Dissent is commonly known as "minority opinion." It is important to recognize the crucial role of dissent in times of war, as well as the role of the First Amendment in protecting it. History shows that during the Progressive Era, antiwar voices who did not want America to get involved in WWI were persecuted for their antiwar views, and many of them were jailed for simply voicing their opinions. Today, the United States government is engaging in military operations worldwide, but the mainstream media seems to lack strong antiwar voices, as can be seen on websites such as s ANTIWAR.COM and The American Conservative. This can be attributed to a variety of factors. Most mainstream media is owned by the same large corporations, which may have close connections to the government and military, which could create a pro-war bias. Also, news media, is a business. By creating a sensation of violence and conflict that viewers feel they need to tune into, channels can create better advertising revenue and ratings.
I believe I have not heard of either of these websites prior to writing this blog post because of the lack of diversity in mainstream media ownership. It is alarming that in order to hear strong antiwar voices I have to seek out alternative sources of information. The underrepresentation of antiwar voices in the news is alarming as it is important for Americans to receive information from a variety of opinions in order to attain their own values and beliefs. It is very dangerous if politicians are colluding with large news corporations to push pro-war stances because it is never the government's job to tell you what to believe (compelled affirmation of belief). Overall, the mainstream media should do a better job highlighting minority opinions such as antiwar voices.
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