Comments on: The Make-Believe Media

By: Irksome American Conversations on Gender & Race With “Impact” « Notes from a Boy @ The Window

Wed, 31 Oct 2012 14:02:55 +0000

[...] laziness that a monopolized media has created in the world of journalism (see my recent post “The Make-Believe Media” from earlier this month). But this is about more than the “both sides do it” [...]

By: decollins1969

decollins1969 — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 22:19:34 +0000

John, thanks for your thoughts. To add to your comment, it’s not just that the media values its own sense of intellect. The fact is, the news business itself has contracted in size (especially print) over the past 20 years. Journalists steeped with actual expertise in political science, foreign policy, the business world, education, science and technology are fewer in number these days. The so-called experts in journalism now happen to be data crunchers, a skill to be sure, but not an expertise that lends itself easily to informing even the educated public regarding the nuances for any given issue or story. But what today’s journalists/media types are universally good at is turning an event or issue into an NFL playoff game or a seven-game NBA conference playoff series. Their shortsightedness is something we pay for every single day, because we are the most ill-informed public with a “free” press in the world.

By: John Karakash

John Karakash — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 02:24:51 +0000

Well said. Also regrettable is the futility of trying to introduce reporters to something they have not heard about, regardless the potential importance and validity. If their experts have not heard about “it” there must be no merit. Very little curiosity or willingness to consider an option. I know – I’ve tried to introduce topics that have sound research and national publication behind them – with no interest even though the dollar savings AND environmental benefit would, once investigated, be staggeringly favorable.