Should information ever be censored? Should all media outlets be held responsible to present information in a “raw” format? Should information be a constitutional right? I believe so …

“Media Matters for America is a Web-based, not-for-profit, 501(c)(3) progressive research and information center dedicated to comprehensively monitoring, analyzing, and correcting conservative misinformation in the U.S. media.”

- MediaMatters.com

The above quote from Media Matters’ about us page says quite a bit about our political environment. Although I would prefer to leave out “conservative” as that can demonize, I do believe that the majority of misinformation comes from their camp. Misinformation. What exactly is it? Misinformation, noun, is “false or inaccurate information, esp. that which is deliberately intended to deceive.” At least that is what Apple’s dictionary tells me, but let’s dig a little deeper.

Misinformation can be done in many ways. You can create information without any objectivity or evidence to back up your claim, also known as lying (Yea, that’s right. I can fly.). You can manipulate or massage real data to support your agenda (Yes, Ms. Jones. Hormone therapy doubles your health risk.) And, last but not least, you can censor or edit out information (S. Hannity: Obama sympathizes with those that committed the 9/11 attack. Listen to his last press conference … )

All forms of misinformation are plaguing our society. Our new contributing author, Alex Trusca, has recently written about how information is key to a successful democracy, but what if the information that saturates this society is corrupt, censored or manipulated? Is that anti-democratic?

We look at China, Venezuela and Iran with their draconian control, their religious or communist government and think how horrible it must be to live in a society where truth and information is suppressed. But, are we so free from it over here?

Okay, in our society, information may not be banned or systematically censored, but does it need to be to influence policy, to manipulate public perception? In many ways subtlety is more deceptive because it is seemingly benign at first. “So what? It’s just a little white lie, right?” Well, it is like the age old boiling frog story.

“If you throw a live frog in boiling water, he will immediately jump out to save himself. But, if you place him in luke warm water and slowly increase the temperature, he will not attempt to remove himself.” This is because our neurobiology is not adept at sensing small increases over time: “It seems as though all of a sudden, I was 50 lbs over weight!”

Our democratic society is the frog. We are not noticing how the Mass Media is ratcheting up their manipulation of information. If we mimic the frog, and not notice the subtle change, we will end up with a dead democracy and wonder, “How did this happen?”

Take for instance the Iraq War. This misinformation campaign killed over a hundred thousand people. The entire lead up to it was based off propaganda that is still repeated today. “Fight them over there, so we don’t fight them over here; Iraq was involved in 9/11; Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction … ” all are still repeated today.

Or, how about something as simple as Barack Obama being Muslim? In 2008, 12% of all people polled in the US thought Obama was a Muslim. Now, 11% think Obama is Muslim. This may not sound like a big deal, but only 48% knew Obama was a Christian. The remaining 39% were unsure. We are talking about our own nation’s president, not some foreign dignitary.

Still don’t believe me? Take the housing market bubble from which we are now suffering. That too was misinformation. We, Americans, were told that owning a home was the best investment we could make; it was patriotic to own a home. We were told that housing will always increase in value and continually investing in the market was a near guaranteed win. Was it true? No. Were there people that knew better? Yes, but that information was not disseminated among the people.

When our country is designed to be a democracy, information being disseminated to all constituents is paramount for a “free” society to operate properly. Most importantly, this information is then individually processed for each member to properly own its responsibility to the democratic nation. If you are not an informed voter, you are, in essence, stripped of your rights. Free, uncensored information should be a constitutional right, not something that is treated like like pop culture.

Let’s use a very current example. When the Iraq War was authorized, one would think that pertinent information would be constitutionally guaranteed to the House and Senate, so that they could make a properly informed decision. Wouldn’t you? Well, it seems the CIA thought not.

It has been revealed this week that the CIA may have officially misinformed or misled the congress about Iraq, WMD’s, torture and more since 2001. Here is what the Wall Street Journal had to say:

Central Intelligence Agency Director Leon E. Panetta has told lawmakers that the agency “concealed significant actions” from Congress, according to a letter released Wednesday from seven Democratic lawmakers.

The letter also contends that Mr. Panetta said CIA officials have misled Congress since 2001.

Unfortunately, it does not stop with high level, government departments. It is right there in your living room, staring right back at you every night. Your news channels are now propaganda machines. The worst, FOX News. Let’s take a look:

We as a society, whether you are conservative or not, should never condone such blatant abuse of our right to factual information. Any organization that is considered “the press” should never edit, censor or manipulate the facts to perpetrate an ideology. It should be left up to the individual to believe what they want to believe.

You may say, “So, don’t watch FOX News then!” Yes, of course, but what if you didn’t know better? What if it’s the only channel that worked on your 20 dollar TV? How would one know that FOX News is not real news? They don’t have a disclaimer. They are not on a comedy channel. Hell, they even say “Fair and Balanced!” Was that person just stripped of their constitutional rights? Yes, I believe the person was … or should be.

Now, if you don’t want government controlled media, I don’t blame you, but we need some kind of countermeasure for regulating our journalism, news outlets and pundits. This has gone too far. We need to hold these people accountable for their actions.

This is where organizations like Media Matters of America … well, matter. They are trying to step in and fill a void, but they are up against very powerful entities. So, get involved, get familiar with Media Matters, donate to their cause and inform your friends and family about this abuse of power. Our government has let these institutions get too big and too powerful. They have allowed the power to shift away from us and into the hands of corporate conglomerates.

I would like to take this time to tip my hat over to Media Matters and encourage everyone to bookmark www.mediamatters.com and help keep our media accountable and donate if you can. If everyone was informed properly, FOX News would be forced to report accurately. Their power is your ignorance. Help create and enforce free and truthful journalism.

Full Disclosure: Blog4Brains.com and I are not affiliated or related to Media Matters for America.