Welcome To Show Biz, AKA What Used To Be The News
There's a long piece in New York interviewing various reporters on "THE CASE AGAINST THE MEDIA. BY THE MEDIA."
It's basically a story on what's become of the news business -- and remember that it's a business. How they make money is news as show business. This Steven Brill piece lays it out pretty well:
"You want to hear the worst thing I ever did on TV? During the Clinton impeachment, I was running Court TV. They asked me to be on Crossfire to talk about whether the deliberations in the Senate should be open to cameras. So I decided, 'Well, obviously it should be open to cameras.' In the car going from my office over to the CNN studio, I'm thinking about it a little bit -- You know, I'm not so sure about this. I get on the show, and opposite me is Arlen Specter. Specter's arguing that the deliberations should be closed to cameras. And he goes first. I'm listening to him, and they turn to me, and whoever it was says, 'Well, Mr. Brill, what do you think?' And I said, 'You know, I think he's right.' The producer's screaming in my ear, 'You can't say that! You can't do that!' "-- STEVEN BRILL, founder of Court TV and Brill's Content
via @SteveStuWill
Media bias and wrongs are a tough one to observe and prove, partially because what do you compare it to, and partially whose biases are used to judge it.
There are many ways to bias the news, outright lies are the easiest to disprove so are the least used. What is more used is, highlighting some stories and ignoring or burying others. With the excuses, it's been done to death, or this one is important or interesting, or we just read it how it comes from the AP, or it's not our policy just some underlings were biased.
Another way is to put your own spin on things, is Wikileaks a terrorist group or freedom fighters/whistleblowers.
But how do you show or prove bias, when most is not direct lies.
Joe J at August 5, 2016 8:53 AM
highlighting some stories and ignoring or burying others
Khizr Khan vs Charles Woods, for instance. Or Pat Smith.
Or for a contrast in one person, Cindy Sheehan. Once Obama was sworn in, her 15 minutes of fame was done with.
Wikileaks? they're a useful conduit for Russian intelligence services.
I R A Darth Aggie at August 5, 2016 12:10 PM
Beyond the question of bias is the question of utility. Is the news currently presented useful? For the most part the answer is no. The news presents interesting and unusual stories. While they may be fun the fact that they are atypical also means they aren't important. What is everyday, common, and pedestrian doesn't make it into the news but those are the issues that impact us the most.
Ben at August 5, 2016 7:40 PM
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