4 ms·

Curious why the onus is on journalists and not complacent political parties or branches/members of government. Sure, newsrooms can sway public opinion, but th

Curious why the onus is on journalists and not complacent political parties or branches/members of government. Sure, newsrooms can sway public opinion, but they’re also basically the only reason we know about those problems to begin with. Blaming them seems akin to treating a symptom, not the cause. Not trying to disagree. I do think journalists today are partially responsible for our current situation - especially White House correspondents, whom are wholly ineffective at challenging any statements from the president or calling out outright lies.

spamizbad 6y ago
Also thinking journalists are at the root of society's ills is probably a sign you're buying into authoritarian propaganda.
- WarOnPrivacy 6y ago
  Authoritarian propaganda alleges that journalists are fabricating news. I'm not alleging fraud but neglect and passive collusion. That is, journalists are allowing certain US Gov misdeeds to go largely unreported while amplifying US Gov voices w/o ever vetting if official claims are true.
  - spamizbad 6y ago
    A lot of misdeeds are documented but nobody is really outraged by them. There's certainly lots of bad stuff happening that doesn't have a legion of takery behind it to drive a certain narrative but... the reporting is there.
    - WarOnPrivacy 6y ago
      >A lot of misdeeds are documented but nobody is really outraged by them ... the reporting is there. I'd like to rephrase your assertion, to bring it more in line with reality: A minuscule percentage of known US Gov misdeeds get reported, generally as a one-off novelty. The story then becomes so forgotten that it doesn't even get referenced for context in any future reporting. Meanwhile top Gov officials get miles of free press time to make headline-grabbing claims, that have no meaningful truth. Because zero independent experts are EVER consulted, the official never gets challenged. Dozens of actual experts reach out to set the record straight - which has no effect at all on present or future reporting. Free of any press oversight at all, the official is free to continue to make patently false claims, pretty much for the duration of his tenure. He'll then revolving-door to the private sector & get invited onto news segments as a guest expert, to vouch for whatever Gov claim needs an instant witness.
WarOnPrivacy 6y ago
> Curious why the onus is on journalists and not complacent political parties or branches/members of government. It's because the primary power to oust corrupt officials rests with the public. Likewise for the power to push broad policy change. US Gov agencies have been accumulating inappropriate power and commit atrocities (esp post 2001), largely w/o any pushback or coverage from news orgs. It hasn't been zero coverage. For example, Edward Snowden dragged reluctant news outlets into doing their jobs for a little while. But the vast, vast bulk of Gov misdeeds that are right out in the open, rarely get even a nod - while a small selection of stories get huge parallel coverage, from coast to coast.

spamizbad 6y ago

Also thinking journalists are at the root of society's ills is probably a sign you're buying into authoritarian propaganda.

WarOnPrivacy 6y ago
Authoritarian propaganda alleges that journalists are fabricating news. I'm not alleging fraud but neglect and passive collusion. That is, journalists are allowing certain US Gov misdeeds to go largely unreported while amplifying US Gov voices w/o ever vetting if official claims are true.
- spamizbad 6y ago
  A lot of misdeeds are documented but nobody is really outraged by them. There's certainly lots of bad stuff happening that doesn't have a legion of takery behind it to drive a certain narrative but... the reporting is there.
  - WarOnPrivacy 6y ago
    >A lot of misdeeds are documented but nobody is really outraged by them ... the reporting is there. I'd like to rephrase your assertion, to bring it more in line with reality: A minuscule percentage of known US Gov misdeeds get reported, generally as a one-off novelty. The story then becomes so forgotten that it doesn't even get referenced for context in any future reporting. Meanwhile top Gov officials get miles of free press time to make headline-grabbing claims, that have no meaningful truth. Because zero independent experts are EVER consulted, the official never gets challenged. Dozens of actual experts reach out to set the record straight - which has no effect at all on present or future reporting. Free of any press oversight at all, the official is free to continue to make patently false claims, pretty much for the duration of his tenure. He'll then revolving-door to the private sector & get invited onto news segments as a guest expert, to vouch for whatever Gov claim needs an instant witness.

WarOnPrivacy 6y ago

> Curious why the onus is on journalists and not complacent political parties or branches/members of government. It's because the primary power to oust corrupt officials rests with the public. Likewise for the power to push broad policy change. US Gov agencies have been accumulating inappropriate power and commit atrocities (esp post 2001), largely w/o any pushback or coverage from news orgs. It hasn't been zero coverage. For example, Edward Snowden dragged reluctant news outlets into doing their jobs for a little while. But the vast, vast bulk of Gov misdeeds that are right out in the open, rarely get even a nod - while a small selection of stories get huge parallel coverage, from coast to coast.