Shock and Awe

Shock and Awe Movie Poster

When did saying the truth become so radical?

This is the question presented in the movie Shock and Awe.

The Knight Ridder journalist didn't feel like they were doing anything different than normal. Finding information and reporting on it for the public to read. As time moved on they realized they were the only newsroom doing this.

The Knight Ridder was determined to find the truth and uncover the attack on 9/11. As they were doing this they realized almost no other news publications were really on the same track as them as far as what information they were looking for and putting out. They were in the scary minority. They saw big news and journalism publications fuel the flame of war and fear into the American people all rooted in lies.

This movie showed perfectly the effects of lies in journalism. It showed the reason why. In this case it was to be in alignment with the government who simply put wanted war. It showed how hard it is the stand by the truth. The Knight Ridder journalist parents questioned and were even angry with what they were publishing because it didn't follow what they saw on the news.

How could their trusted government lie to them?

Basically every other paper and news station was reporting the exact opposite of the Knight Ridder claiming Iraq was going to attack America with weapons of mass destruction if we didn't act fast enough. The Knight Ridder wasn't buying it. They knew they could find the truth if they just kept looking and that's exactly what they did. People that worked closely with/in the government grew tired and weary of knowing the truth but it not being shared. When they were ready to share the Knight Ridder was ready to listen and educate their audience.

Conflict between the Knight Ridder and other publications like The New York Times continued to grow. Not just because they are reporting different things but because some Knight Ridder papers stop printing their stories about Iraq and the Bush administration and started printing The New York Times stories instead. So the Knight Ridder didn't just have to deal with outside pressure and unbelief but also enteral skepticism. They knew they were writing the truth why didn't they want to print it? It was simple journalist were backing the President and fueling the war. The government had to justify what they were ultimately going to do either way and journalist were connected to the people. The other publications knew Americans would read the stories and believe them.

The Knight Ridder journalist are the true heroes here. They can teach modern journalist a lot about integrity and simply reporting the truth. We were able to see the interview process and how they gathered their information. Was it hard? Yes, but most of the people they were talking to mentioned that other publications had reached out to them as well. This truly showed that in this case lying was just as hard as telling the truth. The other publications still had to find "sources." Most of the people who were telling the truth picked to tell the Knight Ridder information because they knew they could be trusted. Other publications lost true creditable sources because they were already printing lies and misinformation.

To the general public this shows how important it is to find credible news sources. Credible doesn't always mean the biggest publications or the ones you are most familiar with. You have to take it upon yourself as an American to find publications who are writing and printing the truth. It is easier said than done but it is worth it to be accurately informed on what is happening in our country.