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Right and when the secret police come to your door you will be surprised. Wait, you say, when did we get taken over by a dictator? What happened to our democrac

Right and when the secret police come to your door you will be surprised. Wait, you say, when did we get taken over by a dictator? What happened to our democracy? Why is my internet suddenly riddled with NO everywhere? How come my job vanished? Why are my children suddenly forced to eat dirt? Why do I live in a crime infested neighborhood that used to be safe? Why did evil people destroy my environment? Oh yeah, I didn't pay attention. It's not News you should be looking for, but information, and that's the real problem. If you ignore what is going on in the world because you don't want o hear anything hard you may be blissful, but you are just not involved, and all of us will suffer because you did not care to participate. If finding your information in "News" which is determined to give you false information is bad, ignoring what is going on in life is worse, because the only people who will change things are the very people you don't want doing it. I remember voting in a bond election in a city of 500,000. Only a few hundred voted. We spent $50M of the people's money because they didn't care. Ignoring News is fine, ignoring what is going on is not.

icebraining 9y ago
Hence the penultimate paragraph, no? "Society needs journalism – but in a different way. Investigative journalism is always relevant. We need reporting that polices our institutions and uncovers truth. But important findings don't have to arrive in the form of news. Long journal articles and in-depth books are good, too."
- openasocket 9y ago
  Which seemed like a non-sequitur to me. How is investigative journalism not news? Virtually every one of his arguments applies equally to investigative journalism, and the fact that he explicitly overrides those arguments demonstrates their weakness.
JohnBooty 9y ago
> It's not News you should be looking for, but information, and that's the real problem This is an excellent distinction! > I remember voting in a bond election in a city of 500,000. Only a few hundred voted. We spent $50M of the people's money because they didn't care. Ignoring News is fine, ignoring what is going on is not. I'm guilty of not following my own advice here, but anybody who feels utterly overwhelmed and powerless by national/world politics can definitely be involved or at least informed at the local level!
Al-Khwarizmi 9y ago
I remember voting in a bond election in a city of 500,000. Only a few hundred voted. We spent $50M of the people's money because they didn't care. Similar in my city (250K people, a few hundred voters on the participatory budget to decide what to spend several million € on). Reaction of many people: "we elect these politicians to make decisions for us for four years and manage the budget, and that's what they should do, why should they ask anyone instead of doing their job?" That, when the participatory budget was about 1% of the total budget, and it was an explicit promise in the platform that was voted in the elections. Sigh.
karimhossenbux 9y ago
You should follow what's relevant to you and where you live: local force twitter account, local community, any risky mother nature alert if any, etc... only real information, and not "news"

icebraining 9y ago

Hence the penultimate paragraph, no? "Society needs journalism – but in a different way. Investigative journalism is always relevant. We need reporting that polices our institutions and uncovers truth. But important findings don't have to arrive in the form of news. Long journal articles and in-depth books are good, too."

openasocket 9y ago
Which seemed like a non-sequitur to me. How is investigative journalism not news? Virtually every one of his arguments applies equally to investigative journalism, and the fact that he explicitly overrides those arguments demonstrates their weakness.

JohnBooty 9y ago

> It's not News you should be looking for, but information, and that's the real problem This is an excellent distinction! > I remember voting in a bond election in a city of 500,000. Only a few hundred voted. We spent $50M of the people's money because they didn't care. Ignoring News is fine, ignoring what is going on is not. I'm guilty of not following my own advice here, but anybody who feels utterly overwhelmed and powerless by national/world politics can definitely be involved or at least informed at the local level!

Al-Khwarizmi 9y ago

I remember voting in a bond election in a city of 500,000. Only a few hundred voted. We spent $50M of the people's money because they didn't care. Similar in my city (250K people, a few hundred voters on the participatory budget to decide what to spend several million € on). Reaction of many people: "we elect these politicians to make decisions for us for four years and manage the budget, and that's what they should do, why should they ask anyone instead of doing their job?" That, when the participatory budget was about 1% of the total budget, and it was an explicit promise in the platform that was voted in the elections. Sigh.

karimhossenbux 9y ago

You should follow what's relevant to you and where you live: local force twitter account, local community, any risky mother nature alert if any, etc... only real information, and not "news"