Media Meltdown and also Media Bias 101

[LaceyLou]

3 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

I'm somewhat of two minds about how to run a newspaper in the US today. As much as every voice in advocacy and help 'the cause',  I can see the virtue in trying to move a paper like WaPo away from being known for it's editorial page positions back to more of a straight news focus -because that is the only way to ever recover credibility as a news source in such a political charged environment. The thing is it is not at all clear if that is any part of what Bezos is trying to do or not. 

Frankly it seems at this point in his life he's no longer particularly serious about anything.

While I obviously can't see into his head, it looks like he's addicted to acquiring things and making money. Even owning the universe wouldn't be enough. 

[gehringer_2]

Just now, LaceyLou said:

While I obviously can't see into his head, it looks like he's addicted to acquiring things and making money. Even owning the universe wouldn't be enough. 

Probably correct. All self-directed stuff, so still 'unserious'  with respect to having any outward impact, or in particular positive impact, beyond himself. When he bought WaPo, I think there was a hope it was evidence of a philanthropic bent, but maybe it was really just for the media strokes.

Sadly, little evidence there are going to be many Andrew Carnegie types among today's generation of dot.com billionaires. Maybe Gates excepted.

[RatkoVarda]

26 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

I'm somewhat of two minds about how to run a newspaper in the US today. As much as every voice in advocacy and help 'the cause',  I can see the virtue in trying to move a paper like WaPo away from being known for it's editorial page positions back to more of a straight news focus -because that is the only way to ever recover credibility as a news source in such a political charged environment. The thing is it is not at all clear if that is any part of what Bezos is trying to do or not. 

Frankly it seems at this point in his life he's no longer particularly serious about anything.

the problem with "straight news" is that both the NYT and the Post are "both siding" fascism

some people think it is good, let's hear from them

some people think it is bad, let's hear from them

they are constantly normalizing abnormal behavior, and that robs readers of the "straight news" story

WH correspondents were despondent through the Biden administration because he did not give them the attention, the access, and the stories they needed to show everyone how important they were

[CMRivdogs]

Even as recently as the 70’s most major markets had at least 2 newspapers. The biggest difference was their political spin. Now sadly we’re lucky if one survives. 
Personally, with “instant analysis” newspapers are rapidly losing out to whatever passes for online news. And you can forget about to a certain extent locality.

True reporters are giving way to “influencers”. That makes it easy for someone like Trump or Musk to survive since it’s all about the clicks.

The same for broadcast beasts as well. There is no real money in it anymore. Unless you’re willing to sell your soul

Edited Monday at 03:36 PM by CMRivdogs

[Edman85]

20 hours ago, gehringer_2 said:

I'm somewhat of two minds about how to run a newspaper in the US today. As much as every voice in advocacy and help 'the cause',  I can see the virtue in trying to move a paper like WaPo away from being known for it's editorial page positions back to more of a straight news focus -because that is the only way to ever recover credibility as a news source in such a political charged environment. The thing is it is not at all clear if that is any part of what Bezos is trying to do or not. 

Frankly it seems at this point in his life he's no longer particularly serious about anything.

Editorials that are well researched and well cited can be just as insightful as news stories, if not more.

Having said that, if you go to an opinions page and see a lot of redundancy, it makes some sense to reorganize in a lot of ways.

Edited Tuesday at 11:46 AM by Edman85

[romad1]

This is ****ed

 

[CMRivdogs]

16 minutes ago, romad1 said:

This is ****ed

 

The network formerly known as Tiffany is now the Walmart Network

May the ghosts of Murrow, Cronkite and all constantly keep the new brass awake

Edited Tuesday at 12:35 PM by CMRivdogs

[RatkoVarda]

if true, and Trump has been lying about all sorts of settlements, that's the end of 60 Minutes.

[Tigerbomb13]

Gotta love that party of big government

[gehringer_2]

2 hours ago, Edman85 said:

Editorials that are well researched and well cited can be just as insightful as news stories, if not more.

Having said that, if you go to an opinions page and see a lot of redundancy, it makes some sense to reorganize in a lot of ways.

this is certainly true, but there is still a line of sorts between analysis and cheerleading and once you get to cheerleading, you lose journalistic credibility - for instance on the cable side, Fox and MSNBC are both over that line even if there is a difference of degree. I think in general liberals *want* WaPo and NYC to cross that line an *be* cheerleaders, I don't think that is a good idea in the long run,, but I'm probably pretty much the old man yelling at clouds on this.

Edited Tuesday at 02:14 PM by gehringer_2

[romad1]

2 hours ago, Tigerbomb13 said:

Gotta love that party of big government

We are just a few steps from neighborhood watch being empowered to denounce Trumpcrime* to the Golden Police. 

*Trumpcrime is denying that Trump is the rightful Dear Leader. 

[LaceyLou]

Without warning, I'm remembering the Simpsons episode where they're under the influence of a cult, and the answer to everything in class is The Leader.

[chasfh]

1 hour ago, romad1 said:

We are just a few steps from neighborhood watch being empowered to denounce Trumpcrime* to the Golden Police. 

*Trumpcrime is denying that Trump is the rightful Dear Leader. 

It may or may not actually get to that point, but I do think it will get to the point where you have to watch what you say out loud in public around people you don’t know. 

[romad1]

3 minutes ago, chasfh said:

It may or may not actually get to that point, but I do think it will get to the point where you have to watch what you say out loud in public around people you don’t know. 

in the federal government its like that now. 

[Edman85]

Wapo ran an op-ed from Scott Bessent hawking crypto today and moderated my comment that it was a scam.

[mtutiger]

11 hours ago, CMRivdogs said:

The network formerly known as Tiffany is now the Walmart Network

May the ghosts of Murrow, Cronkite and all constantly keep the new brass awake

As bad as the merger is, I wouldn't be surprised if the end result is seeing their ratings tank.

[CMRivdogs]

30 minutes ago, mtutiger said:

As bad as the merger is, I wouldn't be surprised if the end result is seeing their ratings tank.

It wouldn't surprise me at all. OTA TV is on life support anyway. My fear is that many small markets will lose all semblance of LOCAL news in the not too distant future.

And when that happens....

[Edman85]

11 hours ago, mtutiger said:

As bad as the merger is, I wouldn't be surprised if the end result is seeing their ratings tank.

They have the NFL. They will be fine. That has fueled some pretty crappy prime time sitcom success for a quarter century now.

[mtutiger]

40 minutes ago, Edman85 said:

They have the NFL. They will be fine. That has fueled some pretty crappy prime time sitcom success for a quarter century now.

The NFL package will hold up, but I have doubts about the other programming... particularly on the news side of the business. We shall see.

Edited 17 hours ago by mtutiger

[Edman85]

1 hour ago, mtutiger said:

The NFL package will hold up, but I have doubts about the other programming... particularly on the news side of the business. We shall see.

West coast PGA Championships in prime time because they aren't beholden to 60 minutes anymore? Sign me up!

[chasfh]

1 hour ago, mtutiger said:

The NFL package will hold up, but I have doubts about the other programming... particularly on the news side of the business. We shall see.

It will all to go exclusive streaming sometime in the 2030s.

[CMRivdogs]

Note to the new owners of the Barney Bargain Basement Network. Colbert is not NEWS, he's entertainment...

 

Edited 12 hours ago by CMRivdogs

[chasfh]

CBS is going to become the Newsweek.com of major news operations.

[CMRivdogs]

24 minutes ago, chasfh said:

CBS is going to become the Newsweek.com of major news operations.

What does that make Faux and Snewsmax?

[chasfh]

12 minutes ago, CMRivdogs said:

What does that make Faux and Snewsmax?

Neither are major news operations.