This show came from a time when people mostly got their information from TV, there were few alternatives other than print media after all, and so on subjects the viewer wasn't familiar with, they were easily persuaded by its authoritative tone. Almost no one before the age of google had the ability to easily fact check this show, and so it carries a legacy it doesn't deserve. Now since the 2016 election its become ever more clear what it is, and I question what else I grew up watching on this show wasn't actually as portrayed.
The show is a demonstration of the techniques of effective propaganda. Voice of god narration by an actor who sounds like some kind of government authority backed by ominous music to set the tone, and then you are fed narratives by chosen talking heads who launder lies, these are after all not the words of the producers, just third parties, its how its done on all such media. On the "Policing the police" episode a talking head states that she knows the police are biased just against black people because of all the white arrests she sees on cops, when the reality is the producer of Cops admitted on tape that their show was deliberately skewing things to show disproportionately more white arrests to be politically correct. This is easily fact checked, but its the kind of thing that never is as it fits their chosen narrative. So as politics becomes ever more radicalized, manipulative shows like this have proven they can no longer be trusted, and frankly they never should have been.
