Sunday, April 08, 2007

Hero's tale is 'too positive' for the BBC

Myths are popular beliefs or stories that have become associated with a person, institution, or occurrence, especially one considered to illustrate a cultural ideal and they are emblematic of our ideology. The media play a large role in the promotion and awareness of myths within society.

As this story highlights, the propagation of myths also is highly dependent on their conformity with the dominant ideology prevalent within the media. In this case, character traits long associated with Britain -- heroism and bravery -- are now deemed unacceptable within the ideological dogma of the nation's state broadcaster, who's predisposition has less to do with national pride and loyalty and much more to do with moral critique, political correctness and post-modernist intellectualism.

A free society needs a strong, independent media. But it does not follow as a corollary that journalists are the best arbitrators of "correct" morality for society. The media should document facts and offer opinions, even advocacy, but it should not censor and bias information as a state regulator of ideology: government needs no help in this regard.