The Oil Drum: Europe

I hate to sound nasty and/or arrogant; I'm not sure I 'do' humble that well, sorry! But, Newsnight, irritates me more than it informs me. Paxman is part of the Establishment, and reflects their interests and attitudes. He reminds me of an important church leader in the Middle Ages. He's like a sort of journalist/Bishop. I regard most journalists as being part of something like a priesthood, with a similar role. They are there to support, present, and ligitimise; Power. The structures of power that exist in society.

The BBC has been cowed by Blair's New Labour. Hutton knocked the stuffing out of the BBC. The lost their nerve when they came face to face with the raw power of the State, and they backed off and drew in their horns. Since then the BBC has shyed away from breaking controversial news stories, prefering instead to react to stories broken by others.

The BBC is simply the best propaganda ministry in the world, nobody does it better, or has more experience of doing it. They know precisely how far to go with 'criticism' and when to stop. Especially now, in the more 'competative' media market, they are accutely aware of just how dependent they are on the govenment and its 'largesse.' Since the Iraq war the BBC has been effectively neutered. Do not expect a millionaire like Paxman to lead the charge to inform the public about Peak Oil and it's consequences; you will be sadly disappointed.

This is, of course, somewhat unfair, because Newsnight, is the best they have to offer, but it is just not good enough. This 'Peak Oil' bit, is absurd. Anyone, with even a slight ammount of knowlegde of the subject can see through the whole piece, almost without trying. It is ludicrous and absurd. What are these journalists paid their huge salaries for? This is a rhetorical question. They are paid huge salaries, not to inform, but to disinform, or as I would contend, primarily to control. Information is far to important in our society to be presented without cencorship.

Why are we aware of how bad the Newsnight piece was? Because we know something about the subject ourselves, and we can, therefore, how much is lacking, or left out, or distorted. It's so bad it's absurd and we feel both cheated, insulted and angry. These reactions are correct and justified.

I'd just like to point out that other people, with specialist knowlegde, relating to other subjects presented in the media, react in precisely the same way, when they see their 'field' covered in the media. Newsnight's coverage of Peak Oil isn't an aboration, or an isolated case of lack of research or incompetence. On the contrary, it is a carefully presented and 'framed' model, which is used over and over again, not to inform, but to control.