By Jessica Reed
While listenning to France Inter yesterday I was pleasantly surprised to hear John MacArthur, president and publisher of Harper's magazine, speak in the most perfect french I can think of. On a late night political radio show, he fiercely accused the American media of being nothing but the White House's accredited puppets, pointing out that a 9/11 mythology had been figuratively built upon the attacks' 2,973 victims by US officials and corporate journalists alike so as to keep the 'War on Terror' rethoric alive and kicking.
MacArthur pleaded for a return of fearless investigational journalism. Tired of thinking about reporters as the Government's secretaries, he hoped for a revival of the Watergate spirit, where intrepid journalists would, by any means necessary, insist on exposing corruption and lies in the interest of the nation and its voters. I suppose this would mean investigating more than extramarital gossip involving POTUS, and refrainning from withholding crucial information until after presidential elections (the New York Times sat on a breaking news story for a year before disclosing that their reporters had discovered that phone calls were illegally monitored by the Bush Administration).
MacArthur also offered his opinion on the American Left - 'Chirac would be socialist here!', he said between laughs - according to him, a good opposition able to provide solid alternatives to the conservative and corporate media are still lacking; and too often this void is filled with conspiracy theories, illustrated by popular movies such as Loose Change (1), which have a growing and eclectic audience of gullible citizens, academics and even -gasp!- journalists.
It may be that what lies at the heart of this conspiracy craze is a very human feeling: people want to understand and can't fathom not having an explanation for acts such as 9/11. If the modern world is just the sum of randomness -as the Chaos Theory suggests-then it becomes increasingly difficult to deal with changing realities: the simple fact that no one is truly in charge can become unbearable to some, who'd rather direct their anger at something tangible (the US government, communists, even aliens).
So where exactly does the media's responsibilities lie? Many outlets fail to challenge the worst of their own side, and are publishing pages upon pages of disaster porn (fairytales conspiracy theories are unfortunately 'sexy'; they sell). Alternative reporters insist on systematically discarding corporate media while accredited ones are too enamoured with their Washingtonian way of life to take any risks. At the end of the day, few choose the role of responsible and independent partners in dialogue and debate.
(1) The so-called 'documentary' can be found here.
Elsewhere: Disproving and debunking the most ridiculous theories + openDemocracy's forum discussion about conspiracies.
Picture via pwchicago's flickR account.
