The Media

[Cramulus]

the media's jerks, but they are doing exactly what we pay them for

the media's job is to report on "News"

what is "news"?

well these days it's anything that people will react to
or other news organizations will react to
any emotion or controversy


We can demonize the media, and I don't think that venom would be misplaced in any way, but I don't think they're wholly responsible for this.

The OP cites a church which had a Welcome sign up for a year. Why didn't that make the news? It would be boring-ass news! But a guy with a lighter and a sacred book, now that's a story.

Who is accountable for this Mosque hysteria being such a big deal?

Personally, I don't blame the media so much as the audience.

[Adios]

Cram, I think your last sentence pretty well sums it up.

[Dysfunctional Cunt]

I have to disagree.  Just because the audience wants it doesn't mean they have to have it.  My kids want to eat chocolate cake all day.  Doesn't mean I'm going to let them have it.

The media uses the excuse that they are giving the people what they want to see.  That if they don't show it someone else will.  Freedom of speech, the right to free press.....  It all boils down to what is going to stir the most shit.

Why does the audience want this?  Because they have been conditioned to it over the years.  By who?  The media.  No one would know they wanted it if it hadn't been put in front of them to begin with.  Television in general has desensitized us to the point that is it isn't shocking it isn't worth our time.  Or so they would like us to believe.

Just because I have the right to say something doesn't make it right.

[Adios]

I have to disagree.  Just because the audience wants it doesn't mean they have to have it.  My kids want to eat chocolate cake all day.  Doesn't mean I'm going to let them have it.

The media uses the excuse that they are giving the people what they want to see.  That if they don't show it someone else will.  Freedom of speech, the right to free press.....  It all boils down to what is going to stir the most shit.

Why does the audience want this?  Because they have been conditioned to it over the years.  By who?  The media.  No one would know they wanted it if it hadn't been put in front of them to begin with.  Television in general has desensitized us to the point that is it isn't shocking it isn't worth our time.  Or so they would like us to believe.

Just because I have the right to say something doesn't make it right.

You aren't trying to make a profit from giving your kids cake.

[Dysfunctional Cunt]

I have to disagree.  Just because the audience wants it doesn't mean they have to have it.  My kids want to eat chocolate cake all day.  Doesn't mean I'm going to let them have it.

The media uses the excuse that they are giving the people what they want to see.  That if they don't show it someone else will.  Freedom of speech, the right to free press.....  It all boils down to what is going to stir the most shit.

Why does the audience want this?  Because they have been conditioned to it over the years.  By who?  The media.  No one would know they wanted it if it hadn't been put in front of them to begin with.  Television in general has desensitized us to the point that is it isn't shocking it isn't worth our time.  Or so they would like us to believe.

Just because I have the right to say something doesn't make it right.

You aren't trying to make a profit from giving your kids cake.

So it is the money, not the newsworthiness that drives the media?  OK, I can agree with that.  I just don't think it's the audience.  I think the media will do anything and everything they can to stir the shit. 

Don Henley said it best...

I make my living off the evening news
Just give me something, something I can use
People love it when you lose, they love dirty laundry

Well, I could've been an actor, but I wound up here
I just have to look good, I don't have to be clear
Come and whisper in my ear, give us dirty laundry

Kick 'em when they're up, kick 'em when they're down
Kick 'em when they're up, kick 'em when they're down
Kick 'em when they're up, kick 'em when they're down
Kick 'em when they're up, kick 'em all around

We got the bubbleheaded bleach-blonde, comes on at 5
She can tell you about the plane crash with a gleam in her eye
It's interesting when people die, give us dirty laundry

Can we film the operation? Is the head dead yet?
You know the boys in the newsroom got a running bet
Get the widow on the set, we need dirty laundry

You don't really need to find out what's going on
You don't really want to know just how far it's gone
Just leave well enough alone, keep your dirty laundry

Kick 'em when they're up, kick 'em when they're down
Kick 'em when they're up, kick 'em when they're down
Kick 'em when they're up, kick 'em when they're down
Kick 'em when they're stiff, kick 'em all around

Dirty little secrets, dirty little lies
We got our dirty little fingers in everybody's pie
Love to cut you down to size, we love dirty laundry

We can do the innuendo, we can dance and sing
When it's said and done, we haven't told you a thing
We all know that crap is king, give us dirty laundry

[Cramulus]

I'm trying to envision a media which doesn't focus on sensationalist bullet points. A Good Media^TM which does what we want it to.

How would this Good Media ^TM cover the Qua'ran burning incident? Would they say, "Hm, reporting on this is going to exacerbate the drama"
                 ...and then not report on it?

That sounds a little Orwellian to me.

[Adios]

I'm trying to envision a media which doesn't focus on sensationalist bullet points. A Good Media^TM which does what we want it to.

How would this Good Media ^TM cover the Qua'ran burning incident? Would they say, "Hm, reporting on this is going to exacerbate the drama"
                 ...and then not report on it?

That sounds a little Orwellian to me.

How is one man with a tin church and 50 members worthy of all this? That's my point. A volcano was made out of a molehill.

[Dysfunctional Cunt]

I'm trying to envision a media which doesn't focus on sensationalist bullet points. A Good Media^TM which does what we want it to.

How would this Good Media ^TM cover the Qua'ran burning incident? Would they say, "Hm, reporting on this is going to exacerbate the drama"
                 ...and then not report on it?

That sounds a little Orwellian to me.

How is one man with a tin church and 50 members worthy of all this? That's my point. A volcano was made out of a molehill.

EXACTLY!!  If the media had not blown it into the mess it was, no one would have known and few would have cared.

[Don Coyote]

I'm trying to envision a media which doesn't focus on sensationalist bullet points. A Good Media^TM which does what we want it to.

How would this Good Media ^TM cover the Qua'ran burning incident? Would they say, "Hm, reporting on this is going to exacerbate the drama"
                 ...and then not report on it?

That sounds a little Orwellian to me.

How is one man with a tin church and 50 members worthy of all this? That's my point. A volcano was made out of a molehill.

It should have just stayed local news instead making national coverage.

[LMNO]

For the record, it was already being reported on overseas before the US media picked up on it.

[Adios]

I can only assume it was for purposes of inflaming people.

[Cramulus]

The reason that one nutjob with 50 followers made global news is because this event was a good microcosm of the vibe in America right now. Everybody can relate to it. It created the opportunity for lots of latent emotion to rise to the surface. It became a channel for people to express their opinions and reaffirm their beliefs.

The media is an engine which communicates small local signals to a larger group of people. That's really what it's there for [in part].


what's the threshold for importance? If he had 200 people in his congregation would that be news? 500? 1000?

If you ask me, the size is kind of irrelevant. The fact that he got coverage despite being such a fringe group actually gives me hope - it's a sign that any of us could enter the world theater if we figured out the right angle and the right timing.

The other great thing about this event (other than the fact that no qua'rans were burned) is that it gave the anti-islamophobia signal an opportunity to be expressed. That's the real message here, there's 50 people in FL that want to burn a Qua'ran and the entire country (except Fred Phelps) is against them. So while we focus on the hate, from where I'm sitting, it's actually good news.

[Adios]

The reason that one nutjob with 50 followers made global news is because this event was a good microcosm of the vibe in America right now. Everybody can relate to it. It created the opportunity for lots of latent emotion to rise to the surface. It became a channel for people to express their opinions and reaffirm their beliefs.

The media is an engine which communicates small local signals to a larger group of people. That's really what it's there for [in part].


what's the threshold for importance? If he had 200 people in his congregation would that be news? 500? 1000?

If you ask me, the size is kind of irrelevant. The fact that he got coverage despite being such a fringe group actually gives me hope - it's a sign that any of us could enter the world theater if we figured out the right angle and the right timing.

The other great thing about this event (other than the fact that no qua'rans were burned) is that it gave the anti-islamophobia signal an opportunity to be expressed. That's the real message here, there's 50 people in FL that want to burn a Qua'ran and the entire country (except Fred Phelps) is against them. So while we focus on the hate, from where I'm sitting, it's actually good news.

This has the potential to change my mind. I am not used to this.

[Adios]

Cram you Damulus. Cram you.

Mind changed.

[P3nT4gR4m]

I'm trying to envision a media which doesn't focus on sensationalist bullet points. A Good Media^TM which does what we want it to.

How would this Good Media ^TM cover the Qua'ran burning incident? Would they say, "Hm, reporting on this is going to exacerbate the drama"
                 ...and then not report on it?

That sounds a little Orwellian to me.

imagine something like the internet? The force-fed media experience is on borrowed time.