4 ms·

I've been checked out on the news for about a decade. The main issue for me wasn't that it's attention grabby and sensationalist, or that it's often blatantly

I've been checked out on the news for about a decade. The main issue for me wasn't that it's attention grabby and sensationalist, or that it's often blatantly biased. At the end of the day it's just sloppy as fuck. I read a lot of dense subject matter material. Whether it be software, our product domain, or just personal interest. It's possible to write high quality surface-level explainers, but the news feels like a college student's research essay written entirely in the free period before the class where it was due. Even their blatantly biased calls to action are sloppy. They can drive me away from positions I believe in by arguing for them so poorly.

renlo 4y ago
> Briefly stated, the Gell-Mann Amnesia effect is as follows. You open the newspaper to an article on some subject you know well. In Murray's case, physics. In mine, show business. You read the article and see the journalist has absolutely no understanding of either the facts or the issues. Often, the article is so wrong it actually presents the story backward—reversing cause and effect. I call these the "wet streets cause rain" stories. Paper's full of them. > In any case, you read with exasperation or amusement the multiple errors in a story, and then turn the page to national or international affairs, and read as if the rest of the newspaper was somehow more accurate about Palestine than the baloney you just read. You turn the page, and forget what you know. - Michael Crichton https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/65213-briefly-stated-the-gell-mann-amnesia-effect-is-as-follows-you https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/65213-briefly-stated-the-ge...
aerostable_slug 4y ago
> At the end of the day it's just sloppy as fuck. Exactly. Totally innocuous example that aptly illustrates the problem: My local station did a story with an attached video about the cool new airplane CalFire got at a local base. At no point did they identify the aircraft by name, where it came from, why CalFire received it now, anything about its performance other than it carries 3,000 gallons of water & retardant, or even which airplane it was as they panned around the apron. If even a single editorial review is apparently too expensive, what's the point of paying attention in the first place?

renlo 4y ago

> Briefly stated, the Gell-Mann Amnesia effect is as follows. You open the newspaper to an article on some subject you know well. In Murray's case, physics. In mine, show business. You read the article and see the journalist has absolutely no understanding of either the facts or the issues. Often, the article is so wrong it actually presents the story backward—reversing cause and effect. I call these the "wet streets cause rain" stories. Paper's full of them. > In any case, you read with exasperation or amusement the multiple errors in a story, and then turn the page to national or international affairs, and read as if the rest of the newspaper was somehow more accurate about Palestine than the baloney you just read. You turn the page, and forget what you know. - Michael Crichton https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/65213-briefly-stated-the-gell-mann-amnesia-effect-is-as-follows-you https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/65213-briefly-stated-the-ge...

aerostable_slug 4y ago

> At the end of the day it's just sloppy as fuck. Exactly. Totally innocuous example that aptly illustrates the problem: My local station did a story with an attached video about the cool new airplane CalFire got at a local base. At no point did they identify the aircraft by name, where it came from, why CalFire received it now, anything about its performance other than it carries 3,000 gallons of water & retardant, or even which airplane it was as they panned around the apron. If even a single editorial review is apparently too expensive, what's the point of paying attention in the first place?