BS: Failure of American News to INFORM

Subject: BS: Failure of American News to INFORM
From: Bo Vandenberg
Date: 30 Jul 04 - 11:30 PM

Paul Krugan of the NY Times has a good editorial talking of the failure of the media to report news. I think this is a HUGE problem in the developed world.




Triumph of the Trivial


What do people think could be done to improve American News reporting?

Subject: RE: BS: Failure of American News to INFORM
From: Peace
Date: 30 Jul 04 - 11:35 PM

Resurrect Morrow.

Subject: RE: BS: Failure of American News to INFORM
From: Peace
Date: 30 Jul 04 - 11:52 PM

Jack the Sailor just started a thread entitled, "Are the Saudis Running Out of Oil?" It would be nice if the people of these great countries could learn about that on CNN.

Subject: RE: BS: Failure of American News to INFORM
From: Bobert
Date: 31 Jul 04 - 09:10 AM

Doesn't matter since the American people have been sufficiently Epsolon'ed-down for, ahhhh, facts to have any meaning to them. Just give them NASCAR, country music and Bud and they are perfectly happy ridin' 'round and 'round in their pick-up trucks...

Like don't try to clutter their pea-brains... They won't get it until they are starving and then they'll be too stupid to know what to do about it...

Bobert

Subject: RE: BS: Failure of American News to INFORM
From: saulgoldie
Date: 31 Jul 04 - 09:32 AM

There was a small piece the other day in the Wall Street Journal, of all places that mentioned that Sandy Berger had been totally exonerated in the "case" of the stolen papers. No one in the other media outlets has picked it up. It was news enough when he was accused. But...oh, look at the Lacy Peterson case over there, and the Kobe Bryant case!

I know that people go for these stories--NOT news--to an extent. But I wonder what would happen if the major media outlets were to offer a substantial amount of real news with real facts and real follow-up and corrections for a significant period of time. I am cynical, of course that it would make a gnat's weight of difference. But I have a shred of hope, too.

Subject: RE: BS: Failure of American News to INFORM
From: Alaska Mike
Date: 31 Jul 04 - 10:20 AM

All the major news media outlets are owned by the major corporations. The last thing they want is an informed public. If that happened they might not be able to get away with their corporate shenanigans.

Subject: RE: BS: Failure of American News to INFORM
From: GUEST,Provacateur
Date: 31 Jul 04 - 11:06 AM

Well, I tried getting a thread going about this earlier in the week.

There were over 15,000 media whores at the Demo National Crash Test convention this week. They outnumbered the delegates 6 to 1, I think I heard.

And they still couldn't get it right.

That should tell you something people.

Jon Stewart got it right though. He referred to the Demo National Crash Test convention as the Democratic party product launch.

As usual, Mr. Stewart was dead on.

Subject: RE: BS: Failure of American News to INFORM
From: Little Hawk
Date: 31 Jul 04 - 11:18 AM

The problem rests with those who own the news media, as Alaska Mike indicated. Those people do now wish to inform the public, they wish to control the public. It's a marketing and propaganda exercise. If you want to be informed you have to go to a variety of sources much wider than is provided through the official news media. You have to not only listen to some of the news, but also read books and do research on the Internet. I predict that greater and greater numbers of people will be abandoning the mainstream news sources and going more and more toward alternative sources, and the Internet makes it easy for them to do so. This is good.

Subject: RE: BS: Failure of American News to INFORM
From: Little Hawk
Date: 31 Jul 04 - 11:20 AM

Hmm. There we go again. One little friggin' letter in a typo changes the entire meaning of the statement! Ahem...

"Those people do NOT wish to inform the public, they wish to control the public." is what I meant to say in the post above.

Subject: RE: BS: Failure of American News to INFORM
From: GUEST
Date: 31 Jul 04 - 11:29 AM

No the problem rests with the dumb fuck, gullible, have a little, want a little more middle class assholes who keep voting Republicrats into power because it's a whole lot easier than doing the thankless, hard work of taking the power away from them legitimately, non-violently, and democratically.

Brand loyalty--that is their mantra. They only vote the designer brands of Democrat and Republican.

They would NEVER (haughty sniff) vote progressive to vote the bastards out, even though, of course, they DO SHARE those progressive values. That would be throwing away their PRECIOUS vote. Their vote, just like them and their too precious children, is much more special, much more intelligent, much more pragmatic and practical, than progressive (spit) votes are.

The problem is the greed of the global middle class having a little, wanting a little more, and not having any moral compunctions about exploiting others to get theirs.

That is the problem.

Subject: RE: BS: Failure of American News to INFORM
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 31 Jul 04 - 11:44 AM

No, the problem rests with the media itself. Television is not and never was meant to inform. Its function is to make you want to buy something. The stuff that comes on between the ads for soap and new cars is just meant to hold your attention until the next ad comes along.

If you're reading this you are just a few keystrokes away from masses of information from a whole spectrum of sources that are not beholden to Madison Avenue. Take those few keystrokes and then take a 12 gauge shotgun and shoot your television.

Subject: RE: BS: Failure of American News to INFORM
From: Little Hawk
Date: 31 Jul 04 - 12:20 PM

Agreed. Shoot your television. Life will improve.

Guest- Yeah. Conformity is the problem. That, and lack of imagination.

Subject: RE: BS: Failure of American News to INFORM
From: Fishpicker
Date: 31 Jul 04 - 12:35 PM

One thing the media has been successful in accomplishing is convincing the American people that there is actually a difference between republican and democrat politicians or any politicians for that matter! Snake oil, smoke and mirrors is their stock in trade.
What? me worry?

                      FP

Subject: RE: BS: Failure of American News to INFORM
From: Bill D
Date: 31 Jul 04 - 01:46 PM

news has become sponsored entertainment. This happened about the time that regular video became available and news was more than 'information'. As long as stories are picked for their sound & video bites, it will remain like that....and more & more 'news' people will be hired for their loud, controversial, ability to make and influence news, rather than just report it clearly.

Look at batch of opinionated, fast talking media stars on MSNBC and Fox these days,,,with CNN not too far behind. It takes work to find real sources, and most folks are too lazy...or bored, if it doesn't have 30 second pre-digested bytes for them.

Subject: RE: BS: Failure of American News to INFORM
From: GUEST,Displaced Camelotian
Date: 31 Jul 04 - 05:54 PM

Someone on "Fox & Friends" last week inadvertently summed it up perfectly. In the worst adlib segway I ever heard she said, "And now... Laci Peterson, who's just as important as people starving in the Sudan."

I AM NOT MAKING THIS UP!!!

Subject: RE: BS: Failure of American News to INFORM
From: GUEST,Displaved Camelotian
Date: 31 Jul 04 - 05:57 PM

Also true and disturbing:

The American news media remains the most accurate and informative in the world.

Subject: RE: BS: Failure of American News to INFORM
From: Peace
Date: 01 Aug 04 - 01:51 AM

How would we know that?

Subject: RE: BS: Failure of American News to INFORM
From: GUEST
Date: 01 Aug 04 - 11:04 AM

The American news media the most accurate and informative in the world?

Obviously our deluded and demented Camelotian is on crack.

Or just a typical American.

Or if or crackhead Camelotian has ever travelled outside the US borders, was too distracted as a tourist to notice what actually goes on in the world.

Or maybe it was just that all those foreigners talk funny, so she couldn't hear or read the news.

Subject: RE: BS: Failure of American News to INFORM
From: GUEST
Date: 01 Aug 04 - 01:06 PM

This is a fairly long article about the Demo National Crash Test con, but the best I've read so far. It is not just well written, but bitingly funny and dead on.

The Story of No-Story - A Day at the Kerry Convention