On The Media: Under The Wall

I listened to "Under The Wall" one of the recordings included in "Race To The Bottom". In Under The Wall, Greg Mitchell; author of the new non-fiction book, The Tunnels: Escapes Under the Berlin Wall and the Historic Films the JFK White House Tried to Kill, speaks about his book and how NBC and CBS both ventured to document the heroic escape of refugees from East Berlin into West Berlin. With only NBC succeeding.

This recording interested me, for a couple of reasons. The first, being that it was about the Berlin Wall and refugees escaping from behind it. The second is because the Kennedy Administration tried to shut down any media coverage of refugees escaping from East Berlin.

The Berlin Wall was erected in 1961 and became the symbol of the Cold War. Beyond that, it was a physical representation of the Communist agenda: Peace through oppression. When the wall was built, it literally trapped people behind it, separating entire families, because citizens in East Berlin were not free to travel in and out at will. Neither were those in West Berlin able to cross over to the East. Imagine if a wall was built through the middle of the United States and you weren't allowed to go to the other side to visit family on the other side of it, or move to a state located on the East side of the wall. For nearly thirty years this symbol of oppression, of imprisonment stood. Until, on November 9, 1989 it was torn down.

I was a bit shocked at first to learn that JFK and his administration tried to keep the media from covering the refugees escaping from East Berlin by tunneling under the wall. I had thought that this was something the government would have wanted and even supported. Yet considering the tensions of the Cold War and the looming threat of nuclear war, it's reasonable that the government would be fearful of retaliation from the Soviet Union. Ironically, NBC was able to accomplish their goal and released a ninety minute documentary covering the event...and retaliation never came. Perhaps due to the fact that the film "The Tunnel" went "viral" worldwide. At least the 1960's version of going viral, which would be called going global.

What this really brings to my mind is the governments love hate relationship with the media. When it comes to things like the current run for President, the government can't get enough coverage. But, when there's something that the government deems as unnecessary for the public to be aware of, they go as far as undermining the second amendment to keep it from the public. Even in the days of the Cold War, there were things the government went to great lengths to keep hidden. In my mind, it's a different form of oppression, a wall if you will, preventing America from knowing the truth, or even hearing about it.

On The Media: A Face In The Crowd

I listened to A Face In The Crowd. A podcast about the recent interest in the 1957 film, A Face In The Crowd. A film about a man named Larry "Lonesome" Rhodes who rises from obscurity to radio/television star, to powerful politician and his eventual ruin. Though the podcast was short-only eight minutes-it really got me thinking about politics today and how a business mogul like Trump can become a candidate for the Presidency of The United States, with out ever being a Senator, or Governor.

In a way, it is a reflection of our current society, where status and popularity seem to be the most important things. After all, Trump is a celebrity of sorts since he has become a very famous and powerful business man, with his own empire and he has been on television.

In 1957, when A Face In The Crowd was released, the idea of a celebrity becoming a politician was unheard of and the film did not do well.

Perhaps that is one of the things that has changed in the last sixty years. A person with celebrity status can be a politician and run for office, relying on the fact that they are in the public eye to gain popularity. Though that might not be the message being conveyed in the pod cast.

Instead I think another question is being asked. And that question, is whether or not a public figure can become a political giant and be successful, or as the film illustrates, will that person fall from that high pedastal they are on and lose everything?