"News" coverage (not)
I'm going to come right out and say it, although I imagine it's largely preaching to the choir amongst the people who might see this.
The "news" coverage in the United States sucks rather a lot.
I'm saying this after doing several online searches through the following venues
ABC
CBS
NBC
CNN
Reuters
BBC
CBC
RT ("Russia Today" - just found them!)
Madison.com
CNN had some coverage of the protests this morning on television, but in their effort at being "fair", they made it look like the Pro-Bill people were of an equal number to the Anti-Bill people, which just ain't so. The other networks and websites only had stories current up to about 3pm, and only a few (Reuters, I think) mentioned that the numbers may have well exceeded 70,000 people at the Capital.
Fox, of course, is still doing its best to portray events in Madison as a simmering kettle of violent anarchy just waiting to spill over into the rest of the nation. I wish for every last one of them to receive every last thing they've earned as soon as possible.
Regardless of the viewpoints held, what I find disturbing is the absence of coverage for a series of events that will ultimately affect the rest of the country. I sincerely hope I'm not surprising anyone by saying this is not something that's going to begin and end in one state. No matter the outcome, this is going to color the actions of other state governments for a good while - it is having an effect already, because similar bills are on the table in multiple states.
And it's not on television. You're not going to hear about it. Even if you do, you're going to get the filtered version that comes through either political or financial bias.
The Russian site has a pretty good news blurb on the phenomenon (and our nation's disinclination to cover it), if anyone's interested:
I doubt this'll be the first time it's obvious, but just FYI: If you want information, you're going to have to go online. Yeah, it's hard. It's a right fucking mess out there, and confusing as hell, but that's where the best news is anymore, short of being there yourself. If you're seeing something on TV, the number of filters on what you're seeing is significantly higher. More importantly, your own viewpoint has less chance of being challenged with different information. YOU MIGHT BE WRONG. Sickening, nasty, embarrassing thought, but it's something one can get used to, really. Trust me, I'm speaking from experience here. xD
The "news" coverage in the United States sucks rather a lot.
I'm saying this after doing several online searches through the following venues
ABC
CBS
NBC
CNN
Reuters
BBC
CBC
RT ("Russia Today" - just found them!)
Madison.com
CNN had some coverage of the protests this morning on television, but in their effort at being "fair", they made it look like the Pro-Bill people were of an equal number to the Anti-Bill people, which just ain't so. The other networks and websites only had stories current up to about 3pm, and only a few (Reuters, I think) mentioned that the numbers may have well exceeded 70,000 people at the Capital.
Fox, of course, is still doing its best to portray events in Madison as a simmering kettle of violent anarchy just waiting to spill over into the rest of the nation. I wish for every last one of them to receive every last thing they've earned as soon as possible.
Regardless of the viewpoints held, what I find disturbing is the absence of coverage for a series of events that will ultimately affect the rest of the country. I sincerely hope I'm not surprising anyone by saying this is not something that's going to begin and end in one state. No matter the outcome, this is going to color the actions of other state governments for a good while - it is having an effect already, because similar bills are on the table in multiple states.
And it's not on television. You're not going to hear about it. Even if you do, you're going to get the filtered version that comes through either political or financial bias.
The Russian site has a pretty good news blurb on the phenomenon (and our nation's disinclination to cover it), if anyone's interested:
Click to viewI doubt this'll be the first time it's obvious, but just FYI: If you want information, you're going to have to go online. Yeah, it's hard. It's a right fucking mess out there, and confusing as hell, but that's where the best news is anymore, short of being there yourself. If you're seeing something on TV, the number of filters on what you're seeing is significantly higher. More importantly, your own viewpoint has less chance of being challenged with different information. YOU MIGHT BE WRONG. Sickening, nasty, embarrassing thought, but it's something one can get used to, really. Trust me, I'm speaking from experience here. xD