Has Anyone STOPPED Watching/Reading the News?

[audreyh1]

Seems the national news comes from one source and it is slanted and political. I don't trust the national media to tell us the truth.


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I've pretty much concluded that all the national news sources are owned by large corporations, and that ultimately drives the content. Investigative or in depth journalism is seen as too expensive. Relaying important and accurate information to the customer and voter is clearly not a priority. In fact, they seem perfectly content to pass along hogwash, and simply don't care about truth in reporting any more. It's all driven by advertising dollars and corporate bias/goals.

PBS has it's own focus, bias and spin. It's independent of corporate interests, but I still see it as strongly focused in certain areas and not generally balanced. I got tired of it as a source long ago as the slant on any given story seemed very predictable, and they seem to ignore so much.

So, I watch or listen to none of the local or national news broadcast media anymore.

 

[audreyh1]

Conspiracy theorists believe the news is dumbed down.or slanted Those of us who are "well informed" and prefer to stay on top of things do not subscribe to such nonsense. Yes there are commercials and the occasional stories about something you care less about, but that's what a DVR and a 30 second commercial skip button are for.


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I believe that part of the manipulation from broadcast news is to constantly reinforce to the user they are well informed because they are watching the program. The language used in ads for the night's top new stories clearly show this manipulation.

Yes, I believe there is a conspiracy - a conspiracy to make you watch as much TV news as possible, keep you glued to your seat, make you feel like you will seriously miss out (i.e. not be adequately informed) if you don't watch every night. Of course they all manipulate the delivery so you have to sit through most of the time period to get to that urgent story they were advertising all day.

I know people who have bought into this idea hook line and sinker - if they don't get their daily news fix, they feel left out, disoriented, with nothing to worry about or gnash their teeth over. It's quite telling when you are on a cruise with no satellite TV - after a few days people start grumbling about not having CNN or whatever, not knowing "what is going on out in the world", and even ready to contact family members to find out what is going on. This was in the day of no internet or cell phone access when out in remote areas like Alaska. IMO - these folks had been trained like Pavlov's dogs to become anxious at news time and tune into the news of the day so they could experience their daily worry fix. These days such passengers probably do stay connected - not so easy to escape anymore.

We were out camping for several days when Challenger exploded, and so did not find out until several days later - and probably just then because we noticed flags at half mast (a fairly common way for us to find out happenings even these days). A tragedy for sure, and even one close to me because I knew had met several astronauts during my coop career. But was it critical that we knew about it when we were out camping and birding? Did it really make a difference? No. Plenty of reporting after the fact if you really wanted to know what happened.

 

[Sunny]

While I agree with those that have pointed out you don't need to constantly follow the news and large news events will reach you anyway, I miss the news these days. I don't purposefully not follow news, other activities and a wife that can't stand the news means I don't get much of it anymore.

I also think if somebody is interested in the news they shouldn't just use one source. Some of have said they will listen to pundits from both sides, and that is fine. Selecting more liberal leaning mainstream outlets and the ones that may be a bit more conservative is great.

But also throw in some world news sources too. Some may have a skew bent to their own country, but that doesn't mean seeing it from their viewpoint isn't still valuable.

 

[Koolau]

I'm not so much concerned with the biases. They are actually pretty well known. Each outlet and each commentator (but more importantly, each "hard" news person) eventually allows their bias to be known. What I can no longer endure is watching the nation become completely different than the nation I grew up in. We could argue all day long about whether that change is "good" or "bad." That would get political really quickly (can you smell the bacon?). What I don't think is debatable (but I'm sure it will be, heh, heh) is that the nation has rather significantly changed. You decide good or bad, so YMMV.

 

[antmary]

I read the news online; I know it's biased. When things get too negative or have nothing to do with my life, I focus on reading, or catching up on the movies I never got a chance to see when I was working - via Netflix. I agree that our nation (and the world in general) has changed from the time I was growing up in the 50's and 60's. Maybe I was just gullible then, but things seemed to be more hopeful.

 

[bob boag]

May you live in interesting times.

 

[redduck]

...Why think for yourself when others will do it for you [/sarcasm]...

Darn good example of my not needing to think if you were being sarcastic or not.

 

[audreyh1]

May you live in interesting times.

I don't need the times to get any more interesting, thank you very much!!!!

 

[Winemaker]

The sad fact is that many think the mainstream media is "biased", so they start getting their "news" from alt sources, which don't even try to hide their bias...

The recent Wiki-leaks releases proves and supports how biased the mainstream media really is.

 

[Amethyst]

Interesting. I didn't assume the nation has changed that much. I thought I was just becoming more aware of how things are across the country.

During the past 20 years, I undertook jobs with a larger scope than before; lived overseas and traveled a fair bit; and investigated potential retirement locations, all of which turned out to be smug, comfortable enclaves surrounded by vast swaths of people barely scratching a living, if they bothered to scratch at all. It made me think, in a small sense, of what some political candidates have said they feel after stumping the country for months on end: "There's a whole United States that I never knew existed."

Also during that time, I became active in the social media universe, where I learned that some relatives and friends, whom I thought I knew well, actually have very different attitudes than I do. I still don't see how some of them can hold those attitudes. It's like they're hanging onto them with both hands and both feet in the face of all reason and evidence. Then again, they probably think the same thing about me. So anyway, I suspect "things" today aren't different, so much as they are better known.

I'm not so much concerned with the biases. They are actually pretty well known. Each outlet and each commentator (but more importantly, each "hard" news person) eventually allows their bias to be known. What I can no longer endure is watching the nation become completely different than the nation I grew up in. We could argue all day long about whether that change is "good" or "bad." That would get political really quickly (can you smell the bacon?). What I don't think is debatable (but I'm sure it will be, heh, heh) is that the nation has rather significantly changed. You decide good or bad, so YMMV.

 

[gerntz]

I'm avoiding national/world news as it sickens/depresses me. I watch local, but when they interject national stuff, I dump them too. I stay informed reading, but I can pick when & how much depression I get.

 

[harley]

I don't really have anything to add right now, I just wanted to get one more comment in before Porky's visit.

 

[Amethyst]

Harley is right. We're all being so careful, we aren't really saying much. Here comes the piggy on his little trike...

 

[Germonico]

".....piggy on his little trike" Now that is the type of story headline I could read everyday......sounds pretty amusing!

 

[REWahoo]

Here ya go...

 

[travelover]

I don't really have anything to add right now, I just wanted to get one more comment in before Porky's visit.

Last tag!

 

[Big_Hitter]

IB porky!

 

[Sunny]

I'm confused by all the porky stuff? Is that a mod to lock the thread (and if so, why?).

Maybe I am just extra dense today.

 

[MichaelB]

I'm confused by all the porky stuff? Is that a mod to lock the thread (and if so, why?).

Maybe I am just extra dense today.

Yes, when Porky Pig makes an appearance, the discussion has ended and the thread is closed. Most often due to a violation of our community posting guidelines, which you can see here.

 

[Amethyst]

I have also gathered that the mods sometimes close threads pre-emptively, in an effort to head off discussions that haven't gone off the rails yet but are close to the edge.

 

[REWahoo]

I have also gathered that the mods sometimes close threads pre-emptively, in an effort to head off discussions that haven't gone off the rails yet but are close to the edge.

Don't forget the mods may have deleted one (or several) of those "off the rails" posts when they closed the thread. That can give the appearance the thread was closed preemptively, but likely it was already deep in the abyss when Porky made an appearance.

 

[Al in Ohio]

The sad fact is that many think the mainstream media is "biased", so they start getting their "news" from alt sources, which don't even try to hide their bias...

You couldn't have stated it any simpler. Most of the bias claims for mainstream broadcast news is unfounded. It is subtle and occasional, but you understand when it happens and why its happening. No biggie.


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[Music Lover]

The sad fact is that many think the mainstream media is "biased", so they start getting their "news" from alt sources, which don't even try to hide their bias...

Actually, the sad fact is that some people actually believe that the mainstream media is not biased...

 

[Big_Hitter]

Don't forget the mods may have deleted one (or several) of those "off the rails" posts when they closed the thread. That can give the appearance the thread was closed preemptively, but likely it was already deep in the abyss when Porky made an appearance.

I can't wait until this is over and we can start arguing about stealing beach chairs again

 

[Alan]