It’s hypocritical, it seems, for members of the media to begin blaming the media for, well, anything.It’s a “can’t beat ’em, join ’em” sort of mentality, everyone in the media is blaming the media for society’s problems, but no one is actually doing anything to fix them.This can be seen in a few cases recently. The Michael Jackson coverage is (still) unbelievably non-stop, yet it seems like most media outlets have attacked one another for their absurdity. Sarah Palin blames the media for stepping down, which has led to many media outlets hosting shows in which pundits argue about whether they are to blame for Palin’s resignation.It all sort of feels like an Onion story.Recently another story has dominated headlines and called for media outlets to choose sides and then complain when they’ve chosen sides. Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. arrived home after an overseas flight to find his front door jammed. Wanting to enter his house, he and his driver went around back and forced open the back door. A neighbor called the police and told them two men were breaking into the house, and the police responded by showing up and questioning the two black men who were now inside the house.The story gets a little hazy at this point.Some news outlets — traditionally liberal ones — have pushed Gates’s side of the story, claiming he calmly asked the officer, named Sgt. James Crowley, for his badge number. When refused, Gates became irate and was then arrested. Many are calling this a crime of racial profiling. And while there is no doubt racial The other story presented — traditionally by conservative outlets — is that Gates was angry from the get-go, essentially speaking down to the lowly officer who had no right to dare disturb the great Harvard professor. Supposedly, his anger got out of hand, and he was arrested.There is no possible way to tell which story is true.None.Two people. Two stories. Two sides.Opinions abound, of course. I’m of the mind that Sgt. Crowely probably abused his power — is a 50-something year old man who walks with a cane really that big a threat — but not because of race. Instead, because he was a tired police officer at the end of a long day who didn’t feel like taking lip, and, with the powers that come along with being a police officer, decided he didn’t have to. But these opinions don’t matter.What does matter is that news and opinions are clearly mixing in this instance. Reporting one side of any story is clearly poor news-reporting, but reporting one side of an explosive story is manipulation.And that is often what the media does.It’s not hard to pull heartstrings on either side of this story, and the lines are pretty clearly drawn from the beginning. Liberals will take up the plight of Gates and the prejudice he faced. Conservatives will take up the side of the hard working cop just trying to do his job.And news media will do everything they can to make sure these sides are adhered to. It benefits Fox News to be conservative as much as it benefits them for NBC to be liberal. By keeping the lines drawn, two different products are being offered, and everyone will want to see both. Conservatives will want Fox to side with them but still want to see what all those crazy liberals are thinking and vice-versa.The problem lies in the fact that this isn’t news. This is lazy. This is for lazy Americans who don’t like to think for themselves. Which is a great number of Americans.But it becomes pretty hard to blame the average Joe for being manipulated by what is forced down his throat 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The news stations never stop, and for your average Jane who stops by the gym after work and hops on the elliptical machine in front a TV with Fox News or CNN playing, they invade our lives without us realizing it.This isn’t exactly a new point or a new concept.This won’t exactly change anytime soon.And certainly not because a college student wrote it in The Daily Reveille.But it is happening. And it is controlling opinion to some degree.The greatest trick the devil ever played was convincing the world he didn’t exist.The greatest trick the media ever played was convincing the world they’re the news.Travis Andrews is a 21-year-old  English senior from Metairie.
 
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Contact Travis Andrews at [email protected]