6 ms·

I also live in the US, but migrated there only 7 years ago. And, the news is one of the things that shocked me the most. They are not news, they are echo-cham

by dudul 10y ago

I also live in the US, but migrated there only 7 years ago. And, the news is one of the things that shocked me the most. They are not news, they are echo-chambers designed to please viewers and sell time slots to ad-publishers. Every single story has to be sensational, has to be "crazy", or "unbelievable". Everything has to be a show with music, sound effects and cool teasers.

alanwatts 10y ago
Where did you migrate from? And what was the news like there?
- dudul 10y ago
  I migrated from Western Europe. The main difference I see is that there is no breaks to show TV-ads in the middle of the news. Traditionally the news is from 8pm to 8.40pm, uninterrupted, followed by 5 to 10 minutes dedicated to the weather, and then a 90 to 120min movie with one break in the middle. Nowadays, there are more options: some news program air earlier (7pm for example), some are shorter (20minutes), etc. But the key is that there is no ads either in the middle or around the program. From my point of view, this is the difference that is driving this race to the sensational.
  - jarjoura 10y ago
    PBS would be the equivalent here but as you said, no where near as interesting to watch.
  - alanwatts 10y ago
    Interesting. So there are no 24/7 news channels?
    - programLyrique 10y ago
      Depends on the country in Europe. I know about BBC News in the UK, and in France, there are now 4, and soon, 5 (BFMtv, ITele, LCI, France 24, France Info).
    - dudul 10y ago
      They started doing it yeah. But I believe that there are still very little commercials. The reason being that they are part of all the standard channels everybody gets, so they get money regardless of the viewer count and don't rely on ad-income.
blakesterz 10y ago
That's interesting, I never thought about what news might be like elsewhere. It's better in other countries? I guess I just kind of assume it's like this everywhere. (this may make me sound like an ignorant American, but honestly I've no idea what the news is like everywhere else, I barely follow it here for dudul's exact reasons)
- speps 10y ago
  Try this : http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldserviceradio http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldserviceradio You don't have images, but you'd surprised how many things happen in the world at once...
  - soundwave106 10y ago
    Agreed. BBC World News is also available on some cable networks apparently (https://bbcnewschannelfinder.com/ https://bbcnewschannelfinder.com/). (Live streams also exist, both "unofficially", and legally but geo-restricted on Livestation, apparently.) PBS and NPR are the only American sources on TV I considered fairly comparable in tone and depth to news programs in other countries.
- herbst 10y ago
  Switzerland represent. Our news are just boring news. Yes i've seen a news report about a cat beeing in a tree. I've also seen a news report about kids painting their mofas. If nothing interesting happens right now, that is the kind of content we get to see. Currently there is a lot "lulz Trump", "wtf hillary" and "trololo brexit" in between. So it is a bit more sensationalized then else.
- coliveira 10y ago
  When I moved to the US I was shocked that the news cycle is so editorialized. Only a few main stories surface in the media, usually things that have some commercial interest. Brazil has one of the worst national media anywhere, but at least they allow more variety of views and you can make your mind about what matters or not.
- Broken_Hippo 10y ago
droopybuns 10y ago
The stream of Pokemon Go packages masquerading as news on local news programs has been mind blowing this week.
feklar 10y ago
The written news is even worse, a gigantic live feed of what every idiot on Twitter thinks mixed in with exploding popup ads that capture your click if you're not perfectly precise 'Here's what @TotallyNotAPaidShill had to say about the latest political scandal' [Click Here to see 9 ways you can lose weight with Prolexitroll]
exclusiv 10y ago
You're absolutely right. Our news media is terrible. We have reporters on "respected" shows sensationalizing flooding in canoes! [1] They love to divide us based on race, sex, whatever, but the data doesn't support their claims of crisis. And we gobble it up. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgm3_jzcNm4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgm3_jzcNm4

by dudul 10y ago

alanwatts 10y ago

Where did you migrate from? And what was the news like there?

dudul 10y ago
I migrated from Western Europe. The main difference I see is that there is no breaks to show TV-ads in the middle of the news. Traditionally the news is from 8pm to 8.40pm, uninterrupted, followed by 5 to 10 minutes dedicated to the weather, and then a 90 to 120min movie with one break in the middle. Nowadays, there are more options: some news program air earlier (7pm for example), some are shorter (20minutes), etc. But the key is that there is no ads either in the middle or around the program. From my point of view, this is the difference that is driving this race to the sensational.
- jarjoura 10y ago
  PBS would be the equivalent here but as you said, no where near as interesting to watch.
- alanwatts 10y ago
  Interesting. So there are no 24/7 news channels?
  - programLyrique 10y ago
    Depends on the country in Europe. I know about BBC News in the UK, and in France, there are now 4, and soon, 5 (BFMtv, ITele, LCI, France 24, France Info).
  - dudul 10y ago
    They started doing it yeah. But I believe that there are still very little commercials. The reason being that they are part of all the standard channels everybody gets, so they get money regardless of the viewer count and don't rely on ad-income.

blakesterz 10y ago

That's interesting, I never thought about what news might be like elsewhere. It's better in other countries? I guess I just kind of assume it's like this everywhere. (this may make me sound like an ignorant American, but honestly I've no idea what the news is like everywhere else, I barely follow it here for dudul's exact reasons)

speps 10y ago
Try this : http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldserviceradio http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldserviceradio You don't have images, but you'd surprised how many things happen in the world at once...
- soundwave106 10y ago
  Agreed. BBC World News is also available on some cable networks apparently (https://bbcnewschannelfinder.com/ https://bbcnewschannelfinder.com/). (Live streams also exist, both "unofficially", and legally but geo-restricted on Livestation, apparently.) PBS and NPR are the only American sources on TV I considered fairly comparable in tone and depth to news programs in other countries.
herbst 10y ago
Switzerland represent. Our news are just boring news. Yes i've seen a news report about a cat beeing in a tree. I've also seen a news report about kids painting their mofas. If nothing interesting happens right now, that is the kind of content we get to see. Currently there is a lot "lulz Trump", "wtf hillary" and "trololo brexit" in between. So it is a bit more sensationalized then else.
coliveira 10y ago
When I moved to the US I was shocked that the news cycle is so editorialized. Only a few main stories surface in the media, usually things that have some commercial interest. Brazil has one of the worst national media anywhere, but at least they allow more variety of views and you can make your mind about what matters or not.
Broken_Hippo 10y ago

droopybuns 10y ago

The stream of Pokemon Go packages masquerading as news on local news programs has been mind blowing this week.

feklar 10y ago

The written news is even worse, a gigantic live feed of what every idiot on Twitter thinks mixed in with exploding popup ads that capture your click if you're not perfectly precise 'Here's what @TotallyNotAPaidShill had to say about the latest political scandal' [Click Here to see 9 ways you can lose weight with Prolexitroll]

exclusiv 10y ago

You're absolutely right. Our news media is terrible. We have reporters on "respected" shows sensationalizing flooding in canoes! [1] They love to divide us based on race, sex, whatever, but the data doesn't support their claims of crisis. And we gobble it up. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgm3_jzcNm4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgm3_jzcNm4