THE SPIN

In political communication, "spin" refers to the biased and often manipulative presentation of information, designed to influence public perception of an event or situation. It involves shaping the narrative in a way that is favorable to one's own position.

The media is the focus of The Spin. Although print media is taking a beating by digital media, the fact remains that as of now there is still a human on the other side of the article we're reading, watching or listening to. Those humans who used to strive for "unbiased journalistic integrity" are mostly a thing of the past and there is no getting around their viewpoints being integrated into the information they are presenting. In other words, "everybody's got an

angle."

According to the Associated Press when I wrote this song, Finland was "the happiest country in the world" (speaking of a homogenized population). The United States is now 24th as it experiences "...decreasing or growing unhappiness, falling to its lowest-ever position." It's also the only country in the top 25 not predominantly populated by one race. Finland is 86.5% Finnish by race compared to the melting pot of America. Without dragging anything else into the discussion the comparison is already apples to oranges for the purpose of a melting-pot-stirring anti-American article.

Finland came in 38th out of 183 countries for suicides per capita - 13.4 per 100,00 (as compared to the "growing more unhappy" USA, number 31 on the list at 14.5 per 100,000 a difference of basically 1). What does it say that the "happiest country in the world" has nearly the same rate of suicide as the United States?

So if it's comparing apples to oranges, what is the reason for the comparison in the first place? I'll let you decide, but the best bet at finding the truth in any story is reading the most oppositely biased accounts you can find and guess for somewhere in the middle.

"A man could make a killing if he's only willing to breach the public trust."