"Would you agree that there may also be an underlying tit-for-tat
mentality, because you all have covered events that were flagrantly
designed to mislead the public?" She shrugged. "Why not cover news that
is staged as an accurate reflection of reality?"
"That may be, but setting aside for the moment that television news
without pictures is called radio, a correspondent without the smarts to get
pictures of bang-bang in a war will soon be covering flower shows."
"And this reality of the business allows trickery to become a trap,
because staging the way it is does not have him pull the trigger?"
"A fake office scene never killed anyone," I countered.
"It certainly has: somewhere, a reporter facilitated an extreme
manifestation of a staged action, because it was seen as an attribute of
clarity. Your own words by the way, if you care to review them."
Clearing my throat, I said, "Minimal staging is a standard ever
reporter understands, and by otherwise incorporating the language of
television it avoids having to explain the obvious, or emphasizing
elements that aren‘t relevant. This is no different than you and I building
more complex assumptions into our lessons than most people can
appreciate, so we don‘t have to explain every little thing we know."
"What we understand is knowledge; our version of an assumption has
no wiggle room, because our beliefs have been discarded to facts."
I scratched my beard.
"You are still failing to grasp the importance of momentum," she
said, addressing my consternation. "The average person‘s assumptions
create the illusion of a factual continuity in everything. Based on this, the
media uses chosen information and professional technique to create a
place that‘s between fact and fiction, through which the public assumes
they‘re watching the truth, because it has been designed to suit their
assumptions."
"Because assumptions are what carry our communications."
Shaking her head, she said, "I am saying that designed assumptions
have been incessantly imprinted and implied to us, until we perceive them
as the truth. In fact, they blur the path to seeing our experiences as re-
enactments of our beliefs, because we have not assessed our assumptions
for their validity—we haven‘t looked up from our conditioning." Bonnie
stepped away from the creeping surf as she said, "They have become a
part of the internal dialogue that maintains our illusions."
I thought about this, almost grasped something larger that I knew was
important, but it eluded me like Bonnie following the waters retreat
seaward again.
