I don’t like to mislead people.  I think it’s wrong, period.  Unfortunately, there seems to be a growing trend on the internet where those with an agenda skew their message to fulfill a particular goal (increased traffic, swaying readers, etc).  Two sites that often do this, with misleading messages and or hyperbolic text, are Huffingtonpost and Drudgereport, both of whom have the same agenda, albeit with different motivations behind them.

I’m going to use a Drudge link from today that set me off, but if there was one from Huffpo that ilicited the same reaction, I would have used that as an example. Here we go:

‘PERFECT CITIZEN’ PROGRAM PLACES ‘SENSORS’ THROUGHOUT WEB

At first glance, what does this say?  “We are watching you, America, BIG BROTHER BIG BROTHER BIG BROTHER”. Let’s click through to the actual piece:

The federal government is launching an expansive program dubbed “Perfect Citizen” to detect cyber assaults on private companies and government agencies running such critical infrastructure as the electricity grid and nuclear-power plants, according to people familiar with the program.

The surveillance by the National Security Agency, the government’s chief eavesdropping agency, would rely on a set of sensors deployed in computer networks for critical infrastructure that would be triggered by unusual activity suggesting an impending cyber attack, though it wouldn’t persistently monitor the whole system, these people said.

Set aside the fact that it clearly says it will be installed in computer networks for critical infrastructure, (aka not peoples personal networks), this is the government trying to protect our national interests from a potentially grave threat.  If Al-Qaeda, North Korea, or some group we aren’t even aware of yet was able to penetrate our power grid, disable it, and then launch a potentially devastating terror attack, we would be utterly helpless.  If they took down the power grid in New York, our financial system would be in shambles.  If they accessed our subway systems, crashing trains into each other would be as easy as pressing a few buttons; hundreds if not thousands could die. Or God forbid air traffic control.

What is the benefit of phrasing the headline like this, other than inciting fear and distrust in those who read his site?  We live in a time when peoples opinion of government is at an all time low, and this sort of behavior only strengthens that feeling.  What is the endgame, though?  Is it inspiring paranoia in the government as a whole, or just in a Democratic government?

Outlets with an agenda, whether it be Drudge, Huffpo, or Fox News, does nothing beneficial to the general discourse, or the well-being of this country.   It continues to polarize and divide when we should be coming together, and working to better our ways of life.