People letting media do their thinking

Very high praise for Charles F. Falk and his opinions in the letter of June 25. I agree with most of them. Of most concern is the remark about "discredited media." In the new digital age, many people have totally lost the habit of thinking for themselves and assume that the media will do it for them.

Ever since Aristotle penned similar protests, over 2,000 years ago, politics and politicians have vexed us in the extreme. These days, the politically muscle-bound legislature in Springfield merely provides the latest example of the terrible social cost of letting the media run the country. With the personal media machines, that have become an addiction, anybody can communicate with anybody else. But few people really communicate much genuine thought.

Communication requires thought, transmission and reception. The media are concerned only with transmission, despite the often-vented claim to the contrary. Occasionally we encounter a thought or two, but hardly ever do we ponder what is transmitted.

The media have become cheerleaders for the politicians and economic interests. They subsist on enthusiasm rather than substance. After three decades wrestling with the media, I no longer expect anything but an occasional genuine thought.

The latest gadget in the media jungle is the "think tank." When politicians and/or journalists have made their mark, they seem to gravitate to highly-paid think tanks, where they are sequestered for the next change in the political scenery, usually an election.

God bless us all.

Joseph Haggin

Arlington Heights