I recently spent two weeks on the beach – literally – and I came away with a new appreciation for power.
The ocean, it seems, can teach us a lot about media.
Watching the waves crashing onto the shore, I marveled at the power that was in them. No one has been able to really harness that power yet.
The motion of the water is constant, but the strength of the waves varies according to external stuff like water temperature, storms, etc.
But there’s that ongoing action – the waves come roaring in, crashing onto the beach and then receding.
There are times when they deposit material on the beach, but most of the time, they cleanse things. It can be hypnotic to watch the process, but just about the time you get lulled into a reverie, an unexpectedly large one breaks through.
When this force of nature becomes misdirected, destruction follows. Man’s attempts to channel all that force in an unnatural direction usually result in news reports of Mother Nature reclaiming something that was taken from her.
In short, this ocean that is all around us is an immensely powerful entity. No one can control it. When someone tries to, it upsets the balance, but nature is usually able to restore an equilibrium.
I would like to think that news media could be legitimately be compared to that ocean. There are valid parallels.
The media are capable of exerting a tremendous amount of power. There are times when undercurrents and news developments give them more power. In their proper, natural state, the media can do a good job of cleansing the beach, removing the detritus and reshaping things into a state that, while not always desirable to us, is natural.
When the media become misguided and misdirected with personal or political agendas, nobody wins and the balance is upset.
As someone who has been on this planet for over 60 years, I know that political leanings ebb and flow. When these extremes are in control in our government, voters eventually react and correct things, bringing things back to a more natural state.
This nation, and its freedom of the press, have survived. If the press becomes misguided by rampant bias, the “beach” will be eroded, but the natural pendulum of common sense will allow nature to reclaim what was taken from it.
Discuss on the STL Media Message Board. (Registration required)
