1. Why do I prefer getting my news from newspapers? That is analogous to why I
prefer writing to talking. When I write, you can’t interrupt me. You can disagree
with me. You simply cannot interrupt me.
“No one agrees with someone else’s opinion, only his own opinion expressed by
someone else.” – My Dad.
You can stop reading what I wrote. You can tear up the paper, you can scream
at the screen, you can even make a peanut butter and banana sandwich and
shoot the computer, but you can’t interrupt me.
In addition to your disagreeing with me, and the aforementioned options for
reacting to what I wrote, you can rise up in opposition. You can write an
opposing piece or speak out in forums that offer the option.
Now, you have two options.
1. You can express an opposing view.
2. You can express your opposition to my view.
The latter, however, leaves your audience at a bit of a loss without their being
able to read what I wrote. You must reference what I said. If you are preaching
to the choir, it doesn’t matter. However, if you are addressing people with a
sincere interest in the topic, they will read what I wrote. At this point, you lose
dominance over the audience. Your audience can read my monograph without
interruption, form their own opinions, and draw their own conclusions. They may
agree with you, they may agree with me. (Put your stick down. They can’t see
you and they can’t hear you.)
Such is the way it is when I read the newspaper. I can read a columnist. I can
read another. I can read two newspapers for opposing views. I can read the
editorial, I can read an op-ed, and I can read the letters to the editor. I can form
my own opinions. I can form my own opinions in quiet contemplation. This
option is seldom available when TV News becomes entertainment.
When those with opposing views appear on television, they can express their
opinions in turn, express them simultaneously, tell half-truths, or engage in
evasions or misrepresentations. That is not news. That is not debate. That is
pure theatre. The theatre of the perturbed.
Any questions? Well: “Don’t bother asking me. You don’t want to hear my
opinion; you want to hear your opinion.” From The Quotations of Slim Fairview.
Regards,
