The Malarkey Paper

It’s an old-timey word, and it means BS. As I’ve demonstrated throughout the semester, you’ll find plenty of BS throughout the mass media. Normally, the BS is being carried out by the powerful, and they’re shoveling the BS toward you: the general public. And that’s what we’re going to explore in this paper. When some powerful person, entity or business tried to use some BS on the world and we found out. But here’s the worst part: even if we know it’s BS, the ROWDys will go through with it anyway. Like when the St. Louis Rams decided they didn’t want to be in St. Louis anymore – or more specifically, owner Stan Kroenke saw piles of money in LA, and like most rich, old white men, he took the money and ran. Of course, that’s not what he said he was doing. He said he couldn’t get a stadium built in St. Louis. What you’re going to explore in this paper is a scheme, a vile business plan, a disingenuous start-up, lies about a product – basically, an instance where the powerful lied to accomplish their goals. And we caught them in that lie. But keep in mind, sometimes we only discover the lie years later. Usually when someone files a lawsuit. Of course, since this is mass media, there will be mass media implications. Here’s what to explore: What was the root of the scheme or problem? In Flint, Mich., cost-cutting measures eventually allowed leading to creeping into the water. That wasn’t on purpose, it was an unintended consequence. Conversely, GM once let a whole bunch of cars head to market with faulty brakes; and they knew about it. That was on purpose. The scheme/problem/whatever could be either. Sometimes, it’s unintentional. What was the malarkey (lie)? Where did the BS come in? With Flint, they became aware of the problem months before people got sick and did nothing. That’s some BS right there. GM’s malarkey was that the cars were fit to be sold and “safe.” Stan Kroenke’s malarkey was that he couldn’t get a new stadium in St. Louis (St. Louis came up with a plan eventually, but he didn’t really want it, anyway). Who was affected? The malarkey could have a small audience or circle of victims: With Enron, the stock market suffered, but most employees and shareholders got screwed. Outside of Flint, nobody is really hurt by the water crisis. And if you don’t live in St. Louis, you probably don’t care about the Rams. Tell me who was hurt. What role did the mass media have in the lie? Was the mass media exploited? For instance, let’s look at the Iraq War. The media bought the “weapons of mass destruction” explanation and promoted it. Very few questioned it. Newspapers/TV helped hype people up for war. That was the government’s plan: use the media to increase public support for the war. What is the legacy of the malarkey? What are the long-term ramifications of this event? For instance, after Iraq, the Republicans lost the Senate, the White House and now we have Trump. Would that have happened if we’d never started that war? Our economy also tanked a few years after the War on Terror began. Coincidence? The nitty gritty: Minimum 1,500 words (don’t write 3,000). 4 reputable sources. In-text citations. Full bibliography. Here are some examples of Malarkey (choose one of the topics of them) Wells Fargo and fake accounts Equifax and their free “credit monitoring service” Trump and “divesting” from his businesses Harvey Weinstein’s behavior is swept under the rug Louis CK’s sexual assault allegations and the cover-up Snapchat and storing user photos on their servers 7UP Antioxidant products, with added vitamins Skechers Shape-ups Activia Yogurt and improving digestion Enron’s financial fraud Worldcom scandal The Tuskegee Syphilis Military Experiment The Iraq War Snapchat and personal data Obamacare and “keeping your doctor” The Tobacco Industry denying smoking is harmful Reagan and Iran Contra The Gulf of Tonkin – Vietnam War Richard Nixon and Watergate Trump and his personal “net worth” Planned Parenthood “Sting” operations by James O’Keefe The 2008 Housing Bubble and Mortgage Backed Securities Volkswagen and “clean diesel” Power Balance bracelets The NSA-Snowden Wikileaks Scandal Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky Bernie Madoff and his Ponzi scheme Pete Rose and betting on baseball Author James Frey lying to Oprah President H.W. Bush and “No New Taxes” Roman Catholic Church Sex Scandal The sinking of the Lusitania and World War I Chernobyl nuclear accident and the cover-up British tabloid phone hacking scandal The CIA’s attempted assassination of Fidel Castro