9 ms·

Change how journalism is funded and managed. That's easier said than done, but it would go a long way towards addressing problems.

by Dowwie 10y ago

sjg007 10y ago
The republicans hate NPR because they cannot influence it. They have wanted to defund it, forever. Propaganda 1.0 was Fox News (and later CNN, MSNBC). A lot of "news" shows are really just opinion factories where the basic "facts" are in dispute. Now we are in a state of propaganda 2.0 where foreign interests have figured out how to influence people on Facebook. I don't think this is possible to actually stop. This is the continued evolution from the Op-Ed where people want to be told what to think and how to vote. Edit: And they won't trust true experts such as academics because they "obviously" have a liberal bias "by definition".
swsieber 10y ago
Specifically, several decades ago in the U.S., there were laws mandating fair news in exchange for some type of compensation - I'm not sure of the specifics though. If anybody would be so kind as to shed light on that.
- awinder 10y ago
  I thought it was part of the original broadcast rights grants to NBC & CBS that stipulated that certain periods of time be devoted to news programs, but I could be wrong. EDIT: Yeah, the Fairness Doctrine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairness_Doctrine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairness_Doctrine
intended 10y ago
Like the BBC? Which is abused roundly by everyone (so about as neutral as humanly possible) There's no real solution. In the end news firms are bought by businesses as they struggle to survive. Businesses need profit, so those firms end up giving ground to the necessities of survival. All the firms you see today are the survivors. The firms which don't deal in interesting stuff, don't carry much weight in the mainstream since they aren't "communicating to their core audience." And are left for those few people who have the time, patience and willingness to dig through what is today considered "long form" journalism. These firms are in turn targeted by those vested interests who still need the facts massaged. (Cut funding! It's Biased against X groups! It follows a liberal agenda! It's conservative!) This leads to the final 3 points. 1) a fair media is a source of power. The powerful politically minded will always vie for control or work to discredit it 2) mainstream media will continue to be a lost cause, and actual discussion of facts will be done in specialist and scientific journals. Nothing will survive the vortex of money and power. 3) fact checking is now dependent on the moral and intellectual fiber of the reader. Those people who cultivate open minds and self doubt will be the few who make the effort to know the world. (To what end though, you try to communicate and it will be lost in the vortex)
- JumpCrisscross 10y ago
  > There's no real solution Make civics a mandatory part of K-12 curriculum. Include exercises where one sifts historical yellow journalism from real news. Democracy won't survive if we try to patch over citizens' lack of critical thinking.
  - maehwasu 10y ago
    Is it completely obvious that it's great for society that everyone occupy a lot of brainspace with politics?
    - Elrac 10y ago
      I think it's becoming painfully apparent what happens when this isn't the case.
      - intended 10y ago
        It's also painfully apparent when "educating children On X" is applied. Most kids don't pick it up, and it's just an additional burden on them. I come from a country where this is precisely the situation and it has 0 impact, except it is yet another avenue for children to practice their rote learning skills. I find that The average American is far more informed about the operation of his legislature than is the average Indian. The other issue is that it tosses the problem to the next generation to solve. But that won't work - the next generation will be even worse of than ours when it comes to infowars.
    - deleted 10y ago
      [deleted]
- belovedeagle 10y ago
  > ... specialist and scientific journals. Nothing will survive the vortex of money and power. You should be wary of the cognitive dissonance being displayed here. What makes scientific journals immune to the corrupting influence of money? Is it perhaps just that you've up to now had no reason to dislike the political agenda found therein?
kelvin0 10y ago
Crowd fund it! Of course, then you have the issue of a journalist that becomes popular and gains more power, and then distorts stories for profit and more power ... and ... never mind. :-)

Change how journalism is funded and managed. That's easier said than done, but it would go a long way towards addressing problems.

by Dowwie 10y ago

Change how journalism is funded and managed. That's easier said than done, but it would go a long way towards addressing problems.

sjg007 10y ago

The republicans hate NPR because they cannot influence it. They have wanted to defund it, forever. Propaganda 1.0 was Fox News (and later CNN, MSNBC). A lot of "news" shows are really just opinion factories where the basic "facts" are in dispute. Now we are in a state of propaganda 2.0 where foreign interests have figured out how to influence people on Facebook. I don't think this is possible to actually stop. This is the continued evolution from the Op-Ed where people want to be told what to think and how to vote. Edit: And they won't trust true experts such as academics because they "obviously" have a liberal bias "by definition".

swsieber 10y ago

Specifically, several decades ago in the U.S., there were laws mandating fair news in exchange for some type of compensation - I'm not sure of the specifics though. If anybody would be so kind as to shed light on that.

awinder 10y ago
I thought it was part of the original broadcast rights grants to NBC & CBS that stipulated that certain periods of time be devoted to news programs, but I could be wrong. EDIT: Yeah, the Fairness Doctrine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairness_Doctrine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairness_Doctrine

intended 10y ago

Like the BBC? Which is abused roundly by everyone (so about as neutral as humanly possible) There's no real solution. In the end news firms are bought by businesses as they struggle to survive. Businesses need profit, so those firms end up giving ground to the necessities of survival. All the firms you see today are the survivors. The firms which don't deal in interesting stuff, don't carry much weight in the mainstream since they aren't "communicating to their core audience." And are left for those few people who have the time, patience and willingness to dig through what is today considered "long form" journalism. These firms are in turn targeted by those vested interests who still need the facts massaged. (Cut funding! It's Biased against X groups! It follows a liberal agenda! It's conservative!) This leads to the final 3 points. 1) a fair media is a source of power. The powerful politically minded will always vie for control or work to discredit it 2) mainstream media will continue to be a lost cause, and actual discussion of facts will be done in specialist and scientific journals. Nothing will survive the vortex of money and power. 3) fact checking is now dependent on the moral and intellectual fiber of the reader. Those people who cultivate open minds and self doubt will be the few who make the effort to know the world. (To what end though, you try to communicate and it will be lost in the vortex)

JumpCrisscross 10y ago
> There's no real solution Make civics a mandatory part of K-12 curriculum. Include exercises where one sifts historical yellow journalism from real news. Democracy won't survive if we try to patch over citizens' lack of critical thinking.
- maehwasu 10y ago
  Is it completely obvious that it's great for society that everyone occupy a lot of brainspace with politics?
  - Elrac 10y ago
    I think it's becoming painfully apparent what happens when this isn't the case.
    - intended 10y ago
      It's also painfully apparent when "educating children On X" is applied. Most kids don't pick it up, and it's just an additional burden on them. I come from a country where this is precisely the situation and it has 0 impact, except it is yet another avenue for children to practice their rote learning skills. I find that The average American is far more informed about the operation of his legislature than is the average Indian. The other issue is that it tosses the problem to the next generation to solve. But that won't work - the next generation will be even worse of than ours when it comes to infowars.
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
belovedeagle 10y ago
> ... specialist and scientific journals. Nothing will survive the vortex of money and power. You should be wary of the cognitive dissonance being displayed here. What makes scientific journals immune to the corrupting influence of money? Is it perhaps just that you've up to now had no reason to dislike the political agenda found therein?

kelvin0 10y ago

Crowd fund it! Of course, then you have the issue of a journalist that becomes popular and gains more power, and then distorts stories for profit and more power ... and ... never mind. :-)