Every time I watch CNN, etc, I feel like I loose a few IQ points

[hostage]

Re: Every time I watch CNN, etc, I feel like I loose a few IQ points

Please note I did post this before I heard about that guy getting fired from NPR. I was mostly complaining how all news stations seem to like to show so many "it's the end of the world, if we don't do..." or covering things that should not be covered #1 because they are news and #2 it causes problems and unneeded violence/emotion.

I don't know if you should be fired for voicing your opinion outside of work and his comments didn't really seem racist.

 

[QC]

Re: Every time I watch CNN, etc, I feel like I loose a few IQ points

I can't believe this one is not yet locked...

Me either, but . . . that may be for a couple of reasons.

1) I posted in here and the other mods are trusting that I am watching and

2) We are discussing the Press and not the Politics.

Let's be sure to keep #2 COMPLETELY in mind as some have gone over that line. Delicate for sure.

 

[Bigperch]

Re: Every time I watch CNN, etc, I feel like I loose a few IQ points

Didn't seem racist to me, either. Nor did it seem political.
He expressed his concern about a religion. Plain and smiple.

For the most part journalism is dead. Has been for quite a while, too, according to this fellow I'll quote below. Now-a-days the goal seems to be delivering "news" stories in such a fashion as to mold public opinion.

I'm not happy about it..... Neither was this fellow, over 100 years ago.

John Swinton, the foremost journalist of his day, was asked to toast an independent press at a New York banquet given in his honour by other journalists. His response was clear and forthright:

?There is no such thing, at this stage of the world?s history in America, as an independent press. You know it and I know it. There is not one of you who dare write your honest opinions, and if you did, you know beforehand that it would never appear in print. I am paid weekly for keeping my honest opinions out of the paper I am connected with. Other of you are paid similar salaries for similar things, and any of you who would be foolish as to write honest opinions would be out on the streets looking for another job. If I allowed my honest opinions to appear in one issue of my papers, before twenty-four hours my occupation would be gone.

?The business of the journalist is to destroy the truth, to lie outright, to pervert, to vilify, to fawn at the feet of mammon, and to sell his country and his race for his daily bread. You know it and I know it, and what folly is this toasting an independent press? We are the jumping jacks, they pull the strings and we dance. Our talents, our possibilities and our lives are all the property of other men.

?We are intellectual prostitutes.?
John Swinton, New York 1890.

 

[QC]

Re: Every time I watch CNN, etc, I feel like I loose a few IQ points

I recall an old history professor I once had . . .

. . . his goal was to read as many different texts as possible, from as many points of view as possible. His goal was always an attempt to approximate WHAT REALLY HAPPENED!

I love this guy and I believe we all have this responsibility, and unless we do we should actually keep our yaps shut . . . Some of you oldies (like PW2 here) know my political leanings well, but I have done a lot to see all sides of these equations. My current personal edict is to watch my least favorite news channel when I travel . . . I have to admit that I am a little guilty of nodding my head up and down with the last person/show I listen to . . .

 

[Bigperch]

Re: Every time I watch CNN, etc, I feel like I loose a few IQ points

I believe that is key, too, QC.

My mother in law, whenever I make a statement about this or that, says "you can search the internet and find any view you look for to to back your point".

I tell her "my goal is to find as many different views as I possibly can, read them all and do some study on the subject, and then decide for myself. In other words, form an educated opinion rather than just accept whats dripped into my ears and eyes from a particular media source."

Open minds tend to learn.
Others, not so much...

 

[PW2]

Re: Every time I watch CNN, etc, I feel like I loose a few IQ points

I love this guy and I believe we all have this responsibility, and unless we do we should actually keep our yaps shut . . . Some of you oldies (like PW2 here) know my political leanings well, but I have done a lot to see all sides of these equations. My current personal edict is to watch my least favorite news channel when I travel . . . I have to admit that I am a little guilty of nodding my head up and down with the last person/show I listen to . . .

This guy was one of my all time favorite professors, and I couldn't tell you in a political debate which side he would have been on. I couldn't say that for many professors I had.

He also spent summers working as a janitor, and I never met anyone quite as proud as he was for his work as a janitor.

 

[skargo]

Re: Every time I watch CNN, etc, I feel like I loose a few IQ points

I used to be a news junkie, and used to click on drudgereport many times a day.
However, I have all but given up watching or surfing for any news as the majority of it is negative, and my life is more important than wasting time on listening/reading what any news outlet thinks.

No way am I starting my day with that negative BS either!

 

[aspeck]

Re: Every time I watch CNN, etc, I feel like I loose a few IQ points

This guy was one of my all time favorite professors, and I couldn't tell you in a political debate which side he would have been on. I couldn't say that for many professors I had.

He also spent summers working as a janitor, and I never met anyone quite as proud as he was for his work as a janitor.

Getting off topic, but he is a guy I would have loved to meet.

As for NPR, I think it is a shame how they knee-jerk reacted to the situation. It seems like it was bad timing for them also ... in the middle of fundraising ... which is a good time to tell NPR of your unhappiness.

Mr. Williams, on the other hand, came out with a $2M deal and a higher profile gig, so in the end NPR did him a favor while hurting themselves and their reputation. Capitalism at work. (Now if we could just get the government funds out of NPR)

 

[Bigperch]

Re: Every time I watch CNN, etc, I feel like I loose a few IQ points

Thanks to the mods for leaving this topic up.
I know I'm new here and all, but it seems to me Dockside forum should be more lenient on discussions that touch the boundaries of politics. This great country of ours needs people discussing a wide variety of topics and learning from each other.
Here's a couple recent comments worth passing along. Food for thought.

Juan William's follow up comment:

"Well, now that I no longer work for NPR let me give you my opinion. This is an outrageous violation of journalistic standards and ethics by management that has no use for a diversity of opinion, ideas or a diversity of staff (I was the only black male on the air). This is evidence of one-party rule and one-sided thinking at NPR that leads to enforced ideology, speech and writing. It leads to people, especially journalists, being sent to the gulag for raising the wrong questions and displaying independence of thought."....."I don't fit in their box," he said. "They were looking for a reason to get rid of me because I appear on Fox News. They don't want me talking to you."

And Huckabee's call for defunding:

"NPR has discredited itself as a forum for free speech and a protection of the First Amendment rights of all and has solidified itself as the purveyor of politically correct pabulum and protector of views that lean left," Huckabee said in a statement provided to CNN....Huckabee said he "will no longer accept interview requests from NPR as long as they are going to practice a form of censorship, and since NPR is funded with public funds, it is a form of censorship."

 

[LadyFish]

Re: Every time I watch CNN, etc, I feel like I loose a few IQ points

If you want to go to bed angry, wake up angry and basically have your every thought turn negative, then watch News TV or News Radio.

After 911 I did it religiously morning, noon and night for 2 years, I hated who I was becoming. And quite honestly, I felt like I was surrounded by nothing but doom and gloom.

I know the corruption in this country, all the screaming and whining isn't going to change anything. When I'm upset about something I write my congressman or state rep. Does it make a difference, probably not. I am tired of investigating what I hear on the news to check on its validity. All I want is truth and it seems an impossible request. News is business, doom and gloom sell.

My time is better spent enjoying what little time I have on this earth.

 

[rodbolt]

Re: Every time I watch CNN, etc, I feel like I loose a few IQ points

I am kinda with ladyfish on this one.
I look at the news briefly everyday, sometimes in wonderment sometimes in amuesment.
kida like the other day, HEADLINE.
most advanced nuclear attack sub runs aground.
WHAT???
did someone forget turning on the fishfinder ?????
I did watch more hours of the chile mine rescure than I care to admit.
however it was good news from an international effort that was simply amazing.
was worth wasting a few hours on.
but most news talking heads, and for 2mil williams will soon be one, they are simply to ridiculous to watch.
most if they dont agree with the guest will simply talk over them or simply cut them off for yet another cialis commercial.

 

[j_martin]

Re: Every time I watch CNN, etc, I feel like I loose a few IQ points

With all due respect:
1. Most of us would like to live our lives unmolested, and be free to enjoy our freedom (in the USA)
2. While we were sleepily doing just that, things seem to have gone awry.
3. Much catch up in learning has to be done, and there is a huge hunger (market) for that. That is why news outlets that use logic and analysis, sorting out feelings and facts, and reporting on both properly noted, are going gangbusters, and other outlets that deal with the party line, emotion over substance, etc, are dying on the vine, and helping in that self execution by firing any who would actually think (and express) independently about the "news". It's just a normal function of supply and demand.

If you want to go to bed angry, wake up angry and basically have your every thought turn negative, then watch News TV or News Radio.

After 911 I did it religiously morning, noon and night for 2 years, I hated who I was becoming. And quite honestly, I felt like I was surrounded by nothing but doom and gloom.

I know the corruption in this country, all the screaming and whining isn't going to change anything. When I'm upset about something I write my congressman or state rep. Does it make a difference, probably not. I am tired of investigating what I hear on the news to check on its validity. All I want is truth and it seems an impossible request. News is business, doom and gloom sell.

My time is better spent enjoying what little time I have on this earth.

 

[mscher]

Re: Every time I watch CNN, etc, I feel like I loose a few IQ points

That is why news outlets that use logic and analysis, sorting out feelings and facts, and reporting on both properly noted, are going gangbusters, and other outlets that deal with the party line, emotion over substance, etc, are dying on the vine, and helping in that self execution by firing any who would actually think (and express) independently about the "news". It's just a normal function of supply and demand.

Where are these news outlets?

Other than the BBC, I have yet to see any "news" outlet, that did not have some type of bias, or slant. News cannot read any story with commenting on it. Any analysis is by "experts", which usually have some vested interest in the information they are providing. They can make up a news story, or more simple, just quote someone else's story as "fact". No need to bother if it is true or not, as their "soruce", is protected.

Emotion over substance, not cutting it anymore? With the recent "miner-athon" most "news" watchers, probably know all of the Chilean miners, by their first names. We are certainly glad they were rescued, but we really didn't need to know, who made their matching track suits.

When Pearl Harbor was attacked, people took the brief news and decided what THEY were going to do next, in their lives.

Now "news" stories continually drone on and on, while they make every attempt, to do our thinking for us. All we need to do is either agree or disagree.

 

[QC]

Re: Every time I watch CNN, etc, I feel like I loose a few IQ points

Other than the BBC, I have yet to see any "news" outlet, that did not have some type of bias, or slant.

I agree with your assessment of every news outlet with the exception of your exception . . . How is the BBC exempt? Without any other biases, at a minimum they have to choose what to air. As I mentioned earlier, the task of choosing which stories are aired and which are not insures bias. How does the BBC avoid the fact that someone decides if they show a film clip of Chilean Miners or receding glaciers or a rocket from the Israelis or a rocket from Hamas or innocents killed by gangs or some military force? Whether it is by repetition, selection, or deselection, someone is determining which clips and stories are more worthy of coverage. They have to, there are only so many hours in the day . . .

I have traveled Internationally a lot, and spent the most time away from home in the UK. FWIW, I find the BBC very biased.

Thanks to the mods for leaving this topic up.
I know I'm new here and all, but it seems to me Dockside forum should be more lenient on discussions that touch the boundaries of politics. This great country of ours needs people discussing a wide variety of topics and learning from each other.

Not going to happen, this is as close as we're likely to ever get, and I am sure some Mods think this is too close.

Again, I am happy we are keeping this about news reporting and not the politics. We must keep it up or this will be gone.

Remember that comments about Moderation should be handled via PM. We have a policy against discussing Mod decisions and style in the open forums, although there are some opportunities to help spread the word such as this. Thanks all for keeping it together!!

 

[skargo]

Re: Every time I watch CNN, etc, I feel like I loose a few IQ points

If you want to go to bed angry, wake up angry and basically have your every thought turn negative, then watch News TV or News Radio.

After 911 I did it religiously morning, noon and night for 2 years, I hated who I was becoming. And quite honestly, I felt like I was surrounded by nothing but doom and gloom.

I know the corruption in this country, all the screaming and whining isn't going to change anything. When I'm upset about something I write my congressman or state rep. Does it make a difference, probably not. I am tired of investigating what I hear on the news to check on its validity. All I want is truth and it seems an impossible request. News is business, doom and gloom sell.

My time is better spent enjoying what little time I have on this earth.

I agree so much!