Earlier quoted context omitted.
I still don't think CNN or MSNBC are as bad as Fox News yet. Sean Hannity is basically Alex Jones-lite, and Tucker Carlson is pretty much completely disingenuous (and if you want to talk about us-versus-them, I recommend counting the number of times he says "elites" during his show). Plus, Fox and Friends is pretty much just an elaborate propaganda program for the president at this point. Even if you agree with Trump…
Try watching Tim Pool on youtube (timcast/subverse)... he's centrist/liberal leaning but absolutely calls out a lot of the crap on all sides of the coin.
The Urgent Quest for Slower, Better News
121–130 of 378 posts
Re: The Urgent Quest for Slower, Better News
#122I stopped reading the news about a year ago. I felt like my emotions were being manipulated by a sharply-honed system built precisely to invoke outrage and draw you in to read more and more of it. I've been able to direct my focus and energy to much more productive tasks since I disconnected. Of course I entirely missed that whole Supreme Court thing until after it was over, and I have no idea what people around me a…
Be careful about what kind of news you ignore. The punishment to who ignore politics, per example, is being governed by who cares.
Re: The Urgent Quest for Slower, Better News
#123Earlier quoted context omitted.
Did the same thing about 4 years ago and haven’t looked back. I find though that a lot of people are actually offended by it since I have no clue what thing they and everyone else is outraged about. I get accused of not caring, being disengaged, blah blah blah. It’s difficult to explain to people who are still deep in outrage mode, so I mostly avoid taking about it. My life is so much better since cutting out the new…
Honest question, how do you turn off your empathy for the suffering of your fellow countrymen? Which is what ignoring their plight would require (at least, it would for me).
Re: The Urgent Quest for Slower, Better News
#124Earlier quoted context omitted.
Especially since it is... Emphatically untrue. Citation? As far as I can see, people like the KKK and other White Supremacists have been and still are thoroughly discredited. The only countervailing force to that in 2019 is outrage driven media, produced by other extremist counterparts. If one's business is based on outrage, then you want an enemy to play off of, to generate a vicious circle of outrage and reaction a…
>Citation? 'Sunlight' from the press doesn't necessarily do anything in a court of law, which is the actual thing that is supposed to disinfect society. A bomb-shell story which drags a corporation or white collar criminal through the mud won't necessarily lead to successful prosecution. And using sunlight to simply damage a reputation has been used as well. It depends if you believe it's sunlight or not, so we just…
So let there be a "Free Marketplace of Ideas." This is again, precisely why we need Free Speech! It's when our society lets someone be the arbiter of what's allowed to be said and heard, that we run into problems.
Re: The Urgent Quest for Slower, Better News
#125Earlier quoted context omitted.
Quillette has proven to be of consistent poor quality, IMO. (and further, I've found it dishonest) Please note that it's founding and leadership team includes alumni of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rebel_Media . That latter outfit is not known for it's...veracity.
Quillette has proven to be of consistent poor quality, IMO. (and further, I've found it dishonest) I've found them willing to take unpopular positions for the sake of truth. What have they done which is dishonest? https://quillette.com/2019/04/08/what-explains-the-resistanc...
Looking up a few articles, it seems that they're just racists in lab coats.
Re: The Urgent Quest for Slower, Better News
#126Earlier quoted context omitted.
The best proxy for "interest in politics", specifically, would seem to be voter turnout: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voter_turnout_in_the_United_St... That data shows only modest changes since 1940, and no discernible decline in the last decade or so. If anything, turnout was lower in the 80s and 90s, slightly higher in the 60s.
I feel like I understand what you're getting at with that data as it pertains to "interest in politics" at a general level, but I'm not sure how you intend to use that data in this specific conversation. OP and I are wondering how we get the general populous to invest quality time in educating themselves about the news/politics, subjects many people don't care about. How does the data you provided correlate with that…
The New York Times has seen subscriptions quadruple from 1988 to today. (two charts needed for this timespan: https://gigaom2.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/oimg.png and https://secondmeasure.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/NYT-Cha...)
Re: The Urgent Quest for Slower, Better News
#127Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't think that reading or not reading the news is engaging with the plight of "my fellow countrymen". We all ignore the plight of millions/billions of people every day. That is the way life has always been.
I remember someone coined a concept recently that when you read about a problem in the world that you can help alleviate then you become morally responsible. It’s liks quantum entanglement but with ethics. Found it: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10949572 What about that? Coming upon news where you can make a difference right now, by sending money to NGOs with workers on the ground.
Say there is a situation that Alfred have the power to effect. To reliably cause change for the good Alfred must:
(1) Identify a problem and its root cause
(2) Change the root cause
(3) Confirm that the problem is solved.
There are people who claim you can leap straight to (2) and skip (3). These are people who (if they ever honestly checked) would discover that they are not responsible for very much positive, meaningful change. They are flailing, looking busy and have the best of intentions.
For anything reported in the news step (1) represents a huge investment of time because the news has probably got the situation at least somewhat wrong. To say Alfred has a moral responsibility to do something is equivalent to saying Alfred has a moral responsibility not to read the news; because Alfred doesn't have enough time or resources to confirm what the problem is for all the sad stories he can read about.
In your specific example - 'sending money to NGOs with workers on the ground' - Alfred would probably divert a lot of money to organisations who are good at emotive advertising campaigns with administrative costs verging on embezzlement. We have good historical evidence that Alfred's best bet is to go all-in on capitalism, make a fortune, and then do some philanthropy to maximise his impact.
Giving to a worthy cause creates incentives that are terrible. I can't be convinced that it is a good idea. I have a lot more respect for people who volunteer time, but even then I'm suspect of their ability to correctly diagnose the problem they are trying to fix.
Re: The Urgent Quest for Slower, Better News
#128Earlier quoted context omitted.
I did the same 1-2 years ago, and haven't regretted it. Interestingly, I've experienced the same thing where others seem offended by decision, and I also get accused of being insular and "living in my own little bubble". I just don't get this though - what exactly am I losing out on?
Being stressed out and dying early is what you're losing out on. Also being in pain and unhappy.
Re: The Urgent Quest for Slower, Better News
#129Actually, what we need first is: 1) A common and agreed upon standard definition of news. Facts alone are not news. News also has importance and relevance. It's not news simply because a (major) "news" outlet publishes it. I ate eggs for breakfast. That's truth / fact. It's not news. 2) A common and agreed upon standard definition of journalism / journalist. Again, working for a "news" outlet does not make you a jour…
This is inherently political.
> A common and agreed upon standard definition of journalism / journalist.
This is also political.
> Transparency and full disclosure about what is news (objective) and what is op-ed (subjective).
This is also political.
Ultimately, accepting that news is political and rejecting the idea of objective or unbiased reporting is the only way to go.
Re: The Urgent Quest for Slower, Better News
#130Earlier quoted context omitted.
I did the same 1-2 years ago, and haven't regretted it. Interestingly, I've experienced the same thing where others seem offended by decision, and I also get accused of being insular and "living in my own little bubble". I just don't get this though - what exactly am I losing out on?
Being stressed out and dying early is what you're losing out on. Also being in pain and unhappy.