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I've been actively working on a media literacy guide for engineers, contributions welcome: https://github.com/nemild/hack-an-engineer https://github.com/nemild

by nemild 8y ago

I've been actively working on a media literacy guide for engineers, contributions welcome: https://github.com/nemild/hack-an-engineer https://github.com/nemild/hack-an-engineer (Think Reddit influences so much of engineering thought from things like r/learnprogramming to all the cryptocurrency subs)

IAmEveryone 8y ago
This is just a collection of stereotypes of journalism that are already commonly believed among the tech crowd. Just one example: it’s insulting and hurtful to any quality journalist (ie at the NYT, WSJ, or Economist) to suggest that their reporting is motivated by personal financial incentives, or their employer’s.
- nemild 8y ago
  I'll respectfully disagree. Financial incentives influence everyone, including the editors at top publications who are constantly looking at what is read, watched, and shared to decide what to invest in and feature. You might really like "All the News That's Fit to Sell" which is written by a media economist that digs into how market incentives influence coverage (he's the director of the journalism program at Stanford). There's lots of discussion as well about media coverage decisions in the lead up to the 2016 presidential election at even the national networks. This Cecil the Lion example at the Washington Post has always been illuminating to me: https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/17/business/where-clicks-reign-audience-is-king.html https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/17/business/where-clicks-rei... Even at the top publications, financial incentives influence choices. It's not as malevolent as someone paying off a journalist. For example, at most top tier newspapers, there is an incentive for "if it bleeds, it leads". This is an economic outcome, as this elicits the most reader interest and also increases profitability. (See my data analysis on this in the NY Times: https://www.nemil.com/s/part3-horror-films.html https://www.nemil.com/s/part3-horror-films.html )
- str33t_punk 8y ago
  However stereotypes about journalists from the tech crowd doesn’t have much visibility. The journalist crowd thinks a bunch of stereotypes about tech. And they have the platform to broadcast their prejudice to the world. Some of their stereotypes are quite insulting to any quality Engineer. Why is it bad when we stereotype them, when they have been doing it aggressively for years? Rather, I believe it is our duty to start reporting on the media and our opinions about the media, as no one does. The media holds all the power in broadcasting opinions on the populace, and there are very little entities that check their power.

by nemild 8y ago

IAmEveryone 8y ago

This is just a collection of stereotypes of journalism that are already commonly believed among the tech crowd. Just one example: it’s insulting and hurtful to any quality journalist (ie at the NYT, WSJ, or Economist) to suggest that their reporting is motivated by personal financial incentives, or their employer’s.

nemild 8y ago
I'll respectfully disagree. Financial incentives influence everyone, including the editors at top publications who are constantly looking at what is read, watched, and shared to decide what to invest in and feature. You might really like "All the News That's Fit to Sell" which is written by a media economist that digs into how market incentives influence coverage (he's the director of the journalism program at Stanford). There's lots of discussion as well about media coverage decisions in the lead up to the 2016 presidential election at even the national networks. This Cecil the Lion example at the Washington Post has always been illuminating to me: https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/17/business/where-clicks-reign-audience-is-king.html https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/17/business/where-clicks-rei... Even at the top publications, financial incentives influence choices. It's not as malevolent as someone paying off a journalist. For example, at most top tier newspapers, there is an incentive for "if it bleeds, it leads". This is an economic outcome, as this elicits the most reader interest and also increases profitability. (See my data analysis on this in the NY Times: https://www.nemil.com/s/part3-horror-films.html https://www.nemil.com/s/part3-horror-films.html )
str33t_punk 8y ago
However stereotypes about journalists from the tech crowd doesn’t have much visibility. The journalist crowd thinks a bunch of stereotypes about tech. And they have the platform to broadcast their prejudice to the world. Some of their stereotypes are quite insulting to any quality Engineer. Why is it bad when we stereotype them, when they have been doing it aggressively for years? Rather, I believe it is our duty to start reporting on the media and our opinions about the media, as no one does. The media holds all the power in broadcasting opinions on the populace, and there are very little entities that check their power.