Forum Post: News and Democracy
Posted 12 years ago on Dec. 19, 2011, 8:39 p.m. EST by thenewgreen
(170)
This content is user submitted and not an official statement
http://hubski.com/pub?id=11200
The following quote sums up the above article well:
"One day, most Americans will point at us in the news media and say, ‘Why didn’t you tell us? Why did you encourage all that partisan bile and venom? Why did you feed us all that trivial crap, when so many terrible things were converging?’ And no one will be happy with the answer. Least of all those of us who offer it. ‘What we gave you,’ we will say, ‘is what you wanted.’"
-Ted Koppel
Someone should tell Ted that is a complete cop out.
What we want are the facts, without the spin. But the corporate boss wants his flavor, as do the advertisers.
To that he will reply with facts surrounding ratings -
and I say sure, a portion of the public does indeed eat that chit right up
so where's the bankers dirty laundry
Oh yeah -
it's over on 60 minutes
and the movie Inside Job
To be fair, when he does it it's not a "cop out" but rather, a "Koppel out".
He has a point though. There is a very easy way to "protest" popular news. Don't watch.
There are other options but people WANT the spin. They WANT to be told what to think. They WANT easily defined heroes and villains. This is why Fox News and MSNBC are so popular.
I think that information aggregators like Reddit, Hubski and Twitter are changing the way people consume information though. I really do. Crowd sourcing of news will be the future. Sorry Ted, we are going to tell YOU what is and is not news instead of the other way around. I found out from aggregators about Kim Jong Il before I ever heard it mentioned on TV. -It's the "old" media.
What the media gave us, is what the government wanted us to hear.
and what the government didn't want us to know- got suppressed.
I think the media really gave us what we want. If they feel like a story will generate viewership, they will show it. They know that the masses don't crave knowledge or information, they crave easily defined heroes and villains. They crave celebrity and conflict.
We have the ability to not watch. But we don't chose this, we chose to support the drivel.
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'What we gave you,’ we will say, ‘is what you wanted'.
Sounds kind of similar to I was only following orders.
From the link: "Ownership of news media in the US has been substantially consolidated over the last two decades. At the same time, news programming that once focused upon events of historical significance has been replaced with a focus upon entertainment or contentious political divisions".
Does anyone know of any news sources they trust?
news is not entertainment. facts are facts
That's just it.... news shouldn't be entertainment but in our society, it is.
Where do you go to get unobstructed information? What are your sources that are pure?
I'd love to know where some of you are finding your info?
Thanks.
i think the facts are reported, the commentary is what obstructs the truth
The ration of commentary to news is abysmal.
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