Today's News "Reporting"

FIREd said:
Sure, I won't be able to tell you what the Kardashians are up to, but the fact that I am expected to know that just shows how much of today's news is just stupid fluff.
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The first time I heard of them my thought was "Who are the Kardashians and why should I care what they're up to?" No one has yet given me an answer.

But maybe I'm just weird.
 
We never watch TV news, subscribe to the Sunday paper mostly because our kids want to read the comics, and avoid all the online "news." Life is a lot less stressful. My dad just cannot fathom why I don't want to stay more "informed."
 
IMHO news anchors are grossly overpaid for reading drivel off the the teleprompter. Ditto for grossly overpaid weather blather bloviators.

It has been many many years that I actually watched a news or weather program. It was already annoying then.
 
Hey I agree that most of the new programs out there are annoying and that life can be a lot less stressful by ignoring "the news", but...

I actually think it's important to keep informed - at least to a certain level - as a citizen in a democratic republic. Ultimately, our form of government doesn't work when people tune out and stop paying attention en masse.

If you don't want to vote, well OK, you're allowed not to vote, and I guess my vote is worth a teeny but more. But I still think it's sad.
 
Giving up on partisan and major network "news" doesn't mean ignoring the news or becoming uninformed. I'd argue those who get a steady diet from those sources only may not be as well informed as they might think. You need only look at the results of many of the never ending polls to see how clueless many participants are, occasionally answers within a poll are even contradictory. It doesn't help that desperate news pollsters are often asking for opinions before anyone really knows much about a given event.

There are plenty of good sources online, magazines, newspapers and/or other TV networks like PBS...
 
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Midpack said:
Giving up on partisan and major network "news" doesn't mean we're uninformed, I'd argue those who get a steady diet from those sources only may not be as well informed as they might think. There are plenty of good sources online, magazines, newspapers and/or other TV networks like PBS...
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I, too, like PBS (and NPR). But I would not say they are non-partisan, at all.
 
Much of what passes for news is content developed by entertainment companies to pander to affinity groups targeted by marketing for the benefit of advertisers.

The stuff about "keeping you informed" is just part of the soft sell to the marks.
 
samclem said:
I, too, like PBS (and NPR). But I would not say they are non-partisan, at all.
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I don't listen to NPR for that reason. The Newshour is less partisan. And Frontline, Charlie Rose and a few others at least provide many POV's.
 
Midpack said:
Giving up on partisan and major network "news" doesn't mean ignoring the news or becoming uninformed. I'd argue those who get a steady diet from those sources only may not be as well informed as they might think. You need only look at the results of many of the never ending polls to see how clueless many participants are, occasionally answers within a poll are even contradictory. It doesn't help that desperate news pollsters are often asking for opinions before anyone really knows much about a given event.

There are plenty of good sources online, magazines, newspapers and/or other TV networks like PBS...
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+1. I am an active voter and care a lot about local issues. That said, I find that a handy shortcut that covers 99% of all situations today in the US is to assume that all politicians are criminals, have the morals of an alley cat with a meth habit, have been bought and paid for so many times that they put the ladies of negotiable virtue to shame, and are out to take your freedom and money. The exceptions are so rare that it does not matter.
 
mpeirce said:
I think it's sad when people are driven to give up news. I can understand why they do so, but I personally take it as a challenge to stay fairly well informed.
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Being well informed and watching/reading/listening to the local news or CNN are hardly the same thing. News magazines are now much thinner and filled with ads. Ditto our local paper. I don't want to waste trees so I do not subscribe to a newspaper.

Knowing what events some news organization thinks will suck people in the most and knowing things that are important are entirely different things. I think our local news feed should have information about what is going on in our city council and our state legislature and governor's office. What bills are being debated in Congress and who introduced them? Nope, instead they showed the President slipping on a step getting off Air Force One.

When I was in college and medical school, I didn't have a TV and I wasn't even listening to the radio. A friend told me about it. I was too busy studying, exercising, and enjoying my life with my friends to regularly pay attention to the news. The economy wasn't so great.

On the other hand, I was getting myself really informed about things that mattered to me, that would make me a good physician. I had the choice of sitting with the other grad students in the grad student dorm common room watching TV, or running 3 miles or swimming a mile during my non-studying time. Which was the better choice?

As long as news is sold as entertainment, I may as well stay away from the entertainment, excuse me, news feeds.
 
mpeirce said:
Hey I agree that most of the new programs out there are annoying and that life can be a lot less stressful by ignoring "the news", but...

I actually think it's important to keep informed - at least to a certain level - as a citizen in a democratic republic. Ultimately, our form of government doesn't work when people tune out and stop paying attention en masse.

If you don't want to vote, well OK, you're allowed not to vote, and I guess my vote is worth a teeny but more. But I still think it's sad.
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I quit watching the news because it wasn't informing me well enough. This has nothing to do with staying informed or being an active informed voter.
 
EastWest Gal said:
Being well informed and watching/reading/listening to the local news or CNN are hardly the same thing.
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+1 I just checked out CNN.com. It is full of "informative" stories about LeBron James, Mike Tyson, the new Daily Show host, traffic jams in Istanbul, Coyotes on NYC roof tops, how to turn your kid into a lush, and how a bunch of people in a crashing airplane became scared out of their mind in the last moment of their life (and CNN is unapologetically making mucho dinero off of this tragedy, milking it for all it's worth). Wow, I feel more informed already.
 
Today's News "Reporting"

I don't mind occasionally watching biased news, provided it is spun the way I want to hear it. Im getting a bit old and grumpy and hate biased headlines in newspaper. Such as a recent headline.....Employee shoots and kills customer at store.... After reading article it clearly should have been.... Employee saves his life by shooting a drunk customer who pulled a gun on him.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
FIREd said:
+1 I just checked out CNN.com. It is full of "informative" stories about LeBron James, Mike Tyson, the new Daily Show host, traffic jams in Istanbul, Coyotes on NYC roof tops, how to turn your kid into a lush, and how a bunch of people in a crashing airplane became scared out of their mind in the last moment of their life (and CNN is unapologetically making mucho dinero off of this tragedy, milking it for all it's worth). Wow, I feel more informed already.
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Exactly. This is entertainment (well, to some, not me) and not news. While actively ignoring the common news sources, I don't feel any less informed than before. And as for voting, the news has nothing to do with choosing a candidate.

When it comes time to vote, I will research the candidates (as best as I can) and make my decision. I don't need the editorial board of my local paper make that decision for me. And certainly not the talking heads of the news networks.

Sent from my mobile device so please excuse grammatical errors. :)
 
There is a word to describe what's presented on CNN and its ilk: "Infotainment." Programming is economics-driven and based on a shrewd understanding of human psychology: What will keep 'em watching long enough to see the ads?

Most people want to be entertained. Most people like to see water-skiing dogs, little kids being brave in the hospital, goofy wedding ceremonies, and the president slipping on the airplane steps. People also want the serious stories, but they prefer them with lots of footage of yelling and shoving, or being shouted-up by circus barkers a la Wolf Blitzer (Wolf: "Do you thank the Lord you didn't die in that tornado?" Woman: "Well, actually, I'm an atheist").

If the stories were presented in a serious way, the viewers would become bored, and no one would stick around long enough to see the ads.

Amethyst
 
Ah local news. All I can say is that when "TrueTV" starts running a reality show on the competition between/daily life of two female news reporters in Greenville Mississippi ....
 
FIREd said:
Sure, I won't be able to tell you what the Kardashians are up to, but the fact that I am expected to know that just shows how much of today's news is just stupid fluff.
Click to expand...

Scan the covers of the tabloids in the grocery store as you're checking out. You don't need to know much more about celebrity lives than that.:D
 
Most of the "news" is just fluff. I get my fill watching the teasers during commercial time between programs. You often get just as much substance from the teasers as you do from the actual news program.

I'm also having a difficult time thinking of a news report from the size of a Kardashian bum size to a war in the Middle East that made any difference in my life that I could do anything about. I have enough going on in my life to keep me busy without that.

I do, however, admit to watching McLaughlin Group if I am not busy at the time mainly for the fun banter and sometimes interesting perspectives.

Cheers!
 
I also got really tired of the local news ploy to keep mentioning and important "story" both pre and during the broadcast. And then at the last minute - it would be super brief! What a waste of time.

I don't watch broadcast TV anymore, but if I happen to catch a "breaking story" headline (usually by walking past some place with the TV on), I simply go look for the story myself instead of sitting captive waiting, and waiting, and waiting.......

Enough headlines pass through various web pages and apps that I rarely miss sometime important and happily ignore most of it.
 
Today's News "Reporting"

audreyh1 said:
I don't watch broadcast TV anymore, but if I happen to catch a "breaking story" headline (usually by walking past some place with the TV on), I simply go look for the story myself instead of sitting captive waiting, and waiting, and waiting.......
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Yep. I watch TV with my iPhone close by. No need to wait for the "Film at 11"- just look it up!

In our area a restaurant blew up near my office as I was leaving work (gas leak caused by construction in area; they're all still pointing fingers at each other). I called DH immediately because I was headed to an evening meeting and told him I'd just passed a building in flames but was OK. DS, who doesn't own a TV and lives 3 hours away, found out within an hour. Amazing how news travels now.
 
As the "boutiquization" of popular media continues into ever smaller political audience groups, I keep hoping that one major outlet will finally decide the best approach is straight, hard news and deeper investigative reporting.
 
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