Law and Order Engages in Advocacy Television
Last night's episode of NBC's Law & Order (one of the very few shows I bother to watch) offers a textbook case of propaganda, in this case pro-immigration. And it doesn't pull any punches... it insinuates that a citizen group patrolling the United States border (akin to the "Minuteman" Protest earlier this year) is out to hunt immigrant smugglers. Read the synopsis from NBC's website:
After being physically and emotionally intimidated by an ally of the patrol group leader, the star witness is deported following her testimony by the heartless conservative trial judge who follows the letter of the law.
The citizen patrol group members sometimes said quite reasonable things, which the Law & Order writers probably thought balanced the show, namely: The U.S. government should carry out its responsibility to fully enforce its laws and terrorists can too easily enter the country due to lax border enforcement. The problem is... the messengers are on trial for an unjustifiable murder! That colors the message a bit.
Finally, there appears on the Law & Order website a caption to the featured video: "Cold-blooded murder or Minutemen vigilantes on the U.S. border?" Not exactly a balanced question. And "vigilantes"? That's Bushspeak. Try this one on for size: "NBC: Pro-Immigration Propagandists or just out to stick it to patrol group supporter Governor Arnold?"
MURDER OF SMUGGLING TRUCKER COULD BE LINKED TO BORDER PATROL GROUP -- When the owner of a big-rig trucking company is shot to death, Detectives Fontana and Green learn that the victim was hauling illegal aliens and suspect a member citizen's border patrol group -- but their only witness is an undocumented Hispanic woman who risks deportation if she testifies. Meanwhile, prosecutor McCoy is incensed when the witness is physically intimidated as he tries to turn one organization member against the other in court.Early on in the show, we learn that about 30 illegal immigrants died horrible deaths while being hauled by the eventual murder victim and are led to believe that the trucker's negligence was the cause. At the end, we learn that the leader of the border patrol group twice sabotaged the refrigerator coolant in the truck in order to cause the deaths of the immigrants, which then successfully tricked another patrol group member into thinking that the trucker was at fault and needed to be "confronted" and persuaded at gunpoint to turn himself over to the authorities.
After being physically and emotionally intimidated by an ally of the patrol group leader, the star witness is deported following her testimony by the heartless conservative trial judge who follows the letter of the law.
The citizen patrol group members sometimes said quite reasonable things, which the Law & Order writers probably thought balanced the show, namely: The U.S. government should carry out its responsibility to fully enforce its laws and terrorists can too easily enter the country due to lax border enforcement. The problem is... the messengers are on trial for an unjustifiable murder! That colors the message a bit.
Finally, there appears on the Law & Order website a caption to the featured video: "Cold-blooded murder or Minutemen vigilantes on the U.S. border?" Not exactly a balanced question. And "vigilantes"? That's Bushspeak. Try this one on for size: "NBC: Pro-Immigration Propagandists or just out to stick it to patrol group supporter Governor Arnold?"
posted by The Libertarian Republican at 1:20 AM
3 Comments:
This is exactly why I only watch PBS.
This is why I don't watch any TV and only watch Netflix.
But I heard Law and Order is mandatory viewing for lawyers so I guess you have to watch it.
This is the way Hollywood operates to push it's agenda. See how differently the President is portrayed when there is a Dem in office as opposed to a Republican. During the Dem term, presidents are cast as strong, young, and virile. When a republican is in office the president is cast as weak, old, and impotent. Hollywood sucks. I don't listen to the geeks that used to be in drama class.
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