4 ms·

I'm sorry, I am an ex-journalist now for several years, and this is laughable. The NYT, WSJ, Fox News, and each of the major news outlets have regularly and cl

I'm sorry, I am an ex-journalist now for several years, and this is laughable. The NYT, WSJ, Fox News, and each of the major news outlets have regularly and clearly been caught writing submarine stores, special interest news slants, and general just being played by PR like a fiddle -- all while claiming some sort of "only true access to news." Viral misinformation has been a part of published news since Edward Burnays used to incite invasions for hire using manufactured sources and rumors They don't validate sources, rarely investigate, heck they barely even copy edit these days. They re-report entirely false stories published in questionable sources, using their name to validate it. Obviously everyone knows how deeply inaccurate any story becomes once technology is involved, now imagine that level of inaccuracy spread across all the topics they cover. Its painfully self-interested for them to be claiming to be such a clear source of truth.

ravenstine 8y ago
Having worked among journalists(not a journalist myself), a lot of them are completely unaware of their biases. They're quick to point out biases in others, but then they can't see how radicalized they are when it comes to how they believe it's up to them to determine how other people should be thinking. Social media being the prime example, they believe it's their duty to sway the public when the public's own thoughts don't align with popular politics, when in reality their primary job should be to report the news and now view themselves to be saviors of the common person. I knew journalists who both overtly and covertly believed that they were just in writing information in a slanted way in order to bolster their credibility as a source of truth, and they'd even acknowledge how it contradicts the idea of checking their biases because they thought the ends justified the means. Time and time again, I've caught insanely biased or flat out wrong headlines that these news outlets sheepishly "correct" later down the road after the story has trended and most people remember what the original headline said. It's abominable, but they have no shame at all. HuffPo is possibly the worst, but I've seen this happen just about everywhere. No, they're definitely not all like that, but it always seemed to me that enough of them are that it's a problem. I remember at one point in conversation it was mentioned that some people in the newsroom, who remained nameless, were more conservative than liberal. The prevailing reaction in the room was astonishment, which is troubling since there's no reason why both conservatives and liberals wouldn't be interested in the production of accurate, slant-free news.
kodablah 8y ago
> have regularly and clearly been caught writing submarine stores, special interest news slants, and general just being played by PR like a fiddle Including the one we're commenting on. There's a narrative being driven here, and it's sad so many even in our industry can't recognize it. We can argue levels of harms by these open content platforms (I often reside on the most-people-aren't-stupid, sticks-and-stones, please-no-gov-interference side), but there's no arguing what harms interests want you to think are occurring.
- dang 8y ago
  > Including the one we're commenting on. There's a narrative being driven here Not sure what narrative you mean, but it's not something any of us who work on HN is aware of.
  - kodablah 8y ago
    Sorry, proverbial "here" meaning the consistent mass-media anti-web-tech narrative of late, much of which is sans substance. Unrelated to HN in particular.
    - dang 8y ago
      Ah, sorry for misreading you.

ravenstine 8y ago

Having worked among journalists(not a journalist myself), a lot of them are completely unaware of their biases. They're quick to point out biases in others, but then they can't see how radicalized they are when it comes to how they believe it's up to them to determine how other people should be thinking. Social media being the prime example, they believe it's their duty to sway the public when the public's own thoughts don't align with popular politics, when in reality their primary job should be to report the news and now view themselves to be saviors of the common person. I knew journalists who both overtly and covertly believed that they were just in writing information in a slanted way in order to bolster their credibility as a source of truth, and they'd even acknowledge how it contradicts the idea of checking their biases because they thought the ends justified the means. Time and time again, I've caught insanely biased or flat out wrong headlines that these news outlets sheepishly "correct" later down the road after the story has trended and most people remember what the original headline said. It's abominable, but they have no shame at all. HuffPo is possibly the worst, but I've seen this happen just about everywhere. No, they're definitely not all like that, but it always seemed to me that enough of them are that it's a problem. I remember at one point in conversation it was mentioned that some people in the newsroom, who remained nameless, were more conservative than liberal. The prevailing reaction in the room was astonishment, which is troubling since there's no reason why both conservatives and liberals wouldn't be interested in the production of accurate, slant-free news.

kodablah 8y ago

> have regularly and clearly been caught writing submarine stores, special interest news slants, and general just being played by PR like a fiddle Including the one we're commenting on. There's a narrative being driven here, and it's sad so many even in our industry can't recognize it. We can argue levels of harms by these open content platforms (I often reside on the most-people-aren't-stupid, sticks-and-stones, please-no-gov-interference side), but there's no arguing what harms interests want you to think are occurring.

dang 8y ago
> Including the one we're commenting on. There's a narrative being driven here Not sure what narrative you mean, but it's not something any of us who work on HN is aware of.
- kodablah 8y ago
  Sorry, proverbial "here" meaning the consistent mass-media anti-web-tech narrative of late, much of which is sans substance. Unrelated to HN in particular.
  - dang 8y ago
    Ah, sorry for misreading you.