How the Media Is Ruining the United States
Here’s a video I put on my Facebook page, with introduction: Those seeking to know why things in our country are so screwed up need look no further than this.
My old friend Steve Vachss writes: This woman makes some good points. Nevertheless, she misses one fundamental reality. The media are not there to serve the public good or to provide fair coverage. I agree with her that TV “news” has been unwatchable for the past year, due to the political nonsense she fairly describes.
But media companies are only big businesses that sell advertising. To maximize ad revenue they maximize audience measurement. To maximize audience measurements they run material that attracts the largest audiences. If Fox runs Trump 24 X 7, CNN and MSNBC must follow or lose the audience, revenue, and profitability. We can’t blame the media; we can only blame ourselves as part of an ignorant, shallow, low-brow audience.
I respond: You’re right that, at a certain level, we are getting exactly what we deserve. It’s a vicious cycle: we become more ignorant, so the media panders to that ignorance. But that, in turn, make us even more ignorant.
I wonder what would have happened if we hadn’t allowed the huge consolidation of 95+% of our media into five or six for-profit entities? 30 years ago, we had a far more diverse fourth estate, hungry for real news; correspondingly, we would have laughed Trump off in about 15 minutes.
To those who wonder why I write so much about politics, it’s this: We will not have clean energy (or any of the other good things we want) as long as we’re so pitifully uninformed and manipulated.
Frequent commenter MarcoPolo challenges my assertions about the consolidation of media and the role it plays in stultifying its audience; he begins: I really hate it when I find myself at odds with what you write…. (he continues) Bobby Kennedy addressed his campaign workers saying; “in the end, the people vote their hearts, and their hearts are usually right.”
I respond:
I had to laugh when I read, “I really hate it when I find myself at odds with what you write.” As far as I can discern, it’s what you do for a living.
Re: your thesis that “the people” are best positioned to govern, this idea had some merit as recently as just a few decades ago–certainly in Bobby Kennedy’s day. How far have we fallen? Now the U.S. is on the precipice of electing Donald Trump president, something that would have devastating and permanent consequences, not only for all Americans but for everyone on Earth.
How did we get here? “TRUMP!” is piped into our heads, all day, every day.
Why is this happening? Providing that pipeline and the vile content it delivers is obscenely profitable.
Craig, the monopolistic tendency for unregulated markets is clear in many industries. Media is just one example.
Another is the field of education where top down control has failed to create widespread intellectual curiosity and the tools to satisfy such pursuits.
Yes, it is just one example, but consider this: The downside of a monopoly in cable TV is higher consumer prices. The monopoly in media has brought us to the brink of electing Donald Trump president of the US, something that would have devastating consequences, not only for Americans, but everyone everywhere. .
“Fox News” is now Fox for a reason.
Many have stopped watching tv news.
Why does anyone listen to anything other than public radio, tv?
With out good, complete and accurate information people can’t make good decisions. The military, and doctors……… understand.
There is supposed to be a equal air time for different view points but where is it?
Propaganda is used in warfare. Fox news uses Hitlers propaganda strategies. Koch got millions getting oil for Stalin and Hitler and now they have a propaganda and politician bribery empire.
A big mistake was made when the TV and radio were not used for education.
Craig,
Er, I really hate it when I find myself at odds with what you write. I don’t mean to be contrary or cantankerous, but I despair when someone like you whose opinions I value greatly falls into the trap of reciting fallacies.
The media may not be to your liking, or even favorable to your philosophic and political viewpoint, but its never been more widely diversified !
In fact the US still possesses the most diversified media in the world.
In 1960 the US had just three major TV networks, with a few minor players. Today, more than 50 national broadcasting networks exist. Digital programing has allowed the growth of a host of new networks, including not-for-profit networks.
In addition the are nearly 200 independent TV stations operating.
But above all,( as your forum evidences), is the vast world of Internet and Social media. Sites like the quality Huffington Post, Real Clear Energy etc provide an amazing diversity, and are very popular.
Printed media has lost some players, but still remains a strong and vibrant influence.
Donald Trump is a showman ! The media loves a showman because he attracts audiences. People want to see what he will do or say next. It doesn’t mean they’ll vote for him ! The media didn’t create Trump, the public created him.
Trump is a political and public phenomenon, just as Teddy Roosevelt was in his day. Blaming the media is wrong and unsupportable.
What’s a bit scary is you seem to think the media should reflect only the opinion of his opponents, and ignore Trump. I’m sure you don’t really mean it, but you seem to be advocating a form of censorship.
You give the impression of dividing society into three categories, the vast bulk of people as a mindless herd, and two elites. One wicked and personified by a cabal led by David and Charles Koch, the other an elite of wise, altruistic, noble leftist philosophers who are the only ones qualified to trust with managing the herd.
I hold a different view. I believe that the “herd’ are the ones who are, and should be, in charge of deciding who manages everyone. I trust the common people, who despite all their faults remain the stalwart guardians of democracy. The herd will tolerate a certain degree of manipulation before in a nation that guarantees “Free Speech”, they reject the manipulators.
Booby Kennedy addressed his campaign workers saying;
“in the end, the people vote their hearts, and their hearts are usually right” . He went on to say, ” If the majority of the people do not accept our program, only we are to blame, either we have the wrong program, or we failed to explain our ideas clearly enough to be understood. We must always ask ourselves how have we failed the people, not how they have failed us” .
In closing another quote from RFK comes to mind.
“Few will have the greatness to bend history itself, but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in total, of all those acts will be written the history of this generation.”
I had to laugh when I read, “I really hate it when I find myself at odds with what you write.” As far as I can determine, it’s what you do for a living.
Re: your thesis that “the people” are best positioned to govern, this idea had some merit as recently as just a few decades ago. How far have we fallen? Now the US is on the precipice of electing Donald Trump president, something that would have devastating and permanent consequences, not only for Americans but for everyone on Earth.
How did we get here? “TRUMP!” is piped into our heads, all day, every day.
Why is this happening? It’s obscenely profitable.
Craig,
Relax, support for Trump will evaporate in a real election campaign. Like Barry Goldwater, Trump supporters will recede to a small band of protest voters. Anti-Hillary Clinton voters will probably just not vote.
Although not popular and carry a lot of negative political baggage, Hillary Clinton stands out as the candidate with the most support in the centre. It’s in the centre where elections are one or lost, not the fringes.
Good point, and I’m sure you’re right.
The tightly consolidated and profit-obsessed corporate media has been stripped of news staff, and it’s “news” segments are now rendered into little more than a bias-filtered conduit for selected content.
This is as opposed to its former incarnation – a mechanism that was often capable of both truth-telling and investigative journalism in defense of ethics, civic responsibility, and the common good.
With this grave transformation in the media, cunning public figures with a prior media presence – like Drumpf – can feed the voracious and vacuous 1,440-minute-a-day “Tyranny of Now,” where even the worst gaffes, errors and bald-faced lies can be simply carried as news (unless the media ownership are inclined to lash out).
Conversely, old-school politicians have grown ever more cautious of the media, and they carefully craft their messaging – often so timidly as to merely utter lots of nice sounding words without saying much of anything. Hillary Clinton is well suited and trained to this feeble art.
The people – in this country and across the world – are long past being disgusted with such bland blather, and recognize it for what it is – a con job.
The con job many folk don’t yet recognize is Drumpf’s cruelly clever cocktail. One part is his shrewdly couched admission that our country has been long removed from its former prowess – “Make America Great Again!” This is new boilerplate diagnosis is served up to the understandably fearful and desperate, blended with the second part – his boldness in prescribing a lethal cure in the form of global arrogance and belligerence and domestic bigotry – all driven by ignorance.
His economic positions lack the solidity of smoke and mirrors, and yet he confidently proffers his failed-businessman’s promise to run our nation like a corporation. He makes this latter promise even while exploiting immigrant and foreign labor, and he sports a record of failures that overturn the grandiose business acumen he claims to possess.
Much as Reagan was “The Great Communicator” and yet started us down the path to our present plutocracy, Drumpf is the ultimate “confidence man” and the merry trail he’s staked out for us all leads to cactus and cliffs.
So, I take it you won’t be inviting Donald to Thanksgiving Diner at your place this year ? 🙂
fearing trump will be the next big disaster for the whole World. tv and/or printed newspaper news shall not allowed to sell any type of advertising;only so they can become independent from big monney
Geez … an anti-Trump rant that has excessive liberal bias helps me grow my knowledge about green energy how? Let’s grade objectively and sadly it appears necessary to also grade on maturity not of age but on what is spoken in print and visually.
Featuring an unflattering picture of one candidate and not of each candidate is fair how? Is it wrong for facial expression to reflect passion? What was the context of the picture? For example if the topic was the murder of a loved one … I want to see anger!
Name calling on a scale of 1 to 10 in maturity earns what score? The Donald obviously has branded himself with the last name of Trump. Equal effort being scornful towards Obama’s name would produce even greater levels of eye catching incongruity.
Trump was blessed to start out with a large silver spoon. He successfully grew this into billions. What other candidate has any real business experience?
Which candidate is the most honest? Who is transparent and “calls it like they see it.” As opposed to playing stall games and using deception up to the vary edge of legality? Note that honesty is a different metric than that of being ideologically likeable. The later being more subjective.
Where there is smoke …
I have not researched the many claims promulgated in the documentary titled “The Clinton Chronicles”; however, I think it wise that if even a low percentage of what that documentary reveals is truthfull then it should be front page news again.
The original:
https://youtu.be/t63iS7nep3s
The “new” version:
https://youtu.be/SS7uSmG-R34
… there is fire!
In search of the above links I observed a youtube posting titled “Trumpochronicles” and in fairness must include this information. I plan to view this soon; however, even before doing so I get a sense damage control being fought out. Undoubtedly Trump does have a lot of negatives that are behaviour related and involve some flip flopping; however, I hope drug smuggling and numerous mysterious deaths are not among his ghosts in the closet.
As further food for thought … the following links provide some considerations one high level thinker shares regarding liberalism and theology. Certainly a firestorm topic that the video only introduces some perspectives worthy of debate. I personally find science that has arrived at truth to be 100% compatible with intelligent design. After all … is not science derived from observation of what is?
Stefan Molyneux >>
https://youtu.be/vqQdc0mX1_c
and
https://youtu.be/I-rD4gD3Oe4
Furthermore, I think it best to refrain from statements claiming absolutes.
>> “We will not have clean energy (or any of the other good things we want) as long as we’re so pitifully uninformed and manipulated……”
That part in parenthesis is perhaps intentional bait aimed at encouraging participation? Seriously — “any” amongst all “other good things we want” … disproving but one of any ends any debate and I am off to enjoy a very good snack.
Thanks, John. Please see: http://www.2greenenergy.com/2016/05/07/politics-renewable-energy-2/.