4 ms·

I think you're making a good argument for the rise of fringe publications like infowars or (to keep the balance) motherjones.com. But what I was trying to disp

I think you're making a good argument for the rise of fringe publications like infowars or (to keep the balance) motherjones.com. But what I was trying to dispel was the myth that previously well-regarded institutions like the WSJ and NYT changed for the worse. I'm pretty sure the Blair scandal (someone completely making up interviews etc.) would play out very much the same today as it did in 2003. I also cannot agree with the idea that these specific institutions are "publishing outlandish claims" any more than they previously did. Note that these newspapers' finances are still very much structured as they ever were. The NYT makes 70% of its income from subscriptions ( https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/02/business/media/new-york-times-q4-earnings.html?_r=0 https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/02/business/media/new-york-t...) and the number is probably higher for the WSJ, which started its paywall much earlier and is more stringent in its application. Digital advertisement makes up only 10% of its income.

metaphorm 10y ago
motherjones is a long-running progressive/political literary magazine. it started as an old media, printed on paper publication in 1976 and completely precedes the trend of internet based conspiracy peddlers like infowars. the fact that you're conflating the two "for balance" (as you say) is a serious error and it undermines your credibility.
- 3131s 10y ago
  Yes, comparing Mother Jones to Infowars is not fair. Mother Jones has some high quality investigative journalists like Shane Bauer. http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/06/cca-private-prisons-corrections-corporation-inmates-investigation-bauer http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/06/cca-private-pris... Infowars is amusing though. I wouldn't have necessarily predicted their alignment with Trump 10 years or so ago when I first became aware of Alex Jones. The old Alex Jones even had some liberal tendencies, at times.
- matt4077 10y ago
  Indeed–sorry. I've rarely ever gone to either of these places and seemed to remember some hyperbolic headlines from the campaign. I'm pretty sure I've seen some cringe-worthy publications on the left as well, but it's certainly more common on the right.
  - metaphorm 10y ago
    there are cringe worthy publications on the left. Huffington Post, The Young Turks, Jezebel, etc. They are hyper-partisan, screechy, shrill, unreasonable, gossipy, (nearly) empty spectacles in their own right but I don't know of a single one of them that is even halfway as far off the deep end of "motherfuckin lizard people aliens are running satanic child sex slave rings out of a pizza restaurant" that the infowars style conspiracy stuff gets into. and Mother Jones is nowhere even on that axis. it's a higher quality publication with a deliberate (and publicly announced) editorial bias.
    - Ygg2 10y ago
      >I don't know of a single one of them that is even halfway as far off the deep end of "motherfuckin lizard Give them like three years. I'm sure we'll see something like "Trump is secretly a Russian child smuggler".

metaphorm 10y ago

motherjones is a long-running progressive/political literary magazine. it started as an old media, printed on paper publication in 1976 and completely precedes the trend of internet based conspiracy peddlers like infowars. the fact that you're conflating the two "for balance" (as you say) is a serious error and it undermines your credibility.

3131s 10y ago
Yes, comparing Mother Jones to Infowars is not fair. Mother Jones has some high quality investigative journalists like Shane Bauer. http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/06/cca-private-prisons-corrections-corporation-inmates-investigation-bauer http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/06/cca-private-pris... Infowars is amusing though. I wouldn't have necessarily predicted their alignment with Trump 10 years or so ago when I first became aware of Alex Jones. The old Alex Jones even had some liberal tendencies, at times.
matt4077 10y ago
Indeed–sorry. I've rarely ever gone to either of these places and seemed to remember some hyperbolic headlines from the campaign. I'm pretty sure I've seen some cringe-worthy publications on the left as well, but it's certainly more common on the right.
- metaphorm 10y ago
  there are cringe worthy publications on the left. Huffington Post, The Young Turks, Jezebel, etc. They are hyper-partisan, screechy, shrill, unreasonable, gossipy, (nearly) empty spectacles in their own right but I don't know of a single one of them that is even halfway as far off the deep end of "motherfuckin lizard people aliens are running satanic child sex slave rings out of a pizza restaurant" that the infowars style conspiracy stuff gets into. and Mother Jones is nowhere even on that axis. it's a higher quality publication with a deliberate (and publicly announced) editorial bias.
  - Ygg2 10y ago
    >I don't know of a single one of them that is even halfway as far off the deep end of "motherfuckin lizard Give them like three years. I'm sure we'll see something like "Trump is secretly a Russian child smuggler".