Cancer Posted October 16, 2019 Report Share Posted October 16, 2019 I think a sea change happened among journalism schools in the late 1970s. The role Woodward and Bernstein had in helping to blow open the Watergate affair and pulling down the Nixon administration led a change in the kind of student that chose journalism as a career, and ultimately the way those students were taught; they began to define their successes in terms of how many people they had destroyed, not how well they informed the public about cases, or how they portrayed situations of which the public knew next to nothing. I say this partly as someone who was faculty at a place with a major journalism school in the 1990s (and faculty at a different place again starting in 2005). Yeah, I was faculty in a science department, but I taught a lot of distribution-type classes and saw a lot of those students, and their emphasis was different from what I had seen among journalism majors I had known as an undergraduate in the 1970s. (I was a grad student at another school with a major journalism program, but in grad school most people -- explicitly including myself -- go heads-down concentrating on their studies to a much greater extent than as an undergrad, and I can't say I had more than a couple of conversations with journalism people during those years. But I was involved in our public outreach efforts with Star Date for six years or so, and gained some insights about science journalism which are different from general political news. I can say this: In literally every situation where I've had first-hand knowledge as a scientist abotu the science that had made a major story in the popular media, at least one major aspect of the as-published treatment was wrong. I have come to blame this not on malice -- usually -- but usually on the ignorance of editors, who change words and phrasing to grab more readers/viewers, without recognizing that word choice is catastrophically important in conveying scientific content. Sometimes the ignorance is deeper, publishing something that isn't actually news ... it's just something the head editor hadn't heard before. My bailiwick is astronomy, which has approximately zero direct political or economic impact: aside from the idiot UFO conspiracy fanboys, and the not-even-of-vegetable-intelligence young-Earth creationists, there's no "fake news" intentionally promulgated in this field. ) The increase in the general cynicism level that began with the realizations of just how thoroughly the Executive Branch (all of them: Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon) manipulated news of the Vietnam mess through the 1960s and 1970s, emerged in the 1980s went hand in hand with the new goals of young journalists who came on board at that time. The cynicism, the reveling in the power of the Fourth Estate, and the anger with the duplicity of the White House over more than a decade ... they weren't the same thing, but combined to devalue the emphasis on "complete", "fair", and "impartial" that had been the professed ideal of the generation of journalists who came of age with radio and migrated into television. With more or less everything with ".com" address, and way too much from any other domain, feeding on clickbait, socioeconomic agendas, and herd mentality, I select my news sources with a combination of great care and as much randomness as possible. You pays your money and you takes your chances. Hermit and Lord Liaden 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
csyphrett Posted October 16, 2019 Report Share Posted October 16, 2019 White house and Turkey haggling over American nukes on Turkish soil. CES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
death tribble Posted October 16, 2019 Report Share Posted October 16, 2019 Sandy Hook parent awarded $450,000 for defamation https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-50074652 Ranxerox and pinecone 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke Bushido Posted October 16, 2019 Report Share Posted October 16, 2019 2 hours ago, death tribble said: Sandy Hook parent awarded $450,000 for defamation https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-50074652 That makes me incredibly happy! Can I sue his lawyer for calling it "alt right opium?" I mean, she's defaming _me_ at that point. I lean pretty hard to the right, but I'm not a friggin' lunatic! Pariah 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkdguy Posted October 17, 2019 Author Report Share Posted October 17, 2019 On 10/12/2019 at 2:51 AM, tkdguy said: Catalan separatist leaders may get up to 15 years in prison This has led to riots in Barcelona On another sad note, tragedy has struck the household of actor Ron Ely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
death tribble Posted October 17, 2019 Report Share Posted October 17, 2019 Extinction Rebellion protester dragged off train roof. (and it appears is beaten up) https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-50079716 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke Bushido Posted October 17, 2019 Report Share Posted October 17, 2019 Your nation is fascinating: "wait for the police, who have special training" What other nation on earth would have police already prepared to specialize in people glued to trains?! You guys are awesome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted October 17, 2019 Report Share Posted October 17, 2019 It's just a variation on dealing with people chained to trees. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottishFox Posted October 17, 2019 Report Share Posted October 17, 2019 21 hours ago, Duke Bushido said: For what it's worth, I've been against the press for a quarter century. I am not against the freedom of it; I just think it should all have a manditory disclaimer. I don't recall it ever being as bad as it has been lately. These last several years I feel like the media has tossed fact-checking, honesty and competence right out the window in favor of click-bait sensationalism and openly campaigning for one party. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pariah Posted October 17, 2019 Report Share Posted October 17, 2019 It's a function of the information-on-demand society the internet has brought us into. Fact-checking takes time, and in that time, someone else could break the story first. So you publish what you've got now. Similarly, on the off chance that your information is found to be incorrect, you don't have to wait till the next day to print a retraction. You can do it immediately. I feel this leads to a philosophy of "Print now, check later, correct as necessary". I feel it's also worth noting that controversy increases numbers of clicks, which in turn increases revenue. Publishing facts and unbiased information simply isn't a profitable business model these days. ScottishFox 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted October 17, 2019 Report Share Posted October 17, 2019 I Timothy 6:10 Duke Bushido, Hermit and Pariah 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
csyphrett Posted October 18, 2019 Report Share Posted October 18, 2019 Heard on the radio: Man pleads guilty of smuggling powered milk. CES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Cowan Posted October 18, 2019 Report Share Posted October 18, 2019 https://www.sciencenews.org/article/dog-breed-behavior-genetics And some say they don't know why the dog acted that way... too many 'manly' dogs raised wrong. some may be OK with out work, others... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmjalund Posted October 18, 2019 Report Share Posted October 18, 2019 4 hours ago, csyphrett said: Man pleads guilty of smuggling powered milk. from mutant cows? BoloOfEarth 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted October 18, 2019 Report Share Posted October 18, 2019 Might be bionic instead. Or perhaps also. These days, who knows? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cygnia Posted October 18, 2019 Report Share Posted October 18, 2019 Cops thought is was cocaine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pattern Ghost Posted October 19, 2019 Report Share Posted October 19, 2019 14 hours ago, Tom Cowan said: too many 'manly' dogs raised wrong. The only breeds called out in the article for innate aggression were chihuahuas and dachshunds, well-known to be among the manliest of breeds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
csyphrett Posted October 19, 2019 Report Share Posted October 19, 2019 20 hours ago, dmjalund said: from mutant cows? @Cygnia had it right. The cops thought it was cocaine. Apparently he did too. He pled guilty because he was looking at a lot of time before the lab analysis came back. As soon as the lab said it was powered milk, he changed his plea. CES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmjalund Posted October 19, 2019 Report Share Posted October 19, 2019 I mean that powered (as opposed to powdered) milk mus come from mutant cows Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cygnia Posted October 19, 2019 Report Share Posted October 19, 2019 Stephen King’s Maine Home to Become Museum and Writers Retreat wcw43921 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cygnia Posted October 20, 2019 Report Share Posted October 20, 2019 Thief attempts to take a woman’s bike, but then a cowboy rides up on a horse to lasso him Pariah 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
death tribble Posted October 20, 2019 Report Share Posted October 20, 2019 The semi finals of the Rugby World Cup will be England vs New Zealand and Wales vs South Africa. So there could be a Southern Hemisphere or Northern Hemisphere Final. Or a mixture. Only one team has not won the World Cup before and that is Wales. If New Zealand win they will have won the last three in a row and will be the only team to have done this. If South Africa win they will be the second team to win three times and if England win it will be their second win.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cygnia Posted October 20, 2019 Report Share Posted October 20, 2019 Couple Stopped At The Airport After Accidentally Packing Pet Cat In Hand Luggage Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazza Posted October 20, 2019 Report Share Posted October 20, 2019 I hope Wales wins. assault 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
death tribble Posted October 20, 2019 Report Share Posted October 20, 2019 It would be nice. South Africa are not playing as dominantly as you would expect so Wales can win their semi. It just depends who wins between England and New Zealand. The All Blacks were supposed to be vulnerable and not as invincible or so the pundits said before the tournament began. And then the tournament started. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts