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#1 2015-08-13 03:52:59

hummerz5
Member
From: wait I'm not a secret mod huh
Joined: 2015-08-10
Posts: 5,852

Do you pay attention?

...vague clickbait title resolves to:

Do you pay attention to the news?

It's a relatively simple question. So you dont' think I'm trying to be condescending, let me explain.

First an international explanation: I'm from the United States. My TV covers U.S. issues, my newspapers regional issues. You'll have a better handle on my questions (rants) if you're from the U.S.. I could add more questions relating to the similarities between our governments operate, but I'd double the length and have less of a clue.

The main fuel for this question, though it need not be justified, is the recent Trans-pacific partnership. Most of the things I can find that "raise awareness" are against the passage. This makes sense because it would default to being passed (it seems). Why am I touched by this? Because I feel completely blindsided by it. I recall seeing SOPA/PIPA fought off by various online sources (cartoons for me!). Am I blindsided because I have been living under a slightly larger rock since SOPA/PIPA? Or are the allegations that these trade agreements truly are handled quietly legitimate?

But regardless of my motive, the heart of the matter is this. If you do have an ear to the news sources of your choice, do you pay attention to the (alleged?) bias (or lack thereof?). To put an example up: "This agreement hands the sovereignty of our country over to corporate interests" Alan Grayson... When I read the quote, I figured "Well, that's what you'd expect a republican DEMOCRAT(ic representative) to say." I actually got the parties' interests mixed up. Google set me straight, though.

But that's not even real bias, apparently. See, when I'm reading about bias, I think it comes in two forms. The obvious one is where people wear their motives on their sleeves: politics. "I'm doing what I think my party wants so I'll be back next term". But then there's also the more "subliminal" form of bias where networks choose which stories to talk about. That one is slightly harder for me to catch. I'm not a seasoned pro, though.

0. Do you care at all about news, either political, national, international, pop culture news?
1. (if yes^) Do you invest time in keeping up on today's news topics?
2. (if yes^) Do you consider the source in deciding how much weight to give information?
3. (if yes^) Do you have tips on how to keep a steady stream of [b]balanced[/b] information? (aka, I don't want to read propaganda day in and day out)
4. (bonus:) Assuming [sensationalism] is a thing to be avoided, is there any way to skip the [sensationalist] stories without reading state-controlled media? (ha!)

This probably doesn't fit too well in this forum. But, we all share that common interest. I'm not sure if the demographics will help or hurt on this one.

If need be, we can apply these questions to EE (in an extremely limited sense) in terms of news... and bias... but if at all possible, it makes most sense to me if we keep this on the more "newsy" topics.

Thanks. /rant

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#2 2015-08-13 04:16:56

Xfrogman43
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From: need to find a new home
Joined: 2015-02-15
Posts: 4,174

Re: Do you pay attention?

hummerz5 wrote:

0. Do you care at all about news, either political, national, international, pop culture news?
1. (if yes^) Do you invest time in keeping up on today's news topics?
2. (if yes^) Do you consider the source in deciding how much weight to give information?
3. (if yes^) Do you have tips on how to keep a steady stream of balanced information? (aka, I don't want to read propaganda day in and day out)
4. (bonus:) Assuming [sensationalism] is a thing to be avoided, is there any way to skip the [sensationalist] stories without reading state-controlled media? (ha!)

0. I do not care for the news, the media is always full of crap.


zsbu6Xm.png thanks zoey aaaaaaaaaaaand thanks latif for the avatar

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#3 2015-08-13 04:27:17

tak4n
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Joined: 2015-02-17
Posts: 1,883

Re: Do you pay attention?

Ohh the garbage that is shown on the news and the poor gullible idiots that listen to it. I'm talking about the Russia and Ukraine incident btw. I'll start off with saying I'm Russian but I live in New Zealand, a country with people that watch BBC news or other rubbish news programmes that favour the US arguments. On the other hand, I live in a house with Russian parents who pressure me to watch Russian news and watch the garbage on there. The amount of stupidity that I've seen and heard from both sides was enough to show me that you just can't trust what the news and politics are saying on this issue. You can't say one side is right or wrong as there is no proof, both sides are wrong and right in their own ways. It disgusts me when people talk to me about it because their only arguments come from what they see on their utterly biased news programmes. Grow up people and open your eyes to the full picture and realise that the news don't provide and facts, only brainwashing biased opinions.


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#4 2015-08-13 04:30:18, last edited by hummerz5 (2015-08-14 01:49:49)

hummerz5
Member
From: wait I'm not a secret mod huh
Joined: 2015-08-10
Posts: 5,852

Re: Do you pay attention?

You've made your point. Could you further that with some sources you approve of?
Part of this thread is in hopes of finding that "path" away from being railroaded and repeating those arguments. There's nothing to gain from me repeating liberally-biased blurbb A, while a friend counters with conservatively-biased blurb B. We're just filling in the lines without thinking, all the while thinking we're achieving something.

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#5 2015-08-13 09:30:06

Onjit
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Joined: 2015-02-15
Posts: 9,698
Website

Re: Do you pay attention?

I don't watch the news. In fact, I don't watch TV.

I'm actually struggling to think of the last time I watched something on TV. Like 2-3 weeks ago?


:.|:;

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#6 2015-08-13 14:25:20

Anch
Member
Joined: 2015-02-16
Posts: 5,447

Re: Do you pay attention?

Xfrogman43 wrote:
hummerz5 wrote:

0. Do you care at all about news, either political, national, international, pop culture news?
1. (if yes^) Do you invest time in keeping up on today's news topics?
2. (if yes^) Do you consider the source in deciding how much weight to give information?
3. (if yes^) Do you have tips on how to keep a steady stream of balanced information? (aka, I don't want to read propaganda day in and day out)
4. (bonus:) Assuming [sensationalism] is a thing to be avoided, is there any way to skip the [sensationalist] stories without reading state-controlled media? (ha!)

0. I do not care for the news, the media is always full of crap.

Exactly what I think.
I just hear the important things from my dad.

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#7 2015-08-13 23:31:44

Evilbunny
Member
From: The bottom of my heart
Joined: 2015-02-25
Posts: 1,276

Re: Do you pay attention?

If it's important, I'll see it on reddit. That's my thought process when it comes to news.


Evilbunny (in cursive)

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#8 2015-08-14 00:25:36, last edited by Swarth100 (2015-08-14 00:32:20)

Swarth100
Member
Joined: 2015-07-18
Posts: 305

Re: Do you pay attention?

By reading your post, I did expect more on-topic answers...
I guess someone needs to start:

0) I do care about the news, in a special way to those concerning the fragile geo-political alliances and treaties that are regulating our modern (semi-)world wide peace.

1) I do. I've got an italian newspaper on my phone and listen daily to the news once or twice (breakfast/dinner)... Internet helps me to investigate when I see a certain lack on information.

2) Of course! I give ZERO relevance to fb news (except if from a trusted page), and also give little importance to fragmentary info on a really recent topic. Newspapers must be trusted MORE than the TV... They suffer less from propaganda, or at least that is what I believe.

3) This is real difficult as there are two types of propaganda: explicit one (aka politics/publicity etc) and an implicit one that comes with culture. Once you grow up in a state you are subject (mostly against your will) to a massive series of conditioning due to culture religion and family (yeah, you can read S. Freud in these lines) that will condition not only your existance, but also the way you end up by seeing the world. It may just be a stereotype, but here's an example: you are American, well, I must tell you that there is no bigger b***s**t than a WAR TO END ALL WARS. It just will never work... But still you end up in Iraq, Afghanistan, now in Siria, and your governament convinces its people that such actions are done for the "greater good". I just see economic benefits behind that...
Back to topic; advice? Look at the FACTS, if you can't find them, dig up for them! Once you get the actual facts have your OWN opinion prevail over that of others. Kant's categorial imperative was:  "Act only according to that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law", it may under some aspects refer to the christian dogma "do to others what you believe should be done to yourself", but the message remains intact. Don't believe polititians' speeches, don't believe most of the bias that one is feeded through the TV, but use such maxim do decide YOURSELF if the actions in question can be valued as positive or negative. Of course such reasoning can be applied to only certain aspects of the world's life (poverty/ war/ exploitation, etc).

4) I don't really get your fourth question...

Hope it helps

[EDITED spacing]

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#9 2015-08-14 01:48:18

hummerz5
Member
From: wait I'm not a secret mod huh
Joined: 2015-08-10
Posts: 5,852

Re: Do you pay attention?

Onjit wrote:

I don't watch the news. In fact, I don't watch TV.
I'm actually struggling to think of the last time I watched something on TV. Like 2-3 weeks ago?

Same. I occasionally watch news, but it's usually for a short 10 minutes so I don't really gain much.

anch159 wrote:
Xfrogman43 wrote:

0. I do not care for the news, the media is always full of crap.

Exactly what I think.
I just hear the important things from my dad.

What, in particular, are the important things? When you use the word important, I suppose you're relating the information you receive as higher priority over other happenings. I don't suppose you're suggesting that these events are important enough to you to warrant further research?

@EvilBunny: I was hoping for something like /r/dataisbeautiful to have information on political views of reddit. All I found was a reddit question where someone premised that reddit had liberal bias. I'm coming to learn more through reddit, wonderful that it is. Would you agree that this supposed liberal bias that I stumbled across via google exists?

Spinastar wrote:

Well thought-out response snipped

0. Thanks. All these responses were on-topic, my questions just applied more to some than others.
1. You monitor an Italian newspaper. Is this because you're from Italy, or is this a strategy to dodge politics/publicity propaganda?
2. I could see a logical support to your trusting newspapers is that the larger the operation, the larger target for political bodies to impart influence on the "masses", though our sample here seems to see through this. "media is full of crap". PewResearchCenter reported $100+ ad revenue for ABC, while total newspaper ad revenue for that year bottomed at 20. (million). That's obviously not the whole story (operating costs, etc). but this isn't a main point so.
3. I've heard the phrasing "War to end all wars", but again, I've had about as much exposure as the next person answering "No" to #0. I haven't been completely sold on anything, but I'm not compelled to downright oppose/protest the actions abroad. Again, I just don't have facts. This "Greater Good" also connects with the outrage over NSA actions as of late, imo. It's a way to gloss over what's going on, instead opting for "trust me, I'm a politician" -- how's that for oxymoron. So you're suggesting applying that categorical imperative, bearing semblance to the golden rule, to aspects in life (poverty,war,exploitation). Example, if we exploit A, then B, C, D, E, A should be allowed to exploit us. While this is advice we all should follow, I feel it lacks application. It seems fairly standard that poverty, war, exploitation are things to be avoided. At this point, it's apparent we aren't applying this as a country. (USA).
As I research, I'll keep the imperative in mind to look for more applications.
How do YOU dig for facts? Google for a reliable website? Check international newspapers?

4. I guess it was tacked on hastily. Basically, if news is just application of the right of press, they're out to make money on the business. To make money, you keep viewers checking in. Which is more exciting? News of the latest explosion/fire/tragedy/destruction, or good weather, sunshine, peace? In this way, I see sensationalism at work with media. Basically, I was asking if there's a source of information that covers not only the extreme disasters, political errors (ha he failed a speech), etc., but also a reminder of good aspects: Crops good, peace continuing. As I'm typing this, I dont quite remember where I was leading with this last question. Perhaps there is no such thing as a realistic view of the world that isn't full of 'bad news'. Or this bad news is something to be accepted.


The true end is this: if I do find some perfect manner of educating myself on current events, will it make a difference? I'm still in a country of millions who may or may not vote with any idea as to who they're supporting.

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#10 2015-08-14 02:03:37

Evilbunny
Member
From: The bottom of my heart
Joined: 2015-02-25
Posts: 1,276

Re: Do you pay attention?

Yeah there is definitely a liberal bias, but I don't use reddit to get opinions. I just use it to find links to articles about news.
I guess the bias might affect what gets to the front page, but it's good enough for me.


Evilbunny (in cursive)

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#11 2015-08-14 06:57:56

Swarth100
Member
Joined: 2015-07-18
Posts: 305

Re: Do you pay attention?

@hummerz5:
My reading an italian newspaper could be mainly related to my italian background.
I would also suggest you to see one film:
"Wag the Dog" ~ https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wag_the_Dog
Really, check it out! It is a cry against the manipulation the media MUST have over our minds for propaganda purposes. You need to cover the latest president's sexual scandal? You need to talk about WAR! There are no wars going on? You must INVENT A WAR. Also, worth quoting from that film is the phrase (whoch was eccessively copied elsewhere with little credit):
"What is there better than a hero?" ... "A dead hero" ... For propaganda purposes of course.

This also leads me into the Big Brother ~ Orwell argument (War is Prace / Ignorance is Strenght / Freedom is Slavery) / ("He eho controls the present controls the past, he who controls the past controls the future").... But that may be an off-topic long story!

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#12 2015-08-14 11:55:58

hummerz5
Member
From: wait I'm not a secret mod huh
Joined: 2015-08-10
Posts: 5,852

Re: Do you pay attention?

If it's any help, I did read 1984. I got the gist.
I'll look into Wag_the_Dog

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#13 2015-08-15 13:01:18

Pyromaniac
Official Caroler
Joined: 2015-02-15
Posts: 4,867

Re: Do you pay attention?

Not really. I dont like the bias on both sides. What I can stand even less is the people that consider themselves experts on current events and spout off their buzzwords and dogma without actually knowing both sides of the issue/what is actually going on. "Hey look i at me  read 1 entire buzzfeed article about such and such, listen to me about everything i know a lot about social justice and current events and heueheuhe"

Im just fine to stay out of it. //forums.everybodyedits.com/img/smilies/tongue

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