Uninformed or Misinformed?

"If you don't read the newspaper, 

                 you are uninformed;

If you do read the newspaper, 

                      you are misinformed."

                                                    - Mark Twain

Since I do to have figures of India, I refer to American statistics as an indicator.
Why refer to America? Because Mark Twain was referring to American media and capitalistic America has driven modern global trends in technology and social change for past 100 years.

Television, news media and publishing whether it is books, magazines,or newspapers, were originally set up to provide a news service and generate advertisement revenue to subsidise the cost of bringing news to the public. 

Now news is just a fig leaf for advertising revenues. When any entity is driven only for maximising revenue, hook or by crook it sells its soul. Now news has to be distorted, manipulated or downright fabricated to please those who pay money, for  business, social, political or military gain. 

The greater irony, is that the media place themselves on a moral pedestal high above other fellow citizens. Now the 'holier than thou', preach to others.

Unable to sustain themselves, newspapers are folding up rapidly particularly in the developed world. The noble ones died because they were too honest and the crooked ones died because they went overboard with manipulation, thus making themselves irrelevant. 

I like an increasing number of people rarely read the newspapers or watch the news on TV.  I prefer to be informed by individuals through the internet.


The internet posting by individuals is richly diverse. It provides refreshing alternatives, because much of it comes from the heart and minds of the effected or observer.  

The information is generally genuine because it does not pass through a middle-man the media manipulator. As is to be expected, mainstream media is now trying to dominate and control the internet and the content.

The media and certain interest groups be they national, religious, or business groups now dominate even the internet. A case in point is that 50% of all wikipedia edits are made by just 524 most active users. Thus imposing their ideas making it seem that's is the universal view.

"Grab them by their minds, their hearts, bodies and wallets will be compelled to follow".