Petition to kill cable news in DoD workcenters and common areas
Dan Rust, JD, CFE
Dan is a multifaceted innovator whose expertise spans psychological safety, military leadership, legal practice, innovation management, and technological advancement.
Synopsis
Cable news channels are ubiquitous in DoD work centers and common areas. They are exceedingly biased. By their nature, they are for-profit companies. They tend to take political sides in order to stir up emotional responses. Like ESPN's "Pardon the Interruption" or "First Take," they make their money by sowing division and creating narratives that people then take home and continue.
Problem
Cable news channels are ubiquitous in DoD work centers and common areas. They can be exceedingly biased. By their nature, they are for-profit companies. They tend to take political sides in order to stir up emotional responses. Like ESPN's "Pardon the Interruption" or "First Take," they make their money by sowing division and creating narratives. Americans adopt this disruptive mindset, bringing it home and recursively returning it to their workplace.
Cable news programs poison minds against each other and the government. While it is consistent with the Constitution for companies to do this for Americans generally, including service members, there is no reason why the DoD should continue to pay for them at work. The talking heads frequently make statements that would, if given by a service member, result in corrective punishment. Right now, service members have appropriately limited freedom of speech, despite frequent rights-encroachment creep. Why then should DoD offices adopt by incorporation said unacceptable statements, broadcasting them into our offices, gyms, dorms, and dining facilities? The programs are distracting at work and constitute a significant barrier to good order and discipline. They cause workers unnecessary strife and conflicts amongst each other.
Cable news channels aren't what they once were, and it isn't the 1990's anymore. They've learned that shortcuts and muckiness yield profits. Information warfare and disinformation are real. For-profit "news" corporations easily fall for these foreign arguments and opinionated points because they grab viewers' attention. Persuasive narratives tend to stick over the honest, boring ones.
These telecasts do more than just suck resources from the DoD. They sow seeds of discontent, preparing the way for mutiny and insurrection. Decision-makers and the entire DoD is susceptible to disagree with orders from higher. The programs destroy common ground and would-be basic truths, such as "America's democracy should continue democratically." They open up troops and senior executives to foreign influence campaigns via our news media.
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This slow-burn corruption of military minds opens the door to graver threats, such as soldier intervention in politics (see, e.g. Nordlinger). We saw this engineered disinformation discontent erupt violently on 1/6/2020. We also saw a significant bystander effect through the delayed "freeze" cognitive response in individual decisionmakers. This weakness was likely influenced by the same disinformation and narrative warfare, leading to many hours going by before the violence was quelled and democracy saved. Such "praetorian guard" style rebellions, whether passive or active, can be extremely dangerous to a democracy. America hasn't dealt with such a thing in so long that the citizenry and military generally aren't aware of the threats. The DoD is an easy target for enemies to weaponize this vulnerability. Invariably, some percentage of individuals with high-level clearances will fall into a lone-wolf, anti-government mindset. They will, in time, reveal grave national secrets and cause physical harm.
Solution
Cancel the accounts. Block the channels. Only allow traditional, old-school CBS / ABC / NBC channels for news. The Weather Channel is good because it is both relevant and because it will usually display an alert if there is some emergent threat (ie 9/11). Other generally problem-free program examples are home and garden, cooking, etc. If we really need to monitor the news, we could play VOA or the BBC. Classical music would be better. These can be obtained through existing cable or satellite subscriptions. There are also programs like Digital Concert Hall, with its Berliner Philharmoniker and a vast archive of concerts.
Ultimately, our shift to healthier content will mitigate the more sinister hidden threats of military intervention in politics or lone-wolf attacks. It will also empower workers to be significantly more efficient, cutting down on noise and internal office strife. Workers will be happier. Those who really struggle with the noise of it all, ie Neurodivergent workers, will be pleasantly surprised by their newfound psychological safety. No more constant babble of cable news or ESPN.
Once this vulnerability is fixed, worker efficiency and satisfaction will significantly improve. Good order and discipline will return. It will bring balance to the force.
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Advocacy and Policy Professional
7 个月I vote for C-SPAN.
Building the first AI native GOVCON BD team | Defense Innovation Base | Air Force Veteran
7 个月When I got to TACC, there were TV's at each work center. They had to be on news (unless it was late at night, sometimes we would be able to switch it. But, we could just turn it off. I asked why it was off one day, and a coworker asked "Do you want to be constantly pissed off?" Fair enough. To your point about what to show Dan Rust, why do we need anything? How much energy does the AF use, do we need TV's everywhere? If its not displaying anything relevant, or there isn't a direct need for it, get rid of it.
Space Force Officer, PE, PgMP, PMP, PMI-ACP, RSM
7 个月I'd nix all news programs period. Even the five exceptions at the tail end have their own emotionally charged rhetoric and biases against this or that political viewpoint. Letting them "through" would continue the problem but at levels that would be far less noticeable, and thus more insidious. Instead, let's encourage servicemembers to not simply get headlines and commentary, but dig beyond the lede to the facts available and make judgments on that. Bonus points, less unnecessary noise in the work center distracting people.
CXO @ USAF BESPIN | Buzzword Connoisseur
7 个月The first time I visited a base (last year!), I spent an hour or so waiting on some paperwork in the visitor center. I was shocked that there was a TV playing cable news the whole time because it seemed so out of place in a government office.
Creative Acquisition Expert @ The Outpost
7 个月ESPN and “football” talk that seems to waste hours of time every Monday for our GS colleagues.