When the News Is Nonsense

[ysabetwordsmith]

Here is a brilliant, if ruthless, article about how the news has gone largely to nonsense.

Didn't the whole "balloon - spaceship --Wife Swap" faflooey set off any warning bells? As soon as you heard any of these concepts, didn't you think, "Hmm, this sounds screwy"?
Actually, no. It sounded like the rest of the inane gibberish on the news. I take

Comments

[jolantru]

That's why I listen to the BBC most of the time. :P

[shadowsculptor]

Indeed... distraction tactics! Sadly, most people don't care enough to want to understand what's going on in the world.

[valdary]

"Dead Lions" is every parent's favourite party game.

[wolfbrotherjoe]

I agree wholeheartedly, though really I don't consider Great Britain or Canada to be all that much better. I just try to get news from all over the place, as many perspectives as possible, in the hope that somewhere in there I can glean the facts.

The problem, I think, is that journalists seem to think their purpose is to champion some political cause or another, and even the once-proud organizations for journalistic integrity have openly declared that the concept of journalists trying to separate fact from opinion is 'outdated' and ridiculous.

Hmm...

[ysabetwordsmith]

>>The problem, I think, is that journalists seem to think their purpose is to champion some political cause or another, and even the once-proud organizations for journalistic integrity have openly declared that the concept of journalists trying to separate fact from opinion is 'outdated' and ridiculous.<<

Politics certainly plays a role in degrading news quality. Some stations like FOX are pretty much just a party rag at this point. But I think that "news is whatever makes money" does more damage.

Re: Hmm...

[wolfbrotherjoe]

Fox News is just open about how it's the 'fair and balanced conservative alternative'. Pretty much all of them are party rags. There's plenty of things I've seen that would 'make money', but weren't chased, because it didn't match party lines. It was very interesting when I researched a bit about various influence techniques in writing, specifically in journalism, and then went to read the New York Times every day for a month, and deliberately went and picked out every tidbit and morsel.

[brianblackberry]

Well to be fair, most British newspapers are notoriously bad when it comes to reporting fluff, rumors, and tabloid stories as "news". Really, if it isn't the BBC, it's crap.

Sadly the Huffington Post is also susceptible to the same practice of taking nonsense and reporting it as news.