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liberal N proud
(60,349 posts)The news died when Ronald Reagan became President.
Smarmie Doofus
(14,498 posts).... maybe front-and-back of a t-shirt.
K and R
Enthusiast
(50,983 posts)Very good!
The Wizard
(12,552 posts)We've been reduced to drones just smart enough to operate the machinery but too dumb to realize we're getting hosed by the wealthy elites. We have owners.
cantbeserious
(13,039 posts)eom
nyabingi
(1,145 posts)politicians feared journalists, now they have formal correspondents dinners with them and laugh and joke with them.
The powers-that-be has successfully incorporated the press into their group and the media is very comfortable being close to those in power. Sad...
Louisiana1976
(3,962 posts)Trust Buster
(7,299 posts)Armstead
(47,803 posts)Which came first? The mindless distractions and propaganda or the public's apathy, cynicism and/or wrongheaded ideas?
It's a vicious cycle. If important issues are either ignored or distorted by the MSM, people don't have a chance to learn or get inspired to get involved in the push for something better. And that breeds apathy and cynicism, which creates a vacuum that gets filled by the Housewives of Beverly Hills, and a culture of Idiocracy.
And it's made worse when Faux News and GOP strategists who know how to channel passion into wrongheaded right wing crap, while the Democratic Party offers mush.
Don't know how that cycle gets broken. It's an age old dilemma.
Trust Buster
(7,299 posts)In my youth, I was limited to the big 3 networks and the local newspaper. Today, Americans can find the answers to all their curiosities virtually at their fingertips. Iraq and Afghanistan have been covered in depth for years but the majority of Americans can't find either country on a map. The average American doesn't know the difference between the deficit and the debt. The sad reality is that the media has become entertainment media because they are in the business of making money and entertainment is what the majority of viewers respond to.
Armstead
(47,803 posts)You're right. Human nature is kind of lazy, and doesn't like to have to stretch to understand things, especially unpleasant realities.
Much easier to escape by following the Kardashians than trying to understand how some complex bit of economic, technical, legal or scientific chicanery or bad policy is going to directly affect your/my/society as a whole.
I'm just as guilty. There are a lot of important issues that make my eyes glaze over.
And the media industrial complex feeds that with mind-numbing pablum.
But on the other hand, people do get worked up if things are explained -- and advocated for -- in clear terms that hits their hot buttons. That's why the GOP and corporate propaganda machine have been so successful. As awful as it is, for example, Fox News is great at putting complicated things in a simple, entertaining frame that gets to people's hot buttons.
But unfortunately, the opposing side doesn't have the smarts to find ways to do the same thing from the liberal side of the spectrum.
Overseas
(12,121 posts)
KurtNYC
(14,549 posts)And our MSM is owned.
Anyone who thinks that Americans will get something other than propaganda, advertising and distractions from the MSM is wrong. Asking the MSM to "do their job" is something that only Rupert Murdoch and a handful of other billionaires who own media can actually do.
For the rest of us, we will have to learn how to ignore the distractions, pick through the propaganda and do our own fact checking. Being lazy won't get you to the Truth any time soon.
Ichingcarpenter
(36,988 posts)Five defining characteristics of stupidity, it seems to me, are readily apparent.
First, is sheer ignorance: Ignorance of critical facts about important events in the news, and ignorance of how our government functions and who's in charge.
Second, is negligence: The disinclination to seek reliable sources of information about important news events.
Third, is wooden-headedness, as the historian Barbara Tuchman defined it: The inclination to believe what we want to believe regardless of the facts.
Fourth, is shortsightedness: The support of public policies that are mutually contradictory, or contrary to the country's long-term interests.
Fifth, and finally, is a broad category I call bone-headedness, for want of a better name: The susceptibility to meaningless phrases, stereotypes, irrational biases, and simplistic diagnoses and solutions that play on our hopes and fears.
American Ignorance
Taking up the first of our definitions of stupidity, how ignorant are we? Ask the political scientists and you will be told that there is damning, hard evidence pointing incontrovertibly to the conclusion that millions are embarrassingly ill-informed and that they do not care that they are. There is enough evidence that one could almost conclude -- though admittedly this is a stretch -- that we are living in an Age of Ignorance.
Millions every year are now spent on the effort to answer the question: What do the voters want? The honest answer would be that often they themselves do not really know because they do not know enough to say. Few, however, admit this.
How much ignorance can a country stand? There have to be terrible consequences when it reaches a certain level. But what level? And with what consequences, exactly? The answers to these questions are unknowable. But can we doubt that if we persist on the path we are on that we shall, one day, perhaps not too far into the distant future, find out the answers?
"Our ignorance of history causes us to slander our own times." - Gustave Flaubert
KurtNYC
(14,549 posts)We get the kind of "choice" you give a three year old at bedtime -- "Would you like to wear red or blue pajamas to sleep in ?" It avoids options like 'I don't want to go to bed now.'
I think a lot of people have a good idea of how our government really works -- 42% of eligible voters did not vote in 2012.
The campaigns do focus groups to see what voters want to hear. In classic marketing form, they listen to the customer and then speak back to the customer in language the customer just used. Customer says "I want lower taxes" = candidate says "I will cut taxes." But it is mostly bait-and-switch.
I also think that we would do better if we organize around goals instead of around politicians. In other words less "Hillary 2016" and more "Equal Rights and Equal Pay" (for all).
Ichingcarpenter
(36,988 posts)Yeah the cult of the personality has gotten way out of control
and doesn't look at the content of the merchandize and pays attention to the brand name and pretty packaging on the bill of goods.vs the content of harmful ingredients that will harm you, your nation, this planet and your children ultimately.
SheilaT
(23,156 posts)They are intelligent, reasonably well educated women. Older sister recently retired, moved in with younger sister, still working, a recent widow. Their politics are distinctly liberal.
However, the TV is on from morning until night. They don't watch Fox News, but one of the morning infotainment shows. I don't even know which one it is because I have never watched the morning shows even back when I had a TV. What I am most struck by is how very short attention span it all is. There are only the briefest reports of various things, with no analysis or explanation. I am beyond grateful I lugged this laptop along with me so that I can sign into DU and various other sites I frequent.
Anyway, my point is that they know all the tidbits of news that get fed them, but little in depth. They are not obsessed with the celebrity culture, I'll give you that. But older sister was happily giving me some personal (albeit public) information about one of the morning show hosts. I told her I had never even heard of this person, and she dropped it, but was clearly amazed that I wasn't invested in knowing this.
I read books. Lots of books. About 60 percent of what I read is non fiction, and I find that largely as a result of that reading I'm vastly better informed about all sorts of things than many people. What I don't know is much about celebrities, and exceptionally little about sports of any kind, other than what is front and center everywhere. So I know that the U.S. soccer team won their match the other day and have another one on Sunday. I'll know if they win or lose that one, of course. But will I care? Not really.
Give me a good book any day.
Trust Buster
(7,299 posts)
I have a couple of brothers that turn on the tv when they get up and don't turn it off unless they leave the house. In one of my brothers' home, he has a tv in the kitchen (bigger than our 32 inch in the family room) and one in the garage. That way he can go from house to garage/yard and never miss a beat. It drives me mad to visit them. I don't know if this is normal behavior but it makes me wonder if that is the key to the demise of our culture in this messed up country.
SheilaT
(23,156 posts)Plus, having a TV in every room is far too common.
Back when I was still married and our kids were still at home, we had a TV. And cable. But only one TV. I think having a TV in a bedroom is a very bad idea. It's an especially bad idea to have one in a kid's room. What I liked best was that fairly often different people wanted to watch different programs. And we parents didn't always insist on ours. The kids learned that there could be negotiation and compromise around this, which I think is an extremely valuable lesson, and much better than everyone going off to a different room to watch something different.
I do watch TV programs but on the internet in some way. I may not see everything the first time it airs, but if I want to watch something I do usually get to see it. And because I have to make a bit more of an effort, I watch far less than I would with standard TV of any kind, whether broadcast only, or satellite or cable.
As for breaking news stories, I rarely miss a thing because when something important happens local TV stations often go to live streaming.
I do think that the nearly universal inclination to watch a lot of TV, and much of that mindlessly, is a very bad thing. We here all vilify Fox News, and rightly so in my opinion. But the local news focusses on little but mayhem and murder, or totally trivial human interest stories. There's nothing inherently wrong with most show, reality or otherwise, but they are all too readily taken as accurate representations of how things really work. And that's what's undermining so much of our culture.
truth2power
(8,219 posts)I rarely, if ever, have my TV on during the day, unless there's a severe storm heading our way. Then we have some extraordinary meteorologists on, locally, to keep us well-informed.
I don't have cable and my evening viewing is limited to a few select programs.
Those so-called "reality" shows promote sociopathy, IMO. And overall, what passes for news is poisoning the minds of the American people.
brer cat
(24,634 posts)Sums it up very well.
Dustlawyer
(10,499 posts)The Plutocrats realized they could take control of the media, Judges, Congress an the Presidency thanks to campaign contributions. They now have the laws written for them, the regulatory agencies so starved for money that they cannot perform their functions, and they have been able to consolidate into an Oligarchy. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has bed at the forefront in all of this along with the American Petroleum Institute and a few other major industry groups.
If we could ever focus on attacking campaign finance reform and demand publicly funded elections we can fix all of this. One of the 1st things I would do would be to break up the media and the big banks. I would pass laws to require truth in the news, because thanks to Fox News, there is a Florida court decision that says that they are "entertainment," they do not have to tell us the truth.
If we don't start demanding complete campaign finance reform (CCFR) and publicly funded elections soon, we will ruin our ecology and kill off most of us and most of the animals we rely upon. Crazy but true.
Instead of just fighting for your pet issues, be they gun control, LGBTV rights, environment, education... you need to focus on CCFR. IF WE GET THAT PASSED OUR POLITICIANS WILL ONCE AGAIN REPRESENT US INSTEAD OF THEM!
Ichingcarpenter
(36,988 posts)Some are and they contribute to our knowledge base
Others .... not so much and even don't want to know.
I think Mrs. Junkdrawer's letter to DU said a lot
truebrit71
(20,805 posts)truth2power
(8,219 posts)I have disconnected myself from nearly all of the lamestream propaganda news - print and TV.
It's amazing how it clears the mind.
I find that it's much like what happens when one stops eating junk food. In my case, I tend to be addicted to bread and sugary treats and such. From time to time, when I make a decided effort to lay off the crap food I can feel an almost immediate improvement in my energy level and my physical health, generally.
I continue to find credible information regarding the issues in your left-hand column by reading prolifically on various blogs and websites. Unfortunately, trying to counter misinformation here is often an uphill battle, because of, well...gatekeepers.
I am grateful to DUers, such as yourself, who persist in trying to get the truth out there.
