The Truth About The News.

[Chessie]

When reality affects information we call it News.
When information affects reality we call it Propaganda.

We've put news on a pedestal as though it should in some way be responsible for the reality we live in instead of the reality we live in being responsible for what news we consume. Critical thinking is a strange and unfortunate idea which can cut both ways if improperly applied. A person may think of a situation intellectually and seek for flaws in logic or they can think skeptically of what displeases them and seek for illogical arguments to justify their own discomfort.

I want to know what you think of this idea. Please, respond.

 

[Orlando]

I stopped watching news a while a go and my general feeling of well-being and attitude towards the world improved greatly. I now just see most of the news as fear mongering propaganda and not a real, accurate and unbiased description of the world we live in.

I still read the local weekly newspaper as I like to know what goes around my sphere of influence. It's also much more empowering that just knowing "everything" that goes around the world and having the feeling I can do nothing about it.

 

[Praefect]

I think if people wouldn't be paranoid, afraid or petty then news wouldn't be paranoid, afraid or petty. The news reflect the view of the majority of the people, they don't create it. People want fault to be found and want to interpret everything according to their own delusions and need for relevance, and the news feeds that need. It doesn't create it. Fox News is a representation of the people, not a tool to manipulate them. They give the people what the people wanted already.

I think that's what news do, at least not in a world where viewership means currency.

 

[TinyBubbles]

When reality affects information we call it News.
When information affects reality we call it Propaganda.

Information and reality are intimately linked, and what we call them is kind of irrelevant. One directly affects and is affected by changes in the other.

To define them loosely-
Reality: what is.
Information: a description of what is. (often symbolic)

We've put news on a pedestal as though it should in some way be responsible for the reality we live in instead of the reality we live in being responsible for what news we consume.

Not quite sure what you mean here.

Critical thinking is a strange and unfortunate idea which can cut both ways if improperly applied. A person may think of a situation intellectually and seek for flaws in logic or they can think skeptically of what displeases them and seek for illogical arguments to justify their own discomfort.

This is very true, however it doesn't necessarily say anything about the arguments' validity. In other words, a person could indeed be trying to justify their own discomfort by pointing out a flaw in something, but that doesn't mean the flaw doesn't exist (or does exist, for that matter).

 

[DoveAlexa]

Either way you spin it, the world is a horrible place. If you can ignore it good on you, you'll be much happier in life.

 

[Chessie]

Consider a place where what you see on television is a reflection of what actually exists in the world around you. Not by way of extracting fantasy from fantasy but by way of the events of civilization being reflected in the collected shibboleth under which they live.

 

[88chaz88]

Consider a place where what you see on television is a reflection of what actually exists in the world around you. Not by way of extracting fantasy from fantasy but by way of the events of civilization being reflected in the collected shibboleth under which they live.

What?

 

[A Person]

TV will never reflect what the world is really like, all it is designed to do is entertain. Exageration and fantasy entertains more than fact. The more people that are entertained, the more money that the TV executives make. It's all about money in the long run, not truth.

If you were to take a break from TV, movies, gossip magazines and lyrical music for half a year you would see how fake it all is and how much better off you are without it.

...TV is a waste of time.

DoveAlexa, you are right, the world is a terrible place if all you see is the bad. That is what television news does, it focuses on the bad, never the good, because thats what gets the ratings. If all you ever see when you turn on the television news is murder, rape, suicide, war and the like, how will you ever know what good is in the world? Try turning off that box for a while and experience the good that the world has to offer first hand.

 

[DoveAlexa]

TV will never reflect what the world is really like, all it is designed to do is entertain. Exageration and fantasy entertains more than fact. The more people that are entertained, the more money that the TV executives make. It's all about money in the long run, not truth.

If you were to take a break from TV, movies, gossip magazines and lyrical music for half a year you would see how fake it all is and how much better off you are without it.

...TV is a waste of time.

DoveAlexa, you are right, the world is a terrible place if all you see is the bad. That is what television news does, it focuses on the bad, never the good, because thats what gets the ratings. If all you ever see when you turn on the television news is murder, rape, suicide, war and the like, how will you ever know what good is in the world? Try turning off that box for a while and experience the good that the world has to offer first hand.

I don't watch tv, thanks.

 

[Kgal]

Consider a place where what you see on television is a reflection of what actually exists in the world around you. Not by way of extracting fantasy from fantasy but by way of the events of civilization being reflected in the collected shibboleth under which they live.

I had to look up the word "shibboleth". This is what I found:

"Today, in the English language, a shibboleth also has a wider meaning, referring to any "in-crowd" word or phrase that can be used to distinguish members of a group from outsiders - even when not used by a hostile other group. The word is also sometimes used in a broader sense to mean jargon, the proper use of which identifies speakers as members of a particular group or subculture."

In some of my "If I were in control of the world" fantasies that I used to have (LOL), one of the acts I would take is to make television show what was really going on in the world. Not what is edited and showed for effect. I thought this would make the people wake up from being "sheeple" and see what's going on under their noses. I thought if they could see the unvarnished naked truth they would develop an interest in changing the world for the better. Yeh - I know. Pretty naive - right?
Probably they would stop watching television and get hooked more into the internet where fantasy abounds...

Nevertheless - at least News and Commercials (essentially the same thing) couldn't be used to manipulate the minds of the masses. For I agree with Chessie - we do put the News on a pedestal as if it were Absolute Truth - when all it is these days is a relfection of what people will pay to see. I

I haven't watched television for about 10 years now and I don't miss it. Sometimes I watch when it's on around me to see what the people are being spoonfed. And so far - I haven't missed it. On the other hand, people will often try to talk to me about what they see and watch on television news, including news reporters and shows that I have no idea of who they're talking about. Sometimes I can see it in their eyes, that I may not be someone they can trust because I don't know who they watch and trust.

Perhaps this is the 'shibboleth' concept?

Anyway I look at it, Television and the news, is only a re-incarnation of the Roman gladiator days. "Bread and circuses" for the opiate of the masses...

 

[IndigoSensor]

I don't the the news is nearly as bad as people make it out to be. It is unreasonably impossible for humans to completely remove bias from themselves. Further, I believe that most people are reasonable and level headed enough to be honest and not try to twist the truth. There are simply different views and opinions. To call most news stations propaganda is quite a stretch in my book.

 

[MindYourHead]

I read through 2 newspapers everyday, and I like to get the news from sources with both a liberal view, and those with a conservative view.
I then draw my own conclusions.

 

[TinyBubbles]

I don't the the news is nearly as bad as people make it out to be. It is unreasonably impossible for humans to completely remove bias from themselves. Further, I believe that most people are reasonable and level headed enough to be honest and not try to twist the truth. There are simply different views and opinions. To call most news stations propaganda is quite a stretch in my book.

The news is filtered, contorted reality. It's akin to a photograph being supposed as "proof" that something happened - the photograph itself is real, and the description given by the news anchors is probably also accurate to an extent - but the TIMING of showing it and the fact that other things aren't shown in relation to it etc. etc. is how it becomes propaganda. In effect, the news lies more by omission and subversion than by outright exaggeration and a blatant twisting of facts (although to an extent, all four are done).
Just my opinion of course

 

[just me]

Time has taught me and is teaching me who to listen to and to what. We still have to read between the lines most of the time I think.

 

[IndigoSensor]

The news is filtered, contorted reality. It's akin to a photograph being supposed as "proof" that something happened - the photograph itself is real, and the description given by the news anchors is probably also accurate to an extent - but the TIMING of showing it and the fact that other things aren't shown in relation to it etc. etc. is how it becomes propaganda. In effect, the news lies more by omission and subversion than by outright exaggeration and a blatant twisting of facts (although to an extent, all four are done).
Just my opinion of course

Oh, the media's hand's are not clean at all, trust me, I agree with this. I just get frusterated when people bad mouth the media so much cause it is usually for unwarranted reasons, and it is seen as far more evil then it is.

 

[Quinlan]

It's interesting to read a headline and then follow it back to the actual study or event and the distortion is remarkable.

 

[sassafras]

I think it's more dangerous to take the media at face-value than it is be overly critical and suspicious of its intentions. Quite frankly, much of what it represents makes it a wolf in sheep's clothing. There is much that main-stream media does not report, which makes me more than a bit dubious about how much we're being spoon-fed the things that do make it into public knowledge. Make no mistake, even though we live in the information age, we are just as prone as ever to sociological shaping by way of propaganda and information black-outs. The fact that many people think that this is now impossible thanks to free information mediums that seem self-galvanizing, such as the internet, is a frightening thought.

I'm not suggesting we start pulling out our tin-foil hats and signing up for conspiracy theory mailing lists just yet, but I think it's important to take a step back every once in a while and look at this from a more detached, existential perspective.

The media has massive power, I think anyone can attest to that. It is the door through which almost everything about our modern life filters through, including our cultures and perspectives and even what we know about and how we view ourselves. It could be a psychological aid... or a potent psychological weapon. And the power of those sociological and psychological influences need not be holistically lain across a mosaic of players as it could very well rest in the hands of a select few. Though we may never really know the truth, being alerted to the possibility will afford us some free-thought and an independent hand in shaping our own reality.

 

[Nixie]

I find this area interesting. I think that the advent of the digital age will / has heralded a need to redefine our concept of truth and by association news. I mean a picture really isn't just a picture or fact anymore because it can be digitally altered. Also with the rush of info, having to wade thru all the crap to find relevance and reliable info. Any fringe group or individual has the ability to supply "information" out in cyberspace. I think we are just begining to touch on the impact of modern technology on our social systems. Information has always been currency of a kind--but have we began the process of devaluing our currrent understanding of it and how will we redefine it? Information overload isn't really ideal either. Of course there is the relevant argument that mainstream news has always been biased anyway because the means of production have been held in the hands of the elite and prone to influence.

*readjusts tinfoil hat*