Comments on: Huh? http://www.saysuncle.com/2004/10/21/huh/ Remember, I do this to entertain me... not you. Sun, 12 Feb 2012 17:22:25 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: tgirsch http://www.saysuncle.com/2004/10/21/huh/comment-page-1/#comment-9655 tgirsch Thu, 21 Oct 2004 17:13:30 +0000 /?p=3980#comment-9655 Part of the problem is that in most cities, there's only one viable major newspaper. In the olden days, whether the papers were partisan or not, you still had competition keeping you honest. In all but the largest cities, that's gone. Part of the problem is that in most cities, there’s only one viable major newspaper. In the olden days, whether the papers were partisan or not, you still had competition keeping you honest. In all but the largest cities, that’s gone.

]]> By: lobbygow http://www.saysuncle.com/2004/10/21/huh/comment-page-1/#comment-9653 lobbygow Thu, 21 Oct 2004 16:42:18 +0000 /?p=3980#comment-9653 <i>The public takes the press at it’s word. The result is no real idea or discussion about an issue by ordinary folks.</i> Yeah, but whaddya gonna do? Establish product labeling standards for information? Nice idea, but who would you or I entrust to write and enforce such standards. Misleading product labels can kill. I guess bad information can kill as well, but this is one of those sticky issues. For now, I'm more comfortable holding the consumers of information accountable for viewing anything they're told by the media with a skeptical eye. We're too complacent. This isn't a simple issue though. Sometimes when I see the back and forth on blogs, I realize that someone may have the same basic values I have but has reached wildly different conclusions. Sometimes I wonder if there are huge chunks of information that we are ALL missing because the media is "following the soccer ball" as Jon Stewart quipped. The public takes the press at it’s word. The result is no real idea or discussion about an issue by ordinary folks.

Yeah, but whaddya gonna do? Establish product labeling standards for information? Nice idea, but who would you or I entrust to write and enforce such standards. Misleading product labels can kill. I guess bad information can kill as well, but this is one of those sticky issues. For now, I’m more comfortable holding the consumers of information accountable for viewing anything they’re told by the media with a skeptical eye. We’re too complacent.

This isn’t a simple issue though. Sometimes when I see the back and forth on blogs, I realize that someone may have the same basic values I have but has reached wildly different conclusions. Sometimes I wonder if there are huge chunks of information that we are ALL missing because the media is “following the soccer ball” as Jon Stewart quipped.

]]> By: SayUncle http://www.saysuncle.com/2004/10/21/huh/comment-page-1/#comment-9652 SayUncle Thu, 21 Oct 2004 16:27:51 +0000 /?p=3980#comment-9652 I think it's a combination of bias, laziness from the press, and reader apathy. Also, it's issue specific. For example, the press lies about guns every day. Now, are they intentionally lying? Dunno. But they get their facts wrong so they're lazy if not lying. The public takes the press at it's word. The result is no real idea or discussion about an issue by ordinary folks. I think it’s a combination of bias, laziness from the press, and reader apathy. Also, it’s issue specific.

For example, the press lies about guns every day. Now, are they intentionally lying? Dunno. But they get their facts wrong so they’re lazy if not lying. The public takes the press at it’s word. The result is no real idea or discussion about an issue by ordinary folks.

]]> By: lobbygow http://www.saysuncle.com/2004/10/21/huh/comment-page-1/#comment-9651 lobbygow Thu, 21 Oct 2004 16:17:10 +0000 /?p=3980#comment-9651 Eh... We get our knickers in a collective twist about unbiased media. At several points in ou history, newspapers were openly partisan. I think we'd be better off if they were today as well. This idea of "balance" is bullshit in my opinion. If we are too lazy to get off our asses and engage in our own fact checking, then we deserve what we get. The problem isn't bias. The problem is lack of attention or effort on the part of the users of media. Eh… We get our knickers in a collective twist about unbiased media. At several points in ou history, newspapers were openly partisan. I think we’d be better off if they were today as well. This idea of “balance” is bullshit in my opinion. If we are too lazy to get off our asses and engage in our own fact checking, then we deserve what we get. The problem isn’t bias. The problem is lack of attention or effort on the part of the users of media.

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