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The media is ruining (American?) society.
Drez
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I don't wholly blame the media, but it's a gigantic issue. I was going to post this in the Coleman/Franken thread, but it was locked, and it would have been off-topic anyway. So let's talk about the media.
This is what I was going to say (edited slightly to make sense). And I've talked about this to others and have received some measure of agreement.
I don't know much about the media machine in other countries. I watch the BBC now and then but only insofar as it relates to me as an American and I have no concept of how the BBC relates to, say, a European or Englandian which isn't even a real word.
But insofar as America is concerned, I really think the media does so much more harm than good. I'd go to this extreme: Very little media presence and only essential information exchange would be better than the clusterfuck we have now.
Am I blowing things out of proportion here? I'm genuinely interested in what other people think. Frankly, I think the media is one of our biggest domestic problems. And it's one that is, as far as I can tell, completely and totally unfixable. Because I think the way the media functions is generally a reflection on how American society functions or wants to function. So is the current state of our media machine a byproduct of American society? Or does it drive the way American society functions? Or do we kind of shove each other along, a push here, a pull there, and so on?
This is what I was going to say (edited slightly to make sense). And I've talked about this to others and have received some measure of agreement.
I think you really have to spend some time in America to understand how terrible our media machine is and how effective it is at warping people's minds. Honestly, we inflict so much propaganda at ourselves. And it is very effective. And the scary part of it all is that it's not even subtle. Every cold front "could potentially turn into the worst blizzard ever" - Meteorology - and people even eat THAT up. We're a society that is, informatively speaking, at the beck and call of the media in every respect and they just eat up whatever is said. I feel like we're way too short on skepticism nowadays, particularly with regard to the media. It's easier to just accept what other people tell you is the truth than try to figure it out for yourself. We are a lazy society that accepts everything that's fed to us. I think there is sufficient evidence of this. And most if not all of it is either exaggerated, sensationalized, or a blatant lie.
I don't know much about the media machine in other countries. I watch the BBC now and then but only insofar as it relates to me as an American and I have no concept of how the BBC relates to, say, a European or Englandian which isn't even a real word.
But insofar as America is concerned, I really think the media does so much more harm than good. I'd go to this extreme: Very little media presence and only essential information exchange would be better than the clusterfuck we have now.
Am I blowing things out of proportion here? I'm genuinely interested in what other people think. Frankly, I think the media is one of our biggest domestic problems. And it's one that is, as far as I can tell, completely and totally unfixable. Because I think the way the media functions is generally a reflection on how American society functions or wants to function. So is the current state of our media machine a byproduct of American society? Or does it drive the way American society functions? Or do we kind of shove each other along, a push here, a pull there, and so on?
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Also, PBS is pretty damn good as a news service. Actually, most of the international versions of various American outlets are good too.
Really the only two ways to majorly impact the way the media here works would be to 1) Reduce the rights they have to speech, or 2) Have the media be owned and operated by the government instead of privately. I think both of those are scary alternatives.
I think this is one of those things that we just have to live with to an extent, that is if we want to have free speech. In the same way I have to deal with Westboro Baptist Church because they have first amendment rights as well.
In no way do I think the media should be limited. "Having less" doesn't mean the government should restrict speech or anything like that. What I mean is that, in abstract terms, the media machine in this country - in sum total - harms society. Less media = less harm. The point isn't really grounded in anything realistic, just what I feel.
Exactly, and I agree entirely with the way you feel, I just don't think anything realistically can be done about it. There would be no way to have "less media" without taking away rights to speech or some sort of government intervention, both of which would be much worse than the harm the media is currently causing.
NPR interviews more conservative think tanks than it does liberal think thanks for its news stories - a lot more. Several of its shows may be more liberal orientated, but its news reporting is actually quite balanced.
Given how often they point out that you're listening to NPR I'd say it was more masturbatory. It's still a lot better than what else is out there.
The British tabloids are like a national treasure though.
They're too hilarious to be taken seriously.
Well, the issue is simply that you can't really compete with a 24/7 cable channel without providing 24 hours of news yourself. The internet might allow some other outlets to compete in such a way that would drive Fox or CNN or MSNBC off the air for lack of eyeballs, but I doubt it.
By driving the other media out of business with a superior product/funding model. There is a hell of a lot less media today than there was a decade ago thanks to numerous newspapers closing their doors or getting swallowed up. Free speech hasn't been suspended.
I'd actually say that the fact that there is "less media" today has been a bad thing, though.
That applies to most, but..
Far too many people take the Daily Mail seriously.
Something should be done.
something like this?
http://www.theonion.com/content/news/this_american_life_completes
although to be fair TAL does actually devote a large amount of its airtime to people who have actual problems.
Some media organizations take others to task for bad reporting while others merely take notes and perpetuate the lies and distortions other publications put forth. This is so haphazard, I don't think any organization really fears any other organization so much so that it is an effective check against doing something sleazy.
The problem isn't the number of outlets it's the amount of content each outlet feels it has to produce. 24 hours news networks, online presence, every journalist and reporter has a blog or some other bullshit to keep them busy. You can't keep up that much coverage without taking every crackpot story that comes your way, hyping the shit out of the most mundane news and occasionally just making some stuff up and throwing in a picture of a celebrity.
I mean, I love TAL, but whenever I listen to it, I feel guilty about listening to it, because: A) what right do I have to try and feel like I could ever empathize with the situations of these people, I who have it relatively easy and have never had any major problems in my life;
Put a "Surgeon Generals Warning: Not to be taken seriously" sticker on the front page?
True, but for some of us, the alternative is a man named Dennis Prager.
Just my take, but i'd say ours is similar but nowhere near as bad. American media is like the Yoda of fucking up the publics head.
Then again... this is just what I have gleaned through reports on our media so... *shrug*
Theres usually alot of fear mongering, from foot and mouth to bird flu to terrorism are all taken from 'potential threat' to 'epidemic proportions!' in the way it is treated by the media.
If we are any less responsive to it i'd say that American patriotism has a lot to do with it - if you are a good american then you will trust the word of these fine american reporters?
I think (again, based on representations of America) that by and large we aren't that patriotic, and this don't really trust much that we are told.
To be 'American' seems to have a whole set of moral values, whilst to be British seems to just demand cynicism and bad hygiene... and a disproportionate love of soap opera and reality tv i guess.
Shep Smith was always a pretty good guy I thought. If they gave him a real show and not just the 7 PM whatever/celebrity/bullshit hour it might be a show on Fox News worth watching.
The BBC also talks to us like we are idiots. Most BBC news reports look like something aimed at kindergarten. The Today program and Newsnight are the exceptions, but prime time news on the BBC is laughable.
One thing I've noticed since I moved to England is that the local news broadcasts (which go in the slot that back home would be Scotland Today) are ridiculously bad and extremely parochial. The national and international news tends to be OK, but they do generally err on the side of oversimplification.
The problem is that controversy sells. It's what Bill O'Reilly and Keith Olbermann both thrive on: pissing people off. You got people watching their show and buying their books just to prove them wrong. In the end, guess who's got your money? They still win.
Not to bash some of my favorite games, but look at Rockstar Games. They make great stuff, but some of it, I feel, is put out to make sure anti-constitutionalists bash it. Almost all of their games are M-rated, and we all remember the famous photo of JT holding a copy of GTA4. Rockstar has his money now.
Piss people off: it's a sure way to make money.
I'm fine for the closet racists to have their own paper, it's good to know what the lunatics are thinking, just so long as it isn't driving policy decisions in government.
I made a game, it has penguins in it. It's pay what you like on Gumroad.
Currently Ebaying Nothing at all but I might do in the future.
The BBC's obsession about going live is killing serious news reporting on the 6 and 10 o'clock news. Last year Downing street started taking the piss. They kept having people coming in to meet Gordon Brown at 6 o'clock so every piece that was "Live from Downing Street" would also have mention of what 'intriguing' meeting Brown was having this week. It was like free advertising.
I made a game, it has penguins in it. It's pay what you like on Gumroad.
Currently Ebaying Nothing at all but I might do in the future.
if if if if.
People care about the fucking Iphone. People care about celebrities and myspace. People care about their cars and their favorite sitcom.
The idea of thinking critically and without bias is, from what i see in my fellow americans, JUST NOT CONSIDERED. The social concious is a savage pit of despair, where only beer, sex, and whatever tv tells you matters.
I think its a concious decision by people to root themselves in their made up mind, and fuck everything else.
I guess i feel that this isn't the media's fault. This is the fault of every person who gives them power and says "Yes, this is the type of entertainment I want to see".