{"id":5676,"date":"2020-04-20T10:14:16","date_gmt":"2020-04-20T10:14:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pan.thatscommunication.de\/news-vs-news-vs-enlightened-society\/"},"modified":"2026-10-19T20:46:21","modified_gmt":"2026-10-19T20:46:21","slug":"news-vs-news-vs-enlightened-society","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pan.thatscommunication.de\/en\/news-vs-news-vs-enlightened-society\/","title":{"rendered":"News vs. News vs. Enlightened Society"},"content":{"rendered":"

For the free citizen, the principle applies now more than ever: read, think, question, form your own opinion, remain mentally free, and do not be blinded. A commentary by Dieter M. Grohmann. <\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

For those proficient in English, this may be confusing. If you place the word ‘fake’ before the word ‘news’, you might sense what I am getting at. Some words have a poor reputation. Not every compromise is automatically ‘rotten’, simply because this pair of words has crept deep into our vocabulary. It is fundamentally the same with (fake) news and (good\/bad) news. <\/p>\n

From a screenwriter’s desk: there is a fundamental difference between a documentary (perhaps enriched with dramatised scenes for illustration) and a (fictional) feature film. Fiction, in turn, is shaded into ‘purely invented’, ‘inspired by real events’, ‘based on true events’, and ‘a true story’. <\/p>\n

In journalism, a distinction is made between news and opinion, as well as advertising\/paid features. These must be precisely labelled. <\/p>\n

So far, so good.<\/p>\n

And already we are one step closer to the root of all evil. What is the source of the news in question? And as with most topics of late \u2013 be it migrants\/refugees, Ms Greta ‘Climate Change’ Thunberg, the diesel scandal\/e-mobility, Covid-19, the financial crisis, anti-vaxxers, veganism, or whatever the latest ‘beast’ being driven through the (global) village is called \u2013 it is NOT about the truth of the news or the credibility of the circumstances or source. It is about whether the source, the origin of the information, is agreeable to us or to the decision-makers. The court jester may well tell the truth, but we laugh at him, for he is merely a fool. Ideology (of the news reporters or other mostly self-appointed elites) decides whether something may be said, written, or even thought. One does not wish to receive applause from the wrong side. Truth must therefore be suppressed or silenced entirely to prevent unpleasant effects. Thus, one hopes to gloss over the fact that most topics become obsolete after a week or two. If this is not the case and the ‘corpse of truth’ begins to stink, there is argumentative prevarication, and every (im)possible conspiracy theory, cover-up attempt, and diversionary tactic is employed. <\/p>\n

Interestingly, this is usually not pursued by a higher authority, but by ‘conviction offenders’ of the so-called civil society, who often do not even have a (formal) connection to one party or another: private guardians of ‘morality’, as it were, on their own higher mission, willing henchmen of hidden interests. (Was this not also the case in the 1930s \u2013 with the ‘v\u00f6lkisch’ consciousness of an entire country? The world has indeed become more complex, but the approaches are strikingly similar.) <\/p>\n

In a society where the primary sources of information are largely hearsay or its electronic form (Facebook, etc.), we live in a state of sensory overload and yet know nothing. What an easy game for ‘opinion kidnappers’. And yet, somehow, many sense the foul play being conducted. <\/p>\n

And from this mixture of a lack of education, missing common sense, and ideological propaganda bombardment grows the feeling that whatever comes through the channels is meaningless anyway. That is actually fine, unless it concerns a (trans)national emergency such as a pandemic. That is not to be taken lightly! The word of the experts must be strictly followed. This is not the time for experiments that may prove fatal. <\/p>\n

But beware: if, after<\/u><\/em> the epidemic, the more or less drastic restrictions are not rolled back in the normal state of affairs, this will be the foundation for future problems. If, in times of a rampant plague, cash payments are reduced or even abolished, for example, this is understandable. If, afterwards, cash is not permitted again by the state under more or less flimsy arguments (e.g. preventing the financing of terrorism), the suspicion that it was all merely a manoeuvre to abolish civil liberties in favour of total surveillance will be hard to argue away. Resistance will then form in an organised manner and not simply happen out of stupidity, as it did in the spring of 2020. <\/p>\n

What, then, is to be done as a \u2013 still free \u2013 citizen? Read, think, question, form your own opinion, be mentally free, and do not be blinded. Not easy, but the only chance for the resurgence or survival of a free, enlightened society. Note: those who give up their freedom to gain security will lose both. But neither hyperventilation nor panic helps; rather, rational reason and decisive, adapted action. <\/p>\n

Mag. Dieter Michael Grohmann is a lawyer, filmmaker, and media artist. Since 2006, he has been Director for Sector Policy and Media at the EU craft association SMEunited. In parallel, since 2010, he has produced a variety of short feature films and documentaries. In 2017, ‘The Hourglass’ was awarded at the W.I.N.D. International Film Festival in Hollywood; in 2018, his film ‘A Walk in the Park’ received the ‘Horror’ Genre Award at the Austrian Film Festival. In 2019, he was awarded the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art. As Artistic Director of Studios Toison d’Or in Brussels, he also serves as producer of the series ‘Paneuropa. The Podcast.’<\/a> <\/em><\/p>\n

www.dietergrohmann.eu<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Guest commentaries express the views of the respective author. They do not necessarily reflect the positions of the Paneuropa Movement Austria. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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