters to twist or discard information as necessary to
advance their interests, curry favor and/or avoid punishment.
* Third party monitors have their own agendas and organizational
drivers; as a classic example, the Internal Affairs activities of
police departments normally work to shield corrupt officers and
activities from accountability, except when taking sides in factional
power struggles affecting the whole organization.
* Organizations with horizontal command structures develop informal
cliques working off the record when and as necessary to influence the
organization's decision making and operational processes for their own
advantage. This is done "for the good of the organization" as defined
by its ability to reward them for their participation.
Pontius Pilate famously asked, "What is truth?" That was not so much
a question as a ironic statement: In the Imperial Governor's house,
truth is whatever he says, because he has said it. This provides us
with a working definition of what it means to speak "with authority."
The New York Times and its organizational sponsors manufacture truth
by speaking with authority. A long running propaganda meme calls the
NYT a "newspaper of record." What they publish is true because they
have published it, on behalf of State and Corporate powers with the
authority to enforce their collective will by any means necessary to
assure their continued dominance.
When the Times formally commits to "report America to the world
honestly," that only reaffirms their mission of publishing effective
propaganda in the interest of the American ruling class and their
various State and Corporate administrative organizations. Some
conflicts among the ruling class will be reflected in that reporting,
and some factual information will make it through the many layers of
filters. "Flat fact" will occasionally be published as loss-leader
material to
