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CNN, like Fox News and every other news organisation, are entertainment channels giving the public what they want. This is like blaming your alcoholism on Budw
by highwaylights 4y ago
CNN, like Fox News and every other news organisation, are entertainment channels giving the public what they want.
This is like blaming your alcoholism on Budweiser or your obesity on McDonalds. Sure, it’s certainly part of the problem, but it’s hardly the primary cause.
People are lazy, and learning the truth about complicated things is harder than just making your mind up quickly based on garbage information.
- dbspin 4y agoThat's... Absolutely not how TV works. They don't create an endless series of alternative formats and beta test them. They ape existing formats for the biggest slice of the same pool of already addicted viewers. So over time, a local maxima is achieved - serving eye catching 'hot' stimuli, violence primary (due to American cultural prohibitions around sex). Since there's little choice (red or blue essentially) the public can't express their preference for an alternative through anything other than switching mediums. And in a more democratic medium - youtube, facebook etc - you don't see the same level of artifice, bombasticism, violence etc, in the most popular videos.
- highwaylights 4y agoThis is exactly the point though. People are not choosing alternatives, as they want to be brainwashed. Even then, YouTube is rife with Ben Shapiro/Russell Brand/Jordan Peterson/Bill Maher/etc. videos regardless. Social media is an utter dumpster fire for nonsense propaganda and misinformation. The web has become vastly more manipulated than mainstream media. People want to be entertained, and they want to be told what to think.