What Effect Does the News Media have On Us?

[Heisenberg]

This thread is for criticism of any kind of the news media. Obviously news outlets can be politically biased, and we can discuss this, but lets try not to delve too much into the ideology behind politics. The political forums would be a better place for that discussion.

What I am interested in is opinions about the media influencing what we find important and what we find trivial to human existence. Has the introduction of a 24hr news cycle improved our awareness of the world, or skewed our understanding of it? If occurring, is misinterpretation of reality inevitable because of the limits of human communication in this style, or it is largely due to reporters being poor at their skill?

I feel that journalists and reporters trade relies heavily on the human language. If I were a reporter I would want to have as masterful as skill as possible over grammar and articulation. I often hear reporters making basic definitive mistakes, or leaving terms in ambiguity.

"The snowstorm literally brought the city to it's knees."

Obviously a city does not have knees, so this can not be true in any literal sense. The meaning is still conveyed and this is a trivial point in lite conversation, but a news reporter should have a better sense of responsibility when it comes to communication.

"As the building burned, the emergency team evacuated 17 people."

The emergency team apparently had enemas on hand and gave everyone's bowels a good cleaning, or perhaps it was the building which was actually evacuated.

These are just pet peeves, but below is an example of a news reporter not doing anything that resembles responsible communication of information.

[video=youtube;gb0upNDhKPA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gb0upNDhKPA[/video]

Do you suppose the purpose of this was to investigate and report, or to entertain and sensationalize? Did this woman do her job?

Being in ohio I was sent this link several times when it was reported. I was later delighted to see Captain Disillusion present his take on it.

[video=youtube;xyR_WHEmO_4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyR_WHEmO_4[/video]

Does the news media help shape our understanding of the world, and if so does the media have a responsibility to apply critical thought and fact checking to their trade?

 

[Luger187]

LOL @ the lady saying its an angel.

that gretchen woman on fox & friends is such a ditz. so are the two guys she does the "news" with. they make errors EVERY day. sometimes i watch it for entertainment if i wake up early.
it has become an entertainment business. they need higher ratings and the competition is fierce, so every other story is breaking news. also over time, they probably realize that a certain group mostly watches their station, and start doing stories or saying things that make them watch more. after a while it probably gets out of hand.
because of these things, we arent getting the real news. they arent doing the story to give you the correct information, they are doing it to get more ratings. maybe if you took the profit motive out of the equation, they wouldnt do that.

 

[Padawanbater2]

Has the introduction of a 24hr news cycle improved our awareness of the world, or skewed our understanding of it?

I think it's clear 'journalists' these days don't give a damn about what is true, all they care about is what will bring the ratings in. It's devolved into something that barely resembles journalism and we have a less intelligent public, partly, because of it.

If occurring, is misinterpretation of reality inevitable because of the limits of human communication in this style, or it is largely due to reporters being poor at their skill?

I think it's due mostly to the conflicts of interest presented when News organizations choose sensationalism over truth.

I feel that journalists and reporters trade relies heavily on the human language. If I were a reporter I would want to have as masterful as skill as possible over grammar and articulation. I often hear reporters making basic definitive mistakes, or leaving terms in ambiguity.

"The snowstorm literally brought the city to it's knees."

Obviously a city does not have knees, so this can not be true in any literal sense. The meaning is still conveyed and this is a trivial point in lite conversation, but a news reporter should have a better sense of responsibility when it comes to communication.

"As the building burned, the emergency team evacuated 17 people."

The emergency team apparently had enemas on hand and gave everyone's bowels a good cleaning, or perhaps it was the building which was actually evacuated.

These are just pet peeves, but below is an example of a news reporter not doing anything that resembles responsible communication of information.

That's a minor flaw on the part of each 'journalist' that I'd agree with you on, even with bitches like Gretchen Carlson, wasn't she the valedictorian at UCLA or Stanford? Have you ever heard her speak on Fox and Friends? I swear it's almost like watching The View.. A lot of times I feel like they dumb themselves down to appeal to the dumber audience. I've seen Jon Stewart point that out on the Daily Show. That says a LOT.

Do you suppose the purpose of this was to investigate and report, or to entertain and sensationalize? Did this woman do her job?

This seems like a story that was put in just to fill time, and in that regard, she did a damn fine job. What value did that story bring to the audience though? It seems like it just enforces the idea "there might be ghosts, who knows, this News organization surely isn't saying there isn't! that's for you to decide!", that's my second biggest problem with how they present news. I think it should be a News organizations job to report the FACTS as established by actual scientists. Have you ever seen anything on tv, not just news, about asteroids or meteors, ghosts or paranormal events? The shit is ridiculous! All you ever hear are stories about armageddon or hauntings that can NEVER be verified, meanwhile I'm thinking "if it can't be verified, why the hell are you reporting on it?!" isn't that was News is supposed to be? Verifiable facts?

Personally, I think the news does have a pretty big effect on the population and huge organizations like Fox, when they present stories with obvious Christian leanings (I've even seen blatant attacks against Muslims and atheists on Fox more than once), it is damaging to the society.

Their influence spreads far and wide, so they should be held accountable for the blatant lies they tell, they should also be held accountable for the facts they report on but are wrong. I'm thinking FAT fines for reporting something that isn't true, and this goes for any organization claiming to be reporting the "News" or one claimng no political affiliation.

 

[fatfarmer]

My wife and I agree that journalism isn't what it used to be. She was a writing/journalism major and constantly bemoans the fact that "old school" journalism has fallen by the wayside. Whatever happened to the basic 5Ws and H tenets of journalism? If we want the facts, we read forums and do independent research. If we want mindless, mind-numbing bimbos and mimbos parroting garbage, we watch cable news networks or read (gasp!) the newspaper. The Mobile Leprechaun might make an excellent example of a juvenile internet meme, but it is certainly not news. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5_F7wgdpLM

 

[Luger187]

I'm thinking FAT fines for reporting something that isn't true, and this goes for any organization claiming to be reporting the "News" or one claimng no political affiliation.

that would be nice to have.

 

[olylifter420]

it is funny that only "atheist nut jobs" like you all really take this seriously...

what about media and stupid stories they air? if you take the time to make a post about that stuff, then i think you are really an "atheist nut job!"

This thread is for criticism of any kind of the news media. Obviously news outlets can be politically biased, and we can discuss this, but lets try not to delve too much into the ideology behind politics. The political forums would be a better place for that discussion.

What I am interested in is opinions about the media influencing what we find important and what we find trivial to human existence. Has the introduction of a 24hr news cycle improved our awareness of the world, or skewed our understanding of it? If occurring, is misinterpretation of reality inevitable because of the limits of human communication in this style, or it is largely due to reporters being poor at their skill?

I feel that journalists and reporters trade relies heavily on the human language. If I were a reporter I would want to have as masterful as skill as possible over grammar and articulation. I often hear reporters making basic definitive mistakes, or leaving terms in ambiguity.

"The snowstorm literally brought the city to it's knees."

Obviously a city does not have knees, so this can not be true in any literal sense. The meaning is still conveyed and this is a trivial point in lite conversation, but a news reporter should have a better sense of responsibility when it comes to communication.

"As the building burned, the emergency team evacuated 17 people."

The emergency team apparently had enemas on hand and gave everyone's bowels a good cleaning, or perhaps it was the building which was actually evacuated.

These are just pet peeves, but below is an example of a news reporter not doing anything that resembles responsible communication of information.

[video=youtube;gb0upNDhKPA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gb0upNDhKPA[/video]

Do you suppose the purpose of this was to investigate and report, or to entertain and sensationalize? Did this woman do her job?

Being in ohio I was sent this link several times when it was reported. I was later delighted to see Captain Disillusion present his take on it.

[video=youtube;xyR_WHEmO_4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyR_WHEmO_4[/video]

Does the news media help shape our understanding of the world, and if so does the media have a responsibility to apply critical thought and fact checking to their trade?

 

[negrodamusCBG]

Programming

 

[tyler.durden]

Hey, Heis. Good thread idea. IMO the media is really just pandering to the lowest common denominator. They are ratings driven, just like any corporate sponsored TV show which means that if the news du jour happens to appeal to people (a 6 year old was found dead today after being brutally raped and tortured) great, if not (CERN today discovered the long awaited Higgs Boson, and the implications of this...snore...), we'd better make it appealing lest we lose our audience. I remember watching Bowling for Columbine when Moore is trying to objectively (yeah, right) discover why America is so violent and has SO many gun deaths: it wasn't the number of guns, Canada has 3 to our 1. As much as the movie could conclude, it was that our news shows such violence even when these occurrences are minute fraction of all that had happened that day. Conversely, Canada and many other countries have a lot more human interest and scientific discovery stories than does the US. A CBS news producer in the movie stated that they would love to show more positive stories, but when they do they immediately lose a large percent of viewers. It's almost like our viewers are saying, 'this positive story is so boring, let's check out other news to see if we can hear about the murdered children'. So, I think the fault is really ours: the media is giving us what we want and the sponsors demand ratings. Look at the BBC, publicly funded news and it looks nothing like major network news. I personally haven't watched the news for years. I figure if something important is happening, I'll hear about it from everyone anyway, there is nothing I can do immediately to change any of it, and it robs me of my personal power with it's negativity. I've been a lot happier and more productive since...

 

[olylifter420]

Was that child killed and raped by a religious nut job or atheist nut job?

 

[tyler.durden]

Was that child killed and raped by a religious nut job or atheist nut job?

Of course, this is not the point. That Anders Behring Breivik guy got some good air time lately...

 

[Dislexicmidget2021]

The news media....I can agree with Heis on the fact that basic definitive mistakes are used to make a story appear to have more than it actualy consists of,and as durden pointed out the masses would rather be entertained than informed and that the media outlet only cares about the ratings more than the truth of their stories.This has in fact has turned peoples viewpoints in to skewed perceptions of the world and of what is actualy happening.So essentialy this is where a great amount of dumbness comes from within our culture.So now you have people walking around believing that the entire country is under attack when it was only one incident in a City in one state that killed many people,the media hype is at a disgusting all time high.Its to the point that so many wont even watch the news anymore because essentially we are being lied to.Now you have the newest aspect of society the "misinformed cattle" arguing out points with other people that are entirely innacurate which goes against any productive informative dialogue.As this trend proliferates amongst the populace,it will turn into information warfare of sorts amongst people with opposing views,there will be those who know ,those who think they know- which outnumbers the rest by far-,and those who do not.Its a great way to confuse the many, only those with a clean perception and intelligible outlook will see between the lines of the media.

 

[*BUDS]

It does have an effect just ask Murdoch's victims .

 

[Luger187]

Hey, Heis. Good thread idea. IMO the media is really just pandering to the lowest common denominator. They are ratings driven, just like any corporate sponsored TV show which means that if the news du jour happens to appeal to people (a 6 year old was found dead today after being brutally raped and tortured) great, if not (CERN today discovered the long awaited Higgs Boson, and the implications of this...snore...), we'd better make it appealing lest we lose our audience. I remember watching Bowling for Columbine when Moore is trying to objectively (yeah, right) discover why America is so violent and has SO many gun deaths: it wasn't the number of guns, Canada has 3 to our 1. As much as the movie could conclude, it was that our news shows such violence even when these occurrences are minute fraction of all that had happened that day. Conversely, Canada and many other countries have a lot more human interest and scientific discovery stories than does the US. A CBS news producer in the movie stated that they would love to show more positive stories, but when they do they immediately lose a large percent of viewers. It's almost like our viewers are saying, 'this positive story is so boring, let's check out other news to see if we can hear about the murdered children'. So, I think the fault is really ours: the media is giving us what we want and the sponsors demand ratings. Look at the BBC, publicly funded news and it looks nothing like major network news. I personally haven't watched the news for years. I figure if something important is happening, I'll hear about it from everyone anyway, there is nothing I can do immediately to change any of it, and it robs me of my personal power with it's negativity. I've been a lot happier and more productive since...

so the problem is the profit motive. seems if we were to take that away, it would probably help a lot

 

[BendBrewer]

A Much Better View Of The Moon (Evans and Doherty)

I used to walk through this world
cautious and oh, so serious,
Till the life I was living was nearly
a near-death experience;
But I changed my story when I finally saw,
where I was wasn't where it was at,
And now I'm alive, I let destiny drive,
and I'm stretching out in the back.

If I lose my job, I'll sleep till noon,
If the news is bad, I'll watch cartoons;
If my house burns down, I'll have lots more room,
And a much better view of the moon.

In the vastness of space,
the ever-expanding universe,
We are all puny specks of galactic dust
down here on mother earth;
Now, I ain't no preacher, don't know if I'll reach ya,
but here is some humble advice:

Use your uncommon sense and you surely will live
an uncommonly sensible life.

If you lose your job, sleep till noon,
If the news is bad, watch cartoons;
If your house burns down, you'll have lots more room,
And a much better view of the moon.

 

[Padawanbater2]

so the problem is the profit motive. seems if we were to take that away, it would probably help a lot

But if it was nonprofit, how would you pay the commentators such high salaries?

 

[fdd2blk]

 

[Luger187]

But if it was nonprofit, how would you pay the commentators such high salaries?

IMO, if you love journalism youd do it for free(or cheap, i should say). just like sports stars and actors. i dont think they should get paid what they do because if they only made like 100k a year, theyd still be doing it. a baseball player plays baseball because he loves the sport. same with actors, and a lot of other professions. its almost like false inflation or something. theres no fuckin way derek jeter deserves all that money for hitting a ball with a stick and running in a circle.

plus, if you only have people that do it for the love of the profession, you end up with better results. as opposed to people who just do it for the money or fame

 

[BendBrewer]

The main problem with today's news is the 24/7 news cycle they have to fill.

There simply isn't enough 'news' to relay. So they are forced to make shit up. I guess the real problem is their viewers don't understand this and they consider this made up bullshit, real news.

If you watch more than 30 minutes of news in a day, you are doing it wrong.

 

[Heisenberg]

Another drawback is that when people here about a kidnapping or murder that may be thousands of miles away, they get the impression that these things are happening right outside their door. This leads to the idea of stranger danger, which is totally false and misleading. A child has a better chance of being struck by lightning than being kidnapped by a stranger. We often see parents refuse to let their kids play alone outside or even go trick-or-treating, but we never see parents keep their kids inside because it's cloudy.

 

[BendBrewer]

I wonder if Bill Hicks knew how to cure root rot......................................

"You ever watch CNN for longer than, say, 20 hours in one day? I gotta cut that out. Watch CNN. It's the most depressing thing you'll ever see, man. "WAR, FAMINE, DEATH, AIDS, HOMELESS, RECESSION, DEPRESSION, WAR, FAMINE, DEATH, AIDS." Over and over again. Then you look out your window - (crickets chirping) - where's all this shit going on, man? Ted Turner is making this shit up. Jane Fonda won't sleep with him, he runs to a typewriter: "By 1992 we will all die of AIDS. Read that on the air. I don't get laid, nobody gets laid." - Bill Hicks

[video=youtube;lKDSQ5Hcds4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKDSQ5Hcds4[/video]