the "objectivity" of the corporate media

also from global tv, winner of awards for journalistic excellence: after some people died in house/apartment fires recently, anchor says that most building contractors in canada do not agree that making sprinkler systems standard is a good idea, despite all the research to the contrary, because it is "not cost-effective."

how anchors read stuff like that aloud with a blithe face (let alone without being compelled to shout what bastards they are!) is more proof that "circus dogs jump when the trainer cracks his whip, but the really well-trained dog is the one that turns his somersault when there is no whip" (orwell). i suppose some would say that the anchor is just reporting the contractors' cruel logic verbatim, and that it is up to viewers to figure out if they agree or not, but that ignores the fact that we have to interpret terms like "not cost-effective" into words we immediately understand before the sound bite has gone, words like "too expensive" in this case. that would be a start at least, if they stopped using purr words for the powerful and all those demonizing words for the rest of us. only a start though. better yet, in this case, would be something like "building contractors don't want to put sprinkler systems in housing because that would cut into their profits."