What Do You Think About The News?

[Seil]

And I don't mean "Tucker Carlson's an asshole," or "O'Riely can do something very inappropriate." I'm talking about news in general, from magazines, to newpapers, to TV and Radio... whatever.

I heard today about Cheque-book Journalism:

chequebook journalism
n
(Communication Arts / Journalism & Publishing) the practice of securing exclusive rights to material for newspaper stories by paying a high price for it, regardless of any moral implications such as paying people to boast of criminal or morally reprehensible activities

Now, I've heard that CBJ is illegal, as you can't really pay someone for information and exclusive rights to a news story, or something to that effect, so corporations have been getting around it by stating that they're paying individuals for "Photographs," and "Cell-phone videos."

And there's a quote from Cracked:

This wasn't as much a problem in the old days, of course. Some of us remember having only three channels on TV. That's right. Three. We're talking about the '80s here. So there was something unifying in the way we all sat down to watch the same news, all of it coming from the same point of view. Even if the point of view was retarded and wrong, even if some stories went criminally unreported, we at least all shared it.

That's over. There effectively is no "mass media" any more so, where before we disagreed because we saw the same news and interpreted it differently, now we disagree because we're seeing completely different freaking news. When we can't even agree on the basic facts, the differences become irreconcilable. That constant feeling of being at bitter odds with the rest of the world brings with it a tension that just builds and builds.

Which is true, I think. So why is it that when you hear a news story on CNN, then on FOX, then on local news, why do they have a different story? Michael Moore is talking about how "greed killed the newspapers.

[Aklyon]

Originally Posted by Seil

when you hear a news story on CNN, then on FOX, then on local news, why do they have a different story?

do you really want to hear the same thing thrice? they know repeating themselves isn't intresting, so they make it different.

[bluestarultor]

Originally Posted by Aklyon

do you really want to hear the same thing thrice? they know repeating themselves isn't intresting, so they make it different.

Or in Fox's case, make shit up and put so much spin on things you'd think the coming of Christ was an invasion of baby-eating, incomprehensible horrors.

[Pip Boy]

Somehow I always looked at Fox as less of a news source and more as the worlds largest Poe's Law in-joke.

[Krylo]

I don't watch news.

I just browse internet forums and let people that DO watch the news inform me of what to be outraged about.

It's like watching the news, except I don't have to put up with pundits or human interests stories.

Plus I have more time to watch cartoons.

[Funka Genocide]

Originally Posted by Krylo

I don't watch news.

I just browse internet forums and let people that DO watch the news inform me of what to be outraged about.

It's like watching the news, except I don't have to put up with pundits or human interests stories.

Plus I have more time to watch cartoons.

Not only do I not watch the news, I don't even make my own posts half the time. Krylo does it for me.

[Donomni]

Originally Posted by Funka Genocide

Not only do I not watch the news, I don't even make my own posts half the time. Krylo does it for me.

This is so true it hurts. Ow.

[Premmy]

Dammit Krylo. You know I hate your ass why do stuff I agree with?

[Jagos]

He does it for teh lulz?

Also, the news is awesome sometimes.

[Amake]

I believe Douglas Adams said the thing you have to realize is that news media are not in the business of delivering news, publishing information or bringing knowledge or any of that. Their business is to get viewers and readers. That means everything they do have the primary purpose of attracting attention. That means they are well-paid, enormously influential shameless attention whores.

As time goes on I find I have less interest in any news. Sports? Never cared about it. Celebrity gossip? That's a damn psychic booby trap, getting you interested in people you don't know and making their dull lives seem more valid and interesting than your own, in the false hope that by consuming the minutes of the lives of the rich and powerful you'll somehow become rich and powerful. When I read a headline about the princess of Sweden struggling with her eating disorder I ask myself, would this information be meaningful if it was about Erik Olof Andersson from Flurkmark or anyone else I frankly don't give a shit about? If the answer is no, and it always is, why should it be any different because this is a person I'm supposed to find interesting?

A rant for another time perhaps. What other topics are there in the news? I hardly even remember. A white girl gets murdered horribly? That seems to be a constant segment in the news today, every case regurgitated for months until another shows up. Do I need to know the grisly details, the color of the killer's underwear, in fact anything at all the news can tell me? No. It's spun to make everyone shocked and scared and encourage more police state anyway.

Economics? I try not to care about money more than I have to. Politics? I'd have to find an unbiased source to actually learn anything. World War 3 has begun? I'll read about that on the Internet for sure, possibly from people who are directly involved. One time I talked on IRC with a guy in Israel while a gunfight went on on the street below him. "If I stop talking it's probably because I've been shot." Good times.

I'm probably forgetting something but I can't be assed to look for references. In short, following the news is a waste of my time and an obstruction to independent and creative thought.