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The Current Problem in Media
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Hambone10 Offline
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Post: #1
The Current Problem in Media
From someone in another forum... IMO, and outstanding article about what 'fake news' really is.



Quote:Ariana Pekary

July 24th was my last day at MSNBC. I don’t know what I’m going to do next exactly but I simply couldn’t stay there anymore. My colleagues are very smart people with good intentions.

The problem is the job itself. It forces skilled journalists to make bad decisions on a daily basis.

You may not watch MSNBC but just know that this problem still affects you, too. All the commercial networks function the same – and no doubt that content seeps into your social media feed, one way or the other.

It’s possible that I’m more sensitive to the editorial process due to my background in public radio, where no decision I ever witnessed was predicated on how a topic or guest would “rate.” The longer I was at MSNBC, the more I saw such choices — it’s practically baked in to the editorial process – and those decisions affect news content every day. Likewise, it’s taboo to discuss how the ratings scheme distorts content, or it’s simply taken for granted, because everyone in the commercial broadcast news industry is doing the exact same thing.

But behind closed doors, industry leaders will admit the damage that’s being done.

“We are a cancer and there is no cure,” a successful and insightful TV veteran said to me. “But if you could find a cure, it would change the world.”

As it is, this cancer stokes national division, even in the middle of a civil rights crisis. The model blocks diversity of thought and content because the networks have incentive to amplify fringe voices and events, at the expense of others… all because it pumps up the ratings.

This cancer risks human lives, even in the middle of a pandemic. The primary focus quickly became what Donald Trump was doing (poorly) to address the crisis, rather than the science itself. As new details have become available about antibodies, a vaccine, or how COVID actually spreads, producers still want to focus on the politics. Important facts or studies get buried.

This cancer risks our democracy, even in the middle of a presidential election. Any discussion about the election usually focuses on Donald Trump, not Joe Biden, a repeat offense from 2016 (Trump smothers out all other coverage). Also important is to ensure citizens can vote by mail this year, but I’ve watched that topic get ignored or “killed” numerous times.

Context and factual data are often considered too cumbersome for the audience.

There may be some truth to that (our education system really should improve the critical thinking skills of Americans) – but another hard truth is that it is the job of journalists to teach and inform, which means they might need to figure out a better way to do that. They could contemplate more creative methods for captivating an audience. Just about anything would improve the current process, which can be pretty rudimentary (think basing today’s content on whatever rated well yesterday, or look to see what’s trending online today).

understand that the journalistic process is largely subjective and any group of individuals may justify a different set of priorities on any given day. Therefore, it’s particularly notable to me, for one, that nearly every rundown at the network basically is the same, hour after hour. And two, they use this subjective nature of the news to justify economically beneficial decisions. I’ve even heard producers deny their role as journalists. A very capable senior producer once said: “Our viewers don’t really consider us the news. They come to us for comfort.”

https://www.arianapekary.net/post/person...ving-msnbc
08-05-2020 09:23 AM
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OptimisticOwl Offline
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Post: #2
RE: The Current Problem in Media
“Our viewers don’t really consider us the news. They come to us for comfort.”

Every time I see an article from CNN/MSNBC/WaqshPo/NYT quoted, I will think of this.

I think people like to hear "news" that reinforces what they already believe. So those lefties who believe in their heart of hearts that somehow, the 2016 election was stolen from Hillary (and them) will be very quick to seize upon anything, any fairy tale, that supports this belief. Thus, the ongoing Russomania, and "steal the election mania" and the "he won't leave the White House mania" and most of all, OMB.

I long ago noticed this tendency in myself. So I consciously set out to broaden my sources, which now include CNN, ABC, Fox, and all the articles posted on this and other discussion sites.

(FTR, I don't watch "Fox and Friends, Big) Nor do I own a MAGA hat)

But sometimes I watch Trump on TV, and then I compare the coverage to what I saw.

Thanks to having a broad sample, the bias in certain sources is clear. It can be as subtle as the wording of a headline or the choice of what stories to print, and it can be as broad and harsh as outright lies, some of which I see presented here to "prove" points.
(This post was last modified: 08-05-2020 09:41 AM by OptimisticOwl.)
08-05-2020 09:39 AM
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Hambone10 Offline
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Post: #3
RE: The Current Problem in Media
1990 or so, I was driving home from work listening to KPRC talk radio... and the guy on there said something ridiculous... I don't remember the exact comment, but it was along the lines of... 'people who support this think 'x''.... and as a supporter of whatever it was who didn't remotely think 'x', but instead felt 'y', I was compelled to call the radio station.... this was back when you paid for cell phones by the minute.

while on hold, the guy continued to talk and I realized that he didn't actually believe what he had just said.... all he was doing was trying to get someone like me to call. It worked just as designed. It was at that point when I realized that the problem wasn't them, but me. I had fallen victim to the 'is your child safe? Tune in at 11'... and it has only gotten worse where 'views' drive revenue.

There is a line in the movie, The American President that is of course... taken from a liberal perspective... but that doesn't make it untrue... so long as we realize that it swings both ways....

I've known Bob Rumson for years, and I've been operating under the assumption that the reason Bob devotes so much time and energy to shouting at the rain was that he simply didn't get it. Well, I was wrong. Bob's problem isn't that he doesn't get it. Bob's problem is that he can't sell it! We have serious problems to solve, and we need serious people to solve them. And whatever your particular problem is, I promise you, Bob Rumson is not the least bit interested in solving it. He is interested in two things and two things only: making you afraid of it and telling you who's to blame for it. That, ladies and gentlemen, is how you win elections.

So we know the problems and we know how we're being manipulated... and we still do nothing to change it.
08-05-2020 10:07 AM
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OptimisticOwl Offline
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Post: #4
RE: The Current Problem in Media
" ...two things and two things only: making you afraid of it and telling you who's to blame for it. That, ladies and gentlemen, is how you win elections."

And for proof, look at the current campaign and the fear and blame being tossed about.
08-05-2020 10:12 AM
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