It's sad when I am flat out embarrassed to call myself an aspiring journalist. From local news to the big networks like CNN, I cannot bring myself to respect any "reporters" anymore. They stopped being real journalists when they focused more on which congressman was cheating on his wife with a prostitute and who had the latest dick pic sent to some college chick. If anything they just remind me of glorified tabloid reporters. I respect TMZ more than them. At least TMZ correspondents admit they report on stupid pointless shit for entertainment. The only reason morons like sarah palin, michelle bachmann, and every person who calls themselves a tea bagger get any airtime is because they are fucking crazy! God forbid the press talks to someone who can complete a coherent sentence. I believe people like that are stupid but not that stupid. It's more than obvious that all of these people lack basic high school knowledge but I have a feeling their publicist are whispering insanity in their ear to get them more airtime, and we all fall for it. There's always exceptions to the rule, but the majority of Americans barely tune in to the news to begin with and when they do the only person networks report on are people like casey anthony (which I think is a complete joke. I promise someone murdering their own child is nothing new. it's just this time a pretty white lady did it.) Why doesn't the press shove things down our throats that matter? Am I the only person who feels like this or am I crazy
Most 'corporate' media is designed to do the same thing as most religions. To control people via fear & confusion.
Nothing against religions here, but mainstream media is terrible in the US. BBC is a better news source than ours. We have NPR and a couple of outlets that are very high quality, but on television it's not even worth watching.
I believe it to be more that this. It's designed to synchronize emotion and opinion, especially Television, and especially American Television. It's common in all countries where corporate TV operates, but I always found the USA channels to be the worst offenders. I haven't watched TV for a few years. Life is very different when TV is ignored, and I will be ignoring TV for the rest of my life. As for the OP, I believe it possible to find very fine journalism on the scene if one looks hard for it. Take Lawrence Wright's 26 page article on $cientology in the February 2011 issue of The New Yorker, for example. Janet Reitman's recently published book, for another example. There are very fine talents at work in the print media, imho and I love to read print and good print journalism. Admittedly, it is getting more scarce, but it hasn't completely left the scene.
Okay, so then there are non commercial news outlets like PBS in the US, where you can hear adults have intelligent conversations with civility and a desire for knowledge and understanding. But, most people like the T&A and find the former boring. it's a double edged sword, in that media outlets cater to the desires of their viewers. Then, you also have to consider that for every viewpoint, one can find some angle on it to back up a particular subjective world view. Real thinking takes patience, work, research and inner reflection, open mindedness and consideration..... discipline.
Well I guess for me its the breath of fresh air sort to speak of watching an international news channel that is not afaraid to run stories where the usa and its allies come out looking bad.
Real journalists like amy goodman and john pilger are generally well-hated. It seems to me that the BS journalists just try to outdo eachother, to see who can shout the 'official story' first and loudest.
I have watched Aljazeera and found it pretty good as a news source. It was nice to hear British accent news anchors reporting without always sounding like they are announcing, in every story, the final fatal end of days (as they do on British media).
Amy Goodman is not objective or neutral. You may like her, and that's your choice. But it her show has it's own agendas, it appears, as the years have gone on. I remember her from the old days of community radio in Cali. It is not as open-minded as some profess it to be, imo. But lots of folks, and lots of opinions. And the world keeps turnin'.
The point of the media now is to spread the government spin to the world. An example, in the weeks leading up to war in Iraq the government put out reports about WMD and all, and the media dutifully reported what the government said. That was exactly what the government wanted, since the media riled the country up, made us feel threatened, and then the government has no PR problems when they finally go to war. Does this make me a cynic or a realist? Either way, the true media are all those people with video cameras filming life as it happens and putting the vid on YT for the world to see.
....also, look..... do people want to exert the energy to do a lot of research on their own? which is quite often boring to a lot of people who are addicted to infotainment. it seems that there is a monopoly on the mainstream media, but there may also be the responsibility of an educated public to think their own way to their own conclusions, somehow trying to find a middle road in the midst of it all.
What is the difference in outcome between a 'professional journalist' and a bunch of regular people on the street with cameras and twitter accounts? What value do they add that 'citizen journalism' doesn't now deliver? Relevant video at link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/9405719.stm
This report about the future journalism links from that bbc show if you missed it: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/9405709.stm
No your not crazy I feel the same about it that's why I just research what I want to know about now instead of watching the news. TV is nothing more than a he said she said money making scheme now, much like politics. Politics are a joke in itself anyway. Hence the reason for my profile pic.
I usually just get my news online and use my tv for cartoons. I mean really, not much else on television worth watching aside from classic Looney Tunes.
You're completely correct. There is some good journalism going on out there, but it's mostly in print rather than TV. You can relieve the feeling of frustration by not watching the crap stuff. Good point. OP, we rely on you to raise standards.
