Media Observations In Orlando
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- Category: Blogs
- Published: Wednesday, 08 January 2014 00:15
- Written by Mike Greene
by Mike Greene- Former candidate for Orange County Sheriff
Yet another of voluminous observations I made 2 years ago during my run for Sheriff. What I observed was that in general, the media in Orange County is controlled.
If you look at the journalists and reporters at the Orlando Sentinel, News 13 and the other major media outlets in Orange County and Central Florida, you will not see any black faces (maybe one or two). The same applies to Hispanic reporters and journalists.
If you go behind the scenes, to the ones who hire and lead those reporters and journalists, you will not find any black editors or owners. None. Zero. It seems that only community level, grassroots media outlets such as West Orlando News, Community Steeple and church newsletters are the only media sources where the black community can be heard in true and honest words.
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There is a powerful elite group that runs this county. Behind the scenes there is a white inner circle and a black inner circle that runs the county and the City of Orlando. I know who the players are, their roles and the benefits they are receiving.
Regardless of race though, I saw the majority of these elite
few as a group of power hungry people who were in politics for the power, prestige, access to powerful people in the private sector and financial gain.
But I have digressed.
Let me return to the subject at hand, the media in Orange County. These powerful few meet with the powerful people in media. One hand washes the other. I was one of the top Detectives in a department with 6,000 Detectives, and Detective of the Year and Month numerous times. Compare that number to Orlando PD with a total of 700 officers and the Sheriffs Office with a total of 1,700 deputies and civilians.
I'm not a dumb man. I quickly connected the dots and followed the trails to determine who was in alliance with the powerful elite. What I discovered was that there is a connection between a politician getting positive press, even if it's a flat out lie, and the media outlet that is giving that politician that false positive press.
To find these connections you have to see which media person (or friend or family member of the media person) is contributing to which politicians campaign fund. You have to connect the dots and see which media person owes which politician a favor (maybe for previously allowing that media outlet access to a high profile story, etc.). You have to see which media person is having private lunches, dinners or secret intimate relationships with which politician, Etc.
Money, power, intimacy and access rule the day in these political/media relationships. As a candidate for Sheriff who has been on the receiving end of false negative reporting and as a Detective who investigated crimes only to later watch the related story on the news, reported inaccurately, I will have always told people the following: "Do not believe everything you read in the press.
Take what you read with a grain of salt. Know that most, if not all of the time, the story you are reading is not 100% accurate and may not even be 50% accurate. Try to read between the lines and determine on your own the bias that is being printed. Above all, for the truth or to get close to the truth, look at several media sources, not just one or two. And if you can, try to contact the source directly. And from my own personal experiences, there is a very good reason 'it's' nicknamed "the Orlando Slantinel."
Good day my friends and God Bless.