Shogon
12-17-2020, 10:13 AM
I really don't care to get into the left vs right bullshit, so please don't hijack this thread with such garbage. Please, I'm begging you. I know it will fall on some deaf ears, but I ask nonetheless. And please try not to get caught in the weeds of specific media stories. I am trying to discuss the big picture here, not individual instances or individual narratives unless they are used to support your overall stance/thoughts. Here we go...
Surely a generous portion of us should be able to discern by now that the media today is completely off the chain and reporting accuracy and integrity is no where near the forefront of the decision making process to run with a story or not. All it takes is a look at a broadcast from 40 years ago to see how far we've strayed in terms of how the news is reported and the frequency. I mean it's bad enough to the point that you could often make the case that their actions are bordering on treason.
1) I think that we, as a society, need to identify the specifics of what is happening and why this is the case.
2) I think that we, as a society, need to determine what steps we can take to rectify this problem.
And make no mistake about it, it is a major problem. It might actually be the single biggest problem that our country faces today, because if information is controlled in an effective manner, so are people. Most of us are easily influenced and we let our emotions guide our thoughts rather than sitting down, taking a breath, and analyzing situations and information objectively before jumping to a conclusion. Given that as truth, it should be crystal clear as to why this is such an important topic of discussion. Given that this is how we act, the media has the ability to, in a sense, shape our world views lest we remain vigilant. I think it's a tough ask to assume that the entire population is capable of changing their emotional behavior at this present time.
So to point 1... given the premise that the media is purposefully emotionally inflammatory in 2020 is true, why is this the case? From my perspective, there are more media sources to choose from than ever before. While this may seem like a good thing on a surface level, I think all media outlets in today's world face immense pressure to generate ratings in order to be able to stay in business due to such high levels of competition has actually resulted in a net negative. In other words, they almost have to be inflammatory assholes otherwise their doors are going to shut down because we aren't going to consume their product.
This means clickbait headlines, skewing the truth, reporting before verifying, and even narrative painting are commonplace today. Narrative painting is something that I see on the regular. And by that I mean media outlets are often reporting factually true events in such a way that individual truth(s) is(are) used to paint an overall false representation of objective reality. A false bigger picture. It also means that increasing level of conjecture has become prevalent with 'reporting.' Gone are the days of unemotional reporting sticking to factual information. Most outlets nowadays have people inserting their opinions, their political biases and their agendas into stories and reporting them as if they're fact rather than the conjecture that it so obviously is. I think the reason this is the case is because the outlets all know, to tie back into the profit driven above all costs idea, that it's good for business.
As best I can tell, the 24/7 news cycle starting in the 80s/90s was the start of all of this and gasoline was really poured over the fire in huge quantities with the advent of the internet and in particular, smartphones that follow people around in their pockets 24/7/365. The internet really brought about people being able to 'report' whatever they want to report and it has caused a major snowball effect with television and printed media as well towards intentionally inflammatory reporting.
Summary: new technology and increased competition has resulted in fact based reporting falling to the wayside in favor of emotionally inflammatory reporting because that is what we as a species choose to consume and the media outlets that would stray from the modern model would ultimately go out of business due to massive revenue/ratings loss.
That leads me to point 2... what can we do about this? We can pass or rectify current legislation. I personally think this is somewhat dangerous because freedom of the press is an integral part of having any type of free society. If we're not careful and we regulate reporting too much, they essentially become nothing but propaganda puppets for the state. It's a slippery slope and a tough tightrope to walk between free reporting and state controlled narrative bullshit.
Ultimately I think that the burden of responsibility is going to end up on the consumer. The consumer has to become educated about the fact that the media outlets are not working in the favor of the consumer and they are not working for the consumer's overall well being as an individual. The outlets are simply trying to generate revenue to stay in business. And thus the consumer has to stop consuming the products that are clearly emotionally inflammatory bullshit. The problem with this, for now, is that a substantial amount of people don't recognize it, and even the large number of people that do recognize it still mostly choose to consume it and they don't care because they like getting caught up in the emotionally inflammatory bullshit.
So how do we get from point a to b of having an educated consumer base that tunes this bullshit out and forces the market's hand to self correct back towards objective fact based reporting? The truth is I don't know. I am not entirely sure what to do other than to sit by and let the passage of time rectify the situation.
But I personally would like to be able to help lead others to the truth so that our society is better for it. I just don't know how to get through to people and to change minds and hearts. What to do, ISH, what to do.
Surely a generous portion of us should be able to discern by now that the media today is completely off the chain and reporting accuracy and integrity is no where near the forefront of the decision making process to run with a story or not. All it takes is a look at a broadcast from 40 years ago to see how far we've strayed in terms of how the news is reported and the frequency. I mean it's bad enough to the point that you could often make the case that their actions are bordering on treason.
1) I think that we, as a society, need to identify the specifics of what is happening and why this is the case.
2) I think that we, as a society, need to determine what steps we can take to rectify this problem.
And make no mistake about it, it is a major problem. It might actually be the single biggest problem that our country faces today, because if information is controlled in an effective manner, so are people. Most of us are easily influenced and we let our emotions guide our thoughts rather than sitting down, taking a breath, and analyzing situations and information objectively before jumping to a conclusion. Given that as truth, it should be crystal clear as to why this is such an important topic of discussion. Given that this is how we act, the media has the ability to, in a sense, shape our world views lest we remain vigilant. I think it's a tough ask to assume that the entire population is capable of changing their emotional behavior at this present time.
So to point 1... given the premise that the media is purposefully emotionally inflammatory in 2020 is true, why is this the case? From my perspective, there are more media sources to choose from than ever before. While this may seem like a good thing on a surface level, I think all media outlets in today's world face immense pressure to generate ratings in order to be able to stay in business due to such high levels of competition has actually resulted in a net negative. In other words, they almost have to be inflammatory assholes otherwise their doors are going to shut down because we aren't going to consume their product.
This means clickbait headlines, skewing the truth, reporting before verifying, and even narrative painting are commonplace today. Narrative painting is something that I see on the regular. And by that I mean media outlets are often reporting factually true events in such a way that individual truth(s) is(are) used to paint an overall false representation of objective reality. A false bigger picture. It also means that increasing level of conjecture has become prevalent with 'reporting.' Gone are the days of unemotional reporting sticking to factual information. Most outlets nowadays have people inserting their opinions, their political biases and their agendas into stories and reporting them as if they're fact rather than the conjecture that it so obviously is. I think the reason this is the case is because the outlets all know, to tie back into the profit driven above all costs idea, that it's good for business.
As best I can tell, the 24/7 news cycle starting in the 80s/90s was the start of all of this and gasoline was really poured over the fire in huge quantities with the advent of the internet and in particular, smartphones that follow people around in their pockets 24/7/365. The internet really brought about people being able to 'report' whatever they want to report and it has caused a major snowball effect with television and printed media as well towards intentionally inflammatory reporting.
Summary: new technology and increased competition has resulted in fact based reporting falling to the wayside in favor of emotionally inflammatory reporting because that is what we as a species choose to consume and the media outlets that would stray from the modern model would ultimately go out of business due to massive revenue/ratings loss.
That leads me to point 2... what can we do about this? We can pass or rectify current legislation. I personally think this is somewhat dangerous because freedom of the press is an integral part of having any type of free society. If we're not careful and we regulate reporting too much, they essentially become nothing but propaganda puppets for the state. It's a slippery slope and a tough tightrope to walk between free reporting and state controlled narrative bullshit.
Ultimately I think that the burden of responsibility is going to end up on the consumer. The consumer has to become educated about the fact that the media outlets are not working in the favor of the consumer and they are not working for the consumer's overall well being as an individual. The outlets are simply trying to generate revenue to stay in business. And thus the consumer has to stop consuming the products that are clearly emotionally inflammatory bullshit. The problem with this, for now, is that a substantial amount of people don't recognize it, and even the large number of people that do recognize it still mostly choose to consume it and they don't care because they like getting caught up in the emotionally inflammatory bullshit.
So how do we get from point a to b of having an educated consumer base that tunes this bullshit out and forces the market's hand to self correct back towards objective fact based reporting? The truth is I don't know. I am not entirely sure what to do other than to sit by and let the passage of time rectify the situation.
But I personally would like to be able to help lead others to the truth so that our society is better for it. I just don't know how to get through to people and to change minds and hearts. What to do, ISH, what to do.