World is Falling Apart Thread (Locked forever)

[marurun]

Jp1, easy, man. I disagree with CRT a lot as well, but counter his assertions with facts and reality, not personal scorn.

[CRTGAMER]

I don't know anyone who didn't know about Taiwan who now does because of a call from/to Trump. AFAIK there was no awareness spread. Given his tweet history and denial of reality, I wouldn't want anyone to learn about world affairs from Trump anyway. It is a dangerous turn because it puts crosshairs on Taiwan and could result in military aggression from China against Taiwan.

So true how many actually do learn of world affairs thru blogs, posts and Google search of news sites, but then are the "official" media any more reliable? While I definitely do not take Trump's Twitter as world events, am interested what he posts as what he is doing. Yes the Internet is just one big gossip rag to be taken as just opinions.

[prfsnl_gmr]

...but then is the "official" media any more reliable?

Yes.

[marurun]

but then are the "official" media any more reliable?.

Absolutely. Most traditional media outlets are committed to journalistic ethics and fact-driven reporting. Do they adhere perfectly? No. Do they sometimes stumble? Yes. Are they occasionally subverted by new owners more interested in profits than the mission? Sometimes. But their record is far better, and they are far more reliable, than any of the alt media outlets right or left.

[Sarge]

I have very little faith in the mainstream media. Sure, they're better than your conspiratorial websites and your obviously partisan opinion pages, but at the same time, their biases bleed through their work more often than it should. I wish that journalism was in a better state all around, but it's not, and we're fooling ourselves if we think that journalism is better now than it was, say, fifty years ago.

[prfsnl_gmr]

...we're fooling ourselves if we think that journalism is better now than it was, say, fifty years ago.

Why do you think this? I am just curious.

[Sarge]

Just watching the bias over the last election was enough, although I've watched the slow drift over the last 25+ years that I've been paying attention to politics. Not that I'm the most unbiased observer, but in a race between two flawed candidates, it was very obvious who the mainstream sources supported. And this is a year where I was in a weird spot, given my disdain for both candidates. I heard someone the other day say Trump was basically Reagan, and my hair stood up on end.

I know there are people that do good work in media, but a huge majority of the news media tilts to the left. Conservative representation is virtually nil in the mainstream corners of the media. I don't know if there's an obvious solution to this, as this could have roots in what career paths left-leaners vs. right-leaners take in the aggregate, but I do think a bit more diversity could help. If I were working in an overwhelmingly conservative environment, I'd want some liberals there to help me with the blind spots. (That's one of the reasons I can appreciate you guys, sometimes I do miss stuff!)

In a more grandiose sense, of course, I think that our morality overall as a society has degraded significantly over the years as well. We see this manifest in how businesses operate, how our government operates, and yes, how our press operates. I think perhaps my issue with the press is one that doesn't have an easy solution short of wholesale societal change, and I'm just not seeing how we get there right now.

[marurun]

To your point on morality drift, I think this is just like the issue of violence. There is less murder and violent crime in society than 20, 30, 50 years ago, but better communication means we hear all about what does occur. The violence is more public, more spotlighted. It is the same for some categories of morality (putting aside that the specifics of morality vary by belief set and over time). Companies and public figures aren't necessarily less moral now, we're just more likely to hear about it. We used to be, as a society, more willfully oblivious to the failings of humanity, but thanks to insane competition for our eyes and ears we are getting more and more of the sordid details. And at least with violence and corruption, bringing it into the light is how we start to fix it.

[Sarge]

Oh, I don't disagree with that. On the violence front, I do think things have gotten a bit better. And death and destruction sell better than positive media, so that certainly factors in as well.

[CRTGAMER]

Oh, the media definitely is biased, just look how wrong the polls were!

To see coverage of biased news for both parties, here is my routine for the TV news:

5pm - Local NBC News
530pm - NBC National News
6pm - CBS National News
630pm - ABC National News
7pm - ABC Local News
5am - Local Independent station (the most refreshing)
News while on PC - Fox News Channel
See all of Trump's live speeches UNCUT - Fox News Channel / YouTube

Watching the big three appears to be canned news; all three appear to be following the exact same biased Associated Press news wire, many times the exact same order of video presentation. Even Fox with its reversed bias follows a similar format. So who is controlling the TV News, the AP or a partnership with the media giants?

I still watch with the same doubt belief as what I see online.
Take it in and use my own judgement of all the opinions.

The big three ABC, CBS and NBC are Democrat Biased while Fox is Republican biased
On NBC News last night a repeat video showed a group of White Nationalists "Hail Trump" with a few raising Hitler Salutes. The news reported that Trump disapproved of the organization all the while showing a still photo of Trump and digital zooming in to someone in the background hand up in the same fashion. Irresponsible Journalism! It was a screen capture timed just right of a Campaign Video with Trump waving to the crowd!

As Trump has stated, If "Not Nice", I will not give the media my time. Trump should just snub the media except for maybe once in a while, the questions asked by reporters do not represent enough coverage for what the nation really wants to know. Too many times, the media attempts to sway the people they interview to their agenda in changing policy.

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/

If the press would cover me accurately & honorably, I would have far less reason to "tweet." Sadly, I don't know if that will ever happen!

In case you missed a couple Saturday Night Live Skits:



Very Funny and great ending. Man I miss NY food carts!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxH6bKNPBIA

Tweet Tweet!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tI3g_laToxE