B5: And Now For a Word

[G-Man]

A few thoughts:

First, one difference I note between this episode and the later episode is that this one uses the news report as a framing device, whereas the later one has it happen as part of the episode, and we see things "outside" of the news report.

Second, I wonder if this would make as much sense as an episode today. Babylon 5 tended to treat the news media as if there were one news network (assuming that the fact it was called INN instead of ISN in the pilot was not intended to suggest multiple news networks). This made sense in the 1990s, when there was pretty much CNN (C-SPAN was something different) and when most of the network news shows seemed to be from a similar perspective.

With the advent of Fox News, then MSNBC, then NewsMax, etc., it isn't really a question of bias versus objectivity as it is a question of everyone admitting that the news is biased, and picking the bias they most agree with.

Showing the reporter spouting propaganda as fact would not have the same impact today - you would need more or less to show that the network that is anti-Clark is being suppressed and the pro-Clark network favored.

Third, I like the effect of the malformed jumppoint that explodes.

[Al-1701]

The malfunctioning jump engine would also foreshadow the Shadow weapon (that's a pun, isn't it) that disrupts jump points. It was also the Narn ship that was destroyed by its jump point. The Centari ship was destroyed outright.

And I wonder if the fact the news crew was coming is what started this. The Narn probably knew something was up, but decided to act when they knew cameras were going to be on it. Then they could have ISN broadcast their findings. And the Centari similarly sent the cruiser knowing it would be on the news. Both sides wanted a propaganda win to gain the favor of other races and the Earth Alliance having their back would be a huge asset.

As for an Earth/Centari war, the exchange between Londo and Garabaldi suggests Sheridan is overestimating the Centari (though I would overestimate my potential enemies as well). The Centari is a species in decline. In Babylon 5 Wars they say most Centari designs are centuries old and designed more to keep the subject races of the Republic in line than fight another major power. While Earth basically had to rebuild their military from the ground up in the last decade with the most advanced technology available to them. The Centari's primary advantage is probably superior numbers of ships. It would be an unprecedented bloodbath, especially since the Centari would be willing to bomb civilian targets from the beginning rather than the Minbari who concentrated on Earth Force first and would have dealt with the civilians afterward, but in the end Earth would get the hollow victory of being the last one standing. Not a war anyone should want to fight on either side.

[TulipQulqu]

I have to imagine some part of this episode was spawned from a reading of Manufacturing Consent, the book by Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky.

Going off the model of news-media as masked propaganda; we can better predict major news events by seeking out what effects people in power want instead of envisioning the goal of the press to be informing the public.

In B5, the Earth-Gov is very much like the post-WWI German Republic, a wounded imperial power. Thus we understand that its news-media is going to be moving towards making more and more aggressive stances so it can try to push the imperial frontier outward again. The news media thus is going to look at B5 with a critical eye to undermine the "last, best, hope for peace" B5 stands for.

On the stuff said at the top of the review, I think the idea that the news-media is ever objective is kinda bunk. Even an ideology of centrism, where opposing political parties sides are seen as having similar validity, is a bias. It is almost ironic that news outlets basically try to claim such a bias in a world where realities like climate change are causing so much death and suffering.

[TulipQulqu]

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.

What is the alternative though? All news reporters are thinking subjects who will thus introduce their subjective bias into their reporting, even if it is just in how they point a camera or what stories they choose to cover.

I think it is better that the biases be "naked" instead of being covered up. At least then the audience of the news media can think about how such bias informs the reporting, instead of being mislead into thinking that there is such a thing as an objective report.

[cdrood]

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.

Yes, desperation makes sense. As I stated above, a bioweapon would do nothing in space battles where Minbari had a tremendous advantage.

We know there were ground battles, presumably on Earth colonies the Minbari were looking to secure before moving on. In this case, the nature of the bioweapon would be important.

If it's fast acting, to be used against the Minbari ground troops, it's possible delaying the inevitable. If the Centauri could hurl asteroids from orbit, there's little doubt the Minbari could do the same or worse.

If it's something designed to be communicable, that infected ground soldiers bring back to the fleet, you're depending on the Minbari not being able to quarantine and you still have the possibility that they'd change how they handle future planetside operations.

Then, add in how much actual time they would have had to develop something that would affect the Minbari, but wouldn't harm human. That would likely take years.

[Nightbeat74]

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.

Yes, desperation makes sense. As I stated above, a bioweapon would do nothing in space battles where Minbari had a tremendous advantage.

We know there were ground battles, presumably on Earth colonies the Minbari were looking to secure before moving on. In this case, the nature of the bioweapon would be important.

If it's fast acting, to be used against the Minbari ground troops, it's possible delaying the inevitable. If the Centauri could hurl asteroids from orbit, there's little doubt the Minbari could do the same or worse.

If it's something designed to be communicable, that infected ground soldiers bring back to the fleet, you're depending on the Minbari not being able to quarantine and you still have the possibility that they'd change how they handle future planetside operations.

Then, add in how much actual time they would have had to develop something that would affect the Minbari, but wouldn't harm human. That would likely take years.

Not to mention all the testing it would need to go under that brings a CRAP TON of ethical issues we are talking LIVE HUMAN TESTING! I found it very ironic(or fitting) that EarthGov asked a black doctor for his notes on the Minbari ,i think aside from the Hippocratic oath, it brought up stuff like the tuskegee syphilis experiment,mengelee,and all the other unethical human experiments that he had to read and wright papers on and not throw up on his text books while doing it so,and with all that on his mind... yes he will say with all due respect sir FUCK THE HELL NO!

[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.

What is the alternative though? All news reporters are thinking subjects who will thus introduce their subjective bias into their reporting, even if it is just in how they point a camera or what stories they choose to cover.

I think it is better that the biases be "naked" instead of being covered up. At least then the audience of the news media can think about how such bias informs the reporting, instead of being mislead into thinking that there is such a thing as an objective report.

Yeah, I get what you mean, and there is a certain appeal to having folks be straight-up with their personal biases so you know where they stand, and understand you're getting half the story. But while total objectivity might be unattainable, it's a worthy effort in any field that has to do with the evaluation and dissemination of information.

I guess my beef is that so few bother making that effort, since hyperbole makes for more exciting headlines and ad revenue than journalistic ethics does. It's also not helped by the matter that many news consumers are oblivious to bias that matches their own, and being able to select a news source that tells them everything they want to hear doesn't do society any favors in the long run.

Though we can comfort ourselves that it's not as bad as 19th century London newspapers often were. What a clown show that was.

[TGLS]

Though we can comfort ourselves that it's not as bad as 19th century London newspapers often were. What a clown show that was.

Or Early 20th Century American Papers, which literally started a war.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda_of_the_Spanish%E2%80%93American_War

[BunBun299]

Bias in media is nothing new. It can easily be found as far back as the Spanish American War. Whole thing started because of an accident, which a news paper falsely reported as being caused by the Spanish, to provoke a war, to sell more news papers.

Always take everything the media tells you with a grain of salt. No source is ever truly unbiased.

[TulipQulqu]

Though we can comfort ourselves that it's not as bad as 19th century London newspapers often were. What a clown show that was.

Or Early 20th Century American Papers, which literally started a war.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda_of_the_Spanish%E2%80%93American_War

Are we not still in a war in Iraq that was aided into being by news reports not being sufficiently critical of US government claims that there were WMDs in Iraq? The American press is always in favor of getting into a war, it simply has no interest in the doldrums of continuing conflict.