tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6251675227852122352.post2111254416447110678..comments2024-01-05T06:18:18.086-05:00Comments on CommentaramaPolitics: Portrait of a (fake) ScandalAndrewPricehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11312364467936820986noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6251675227852122352.post-59892128315103325552019-01-29T15:37:01.120-05:002019-01-29T15:37:01.120-05:00Anthony, It's never entirely either or, but th...Anthony, It's never entirely either or, but the media is definitely responsible for giving what they give to the public. It's like a drug dealer saying, "Hey, it's not my fault the neighborhood turned to crap... they took the drugs."<br /><br />True, but you enabled in a vital way.AndrewPricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11312364467936820986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6251675227852122352.post-45626295601060636272019-01-29T15:35:55.538-05:002019-01-29T15:35:55.538-05:00tryanmax, Sadly, you're probably right.tryanmax, Sadly, you're probably right.AndrewPricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11312364467936820986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6251675227852122352.post-45133734456076194592019-01-29T14:56:39.463-05:002019-01-29T14:56:39.463-05:00Media and the public are like binary stars, each p...Media and the public are like binary stars, each pulling at the other. That said, I don't think anyone truly wants to be misled. What they <b>do</b> want is a way to show that they aren't misled. And that's how playing loose with facts can actually lock-in an audience. <br /><br />If an outlet apologizes for a false hot-take, they basically tell their audience that they took them for a ride. But if they double-down on the hot-take, not only do they reassure their audience, they also provide the "evidence" that the hot-take was right all along.<br /><br />Repeat across multiple stories and multiply against a narrative that pre-assigns good guys and bad guys and voila!tryanmaxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09881154741574720094noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6251675227852122352.post-61282938275517424332019-01-27T06:19:40.197-05:002019-01-27T06:19:40.197-05:00Andrew,
Due to public's reluctance to pay for...Andrew,<br /><br />Due to public's reluctance to pay for news and dislike of advertising, to a point the media is always going to be reliant on the generosity of billionaires. Happily for the media there is no shortage of such people nowadays (several hundred at least).<br /><br />I don't think the media is shaping the tastes of the public, I think the public (and technology) is shaping the media. I doubt there is any reversing the trend. People who care intensely about news tend to want consistent narratives rather than facts and they want it quickly and concisely (to put it mildly).Anthonyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16124128949343301445noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6251675227852122352.post-30241023500975410132019-01-26T16:13:11.210-05:002019-01-26T16:13:11.210-05:00Anthony, I don't think the shape and direction...Anthony, I don't think the shape and direction of new media is sustainable. They've changed the market by selling quick hits of ignorance, which got stupid people addicted and got them to become incapable of reading longer stories. Hence, there is no long-form market anymore and the short form market won't pay for the quick hits.<br /><br />At the same time, it seems their solution is to keep pushing the lowest common denominator lower, but that only makes the problem worse.AndrewPricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11312364467936820986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6251675227852122352.post-49807894644489833412019-01-26T16:09:31.149-05:002019-01-26T16:09:31.149-05:00Daniel, I think it helps to see this in a nonpolit...Daniel, I think it helps to see this in a nonpolitical context. This is the same pattern that is going on all across the media but here the rottenness of it doesn't get clouded by political bias or claims of different perspectives. These are the facts. The reporters ignored them to fake outrage. When caught, they kept right on going.<br /><br />The same is true in financial reporting, political reporting and even Hollywood reporting. It's just really clear in this instance.<br /><br />As for the layoffs, I've been following the implosion of the new media of late. Their switch to video reporting was a disaster and that's given them a double punch where they first laid off their writers, thinking they wouldn't need them, and now are laying off their reporters because people don't want videos. It's been fascinating and I think many of these companies will are entering a death spiral.AndrewPricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11312364467936820986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6251675227852122352.post-89552013521255267712019-01-26T01:59:14.937-05:002019-01-26T01:59:14.937-05:00I'll quote what I said last year.
http://co...I'll quote what I said last year. <br /><br />http://commentaramapolitics.blogspot.com/2018/11/ridiculous-media-trends.html<br /><br />More crucially the media sometimes lies, but it rarely leads people anywhere they don't want to go. People want nuggets of news which confirm their worldviews. If they don't get said nuggets from, A, B, C or D then they go to Z for it. Bias is not a bug, its a feature, one that consumers demand.<br /><br />Also, social media and forums are major news sources for most people. Companies hire and fire based on such postings. Its worth noting Guardians of the Galaxy and Roseanne were too tremendously successful products which were nuked due to the postings of important people involved.<br /><br />Last but not least its not formal media sites that make 'White woman calls cops on X' a overcovered trend, its snippets of video uploaded to social media which go viral. Almost everybody nowadays has an internet connected recording device in their pocket. By the time the media reports of stuff like that it is already famous (read: hundreds of thousands or millions of hits). So don't blame the media, blame the world. <br /><br />END QUOTE<br /><br />The latest layoffs are due to sites (like Buzzfeed and Huffpo) which got good at releasing free news quickly losing clicks and thus revenue to people who produce even more quickly. <br /><br />It's not inaccuracy or bias that kills, it's being too slow, too boring (hot takes get more clicks than cold takes) or talking about stuff comparatively few care about. Anthonyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16124128949343301445noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6251675227852122352.post-10242170546509612002019-01-26T00:43:29.830-05:002019-01-26T00:43:29.830-05:00I was expecting the Covington story to be the main...I was expecting the Covington story to be the main focus but the Anderson mess was a great example of this kind of slimy behavior too. I'm not surprised at the amount of schadenfreude aimed at the "journalists" who are now out of work from Huffington Post eliminating its Opinion section and Buzzfeed doing its own layoffs in their National Security and Health Ed sections in light of this and every other piece of dishonest clickbait the media's run with. You can imagine how they reacted when their old refrain of learn to code got turned back on them, Andrew. ArgentGalehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01173296751792700318noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6251675227852122352.post-7017440580356984222019-01-25T23:13:22.833-05:002019-01-25T23:13:22.833-05:00Thanks Jed. That seemed to describe it well, sadl...Thanks Jed. That seemed to describe it well, sadly.<br /><br />And this is just one instance. I'm seeing this everywhere. Our media have become rumor mongers and hate mongers.. facts be damned!AndrewPricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11312364467936820986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6251675227852122352.post-79364867323592018292019-01-25T21:07:41.966-05:002019-01-25T21:07:41.966-05:00Messed that up, the gadgets are too small for me, ...Messed that up, the gadgets are too small for me, but you get the drift, lolTennessee Jedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10604275115906776992noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6251675227852122352.post-70272743452309967502019-01-25T21:06:35.953-05:002019-01-25T21:06:35.953-05:00I thought the Covington protests were an egregious...I thought the Covington protests were an egregious, but this is even better. It is sad, but I do love your phrase “noxious cocktail of ignorance and self -importance is perfectTennessee Jedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10604275115906776992noreply@blogger.com