B5: And Now For a Word

[Darth Wedgius]

https://sfdebris.com/videos/babylon5/b5s2e15.php

[Mecha82]

IIRC at season 4 we see that media bias even more and even more clear. At that point they had pretty much become just propaganda tool for President Clarke's regime.

[SpacePaladin]

I remember various claims on SpaceBattles that the Earth-Minbari War wrecked the Minbari economy as Earthforce was able to target the Minbari Merchant fleet. I have no idea where this concept came from outside of fanfic, as I have only once ever heard of the Minbari Merchant fleet, and admittedly, it was in the context of it being successfully targeted (in a single encount), but that was in reference to an opponent that was a peer-power to the Centauri. In a B5 Wars scenario. After the Minbari Civil War. After the Minbari took heavy losses in the civil war and the Shadow War that just preceded it.

The reason I bring this up is that this episode would if anything undermine that bit of fanon, because John Sheridan was explicitly talking about how even an Earth-Centauri War in that day and age would be devastating for Earth, let alone an Earth-Minbari one.

I also remember watching some Lore Reloaded videos and seemed to be under the idea that an anti-Minbari bioweapon could be easily produced and used against the Minbari as a means of winning the conflict. I sincerely doubt that that Earthforce could out-tech the Minbari in medical technology since the Minbari survived the previous Shadow War, and the Shadows are not shy about bioweapons.

[Taurian Patriot]

A fun episode all around, even if it does remind me of why I stopped watching TV journalism about a decade back. My late teenage self never would have guessed that such naked bias would become a point of pride.

I remember it best for having some nice bits of comedy you can't really get in a conventional dramatic setup, like the way the shot at 5:40 is framed while the poor crewman lies through his teeth about how calm and relaxed everybody is. The PsyCorps ad was especially great, with a frame or two of "subliminal" text on screen telling you to trust the corps. It's at the very end of the ad though, so it's not here in the review.

I also remember watching some Lore Reloaded videos and seemed to be under the idea that an anti-Minbari bioweapon could be easily produced and used against the Minbari as a means of winning the conflict. I sincerely doubt that that Earthforce could out-tech the Minbari in medical technology since the Minbari survived the previous Shadow War, and the Shadows are not shy about bioweapons.

I agree that the "easily" qualifier needs to go. Sure, Earth could have tried a bioweapon as a last-ditch measure, but even setting aside possible issues with alien physiology, would Earth even have any Minbari to experiment on? And how would they deliver it safely to a Minbari population?

[cdrood]

I remember various claims on SpaceBattles that the Earth-Minbari War wrecked the Minbari economy as Earthforce was able to target the Minbari Merchant fleet. I have no idea where this concept came from outside of fanfic, as I have only once ever heard of the Minbari Merchant fleet, and admittedly, it was in the context of it being successfully targeted (in a single encount), but that was in reference to an opponent that was a peer-power to the Centauri. In a B5 Wars scenario. After the Minbari Civil War. After the Minbari took heavy losses in the civil war and the Shadow War that just preceded it.

The reason I bring this up is that this episode would if anything undermine that bit of fanon, because John Sheridan was explicitly talking about how even an Earth-Centauri War in that day and age would be devastating for Earth, let alone an Earth-Minbari one.

I also remember watching some Lore Reloaded videos and seemed to be under the idea that an anti-Minbari bioweapon could be easily produced and used against the Minbari as a means of winning the conflict. I sincerely doubt that that Earthforce could out-tech the Minbari in medical technology since the Minbari survived the previous Shadow War, and the Shadows are not shy about bioweapons.

There's nothing from the show to indicate that the war was anything but a rout. Sheridan's tactic against the Black Star was the only victory of any kind.

The problem with a bioweapon in this scenario is it would first require extensive knowledge of Minbari biology that Earth did not have as they'd never come into conflict outside of, possibly one offs, like Franklin's journey of medical self discovery. Also, it would require getting close enough to Minbari occupied worlds and this war was entirely defensive. The ground battles were most likely on human colony worlds, so even a successful bioweapon wouldn't affect enough Minbari to change the course of the war. Bioweapons would have no use in space battles.

[cdrood]

I think I like the MASH application of this concept better because they were more "day in the life" type episodes. Everything was fairly typical for what a news crew might encounter during a few days at the 4077th.

At this point in B5, this sort of thing was highly unusual and it seems highly coincidental that the news team just happened to show up as it was happening. Now, coincidences do happen so it's not unbelievable, just really convenient to the narrative EarthGov wanted to put out.

Even in a typical B5 episode, there's probably enough going on to slant as story against the station's mission. It's just that this was really big, public, and there were a lot of deaths.

[Al-1701]

I know it's a popular meme to say "The polls were wrong" in 2016. However, they were actually accurate on the national scale. They said Clinton was up by a hair and nationally she won the popular vote by a few million votes. The mistake was polling of the Midwestern states ceased well before the election. There was also the last minute letter about an email investigation they probably depressed votes for Clinton while not showing up well in the polls due to how close to the election they were. The lesson, even if polls provide the right information it's not necessarily useful information.

But the media does often operate with an agenda. Typically, it's what gets people to watch/listen/read more than any specific political agenda. For example, elections not being close is not good for ratings so they will play up the chances of the underdog.

And we see this here. "Last Best Hope For Peace Teeters on the Edge" is a headline that will get people to tune in. Granted, ISN had the benefit of an interstellar crisis erupting while they were there. However, I think they would seek out any problems that are bound to happen on such a large and busy port of call.

[Steve]

IIRC at season 4 we see that media bias even more and even more clear. At that point they had pretty much become just propaganda tool for President Clarke's regime.

Remember this was after Clark's forces seized ISN while it broadcast, including opening fire on their headquarters. The anchorwoman from that episode wasn't seen again until after Clark's fall, when she looked jittery and emotional - as if she'd just been liberated from a prison cell, frankly.

That said, ISN is clearly a shill for EarthGov, or at least whatever faction has ascendancy there at the time, with just enough independence that their one editor started broadcasting about Clark's coup in "Point of No Return" before they were shut down.

[Nightbeat74]

shit be bad bro! should be the title of chucks autobiography!

[G-Man]

I also remember watching some Lore Reloaded videos and seemed to be under the idea that an anti-Minbari bioweapon could be easily produced and used against the Minbari as a means of winning the conflict.

That was definitely a plan on the table - Earth wanted to develop a bioweapon and Franklin was imprisoned for a bit for not giving EarthForce medical knowledge he had on the Minbari. However, given how desperate Earth was, the fact that Earth wanted to develop a bioweapon does not mean it would have worked.