The Push for a “PBS for the Internet” • Hacker News Board

Re: The Push for a “PBS for the Internet”

#21

Post by ldiracdelta » Mon, Aug 02, 2021, 4:43 PM UTC

devwastaken wrote: post #4

1-6 wrote: post #2

If we just focus on video just a sec and not the ENTIRE INTERNET, PBS seems increasingly irrelevant in an era where YouTube has narrowed the gap between content creators and content consumers. I remember the 90's being filled with pledge drives so PBS can raise funding. The content was good at the time but it's no where near what YouTube has become. If we go back to this original article linked, who gets to decide wh…

Problem is quality. "YouTube kids" is a big meme, because some of the most popular content creators were certainly not creating kid friendly content. Example being "spiderman and Elsa". In my opinion kids should not be on the internet. Not that we can reasonably stop them, but I don't at all believe YouTube is an equivalent to directed quality content like PBS.

I don't allow unrestricted access to the internet for my kids and they aren't allowed screens in any room except where others may see them and their screens all the time. Yes, it is friction and not perfection. The internet is a Victorian-era cesspool with raw sewage and dysentery everywhere. They'll have to learn how to not contract cholera as they grow up, but I also don't let them play with firearms or dabble with black-tar heroin.

Re: The Push for a “PBS for the Internet”

#22

Post by bloaf » Mon, Aug 02, 2021, 4:43 PM UTC

JohnWhigham wrote: post #9

Mizza wrote: post #5

But PBS is already on the internet.. I love public media and have worked in the public media industry, and what I think what we really need is PBS for conservatives. Can you name a _single_ conservative PBS/NPR host or program? Was there a _single_ time in the past 5 years they gave any legitimate consideration to the viewpoints that 50% of the country hold, or acknowledged the material conflict underlying their ideo…

Yup, this article is pretty hilarious and is just another example of how mainstream media continues to stick their noses up at any consideration of alternative viewpoints. PBS has largely followed the herd and has become yet another liberal lifestyle outlet that caters only to their liberal audience. How about we fix that first before talking about something else?

Studies that looked at bias in the media found PBS to be the most centrist of the major news organizations. People on the extremes of the political spectrum see PBS as biased against them, as they would any centrist organization.

Re: The Push for a “PBS for the Internet”

#23

Post by marbletiles » Mon, Aug 02, 2021, 4:45 PM UTC

> decentralizing the distribution of quality news

This is laudable - but it ignores the reality of aggregators and user behaviour in the attention economy. The audience is centralised, and increasingly so. The question becomes: how can a pluralistic public-service ecosystem flourish within that economy?

In the UK the BBC has tried a number of routes for this, including sponsoring local reporters, external linking to local news outlets to try and share their audience and so on. None have really been successful but it's important that they keep trying -- and odd that a piece like this wouldn't mention the BBC at all, come to think of it.

Re: The Push for a “PBS for the Internet”

#24

Post by kristopolous » Mon, Aug 02, 2021, 4:47 PM UTC

bloaf wrote: post #22

JohnWhigham wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yup, this article is pretty hilarious and is just another example of how mainstream media continues to stick their noses up at any consideration of alternative viewpoints. PBS has largely followed the herd and has become yet another liberal lifestyle outlet that caters only to their liberal audience. How about we fix that first before talking about something else?

Studies that looked at bias in the media found PBS to be the most centrist of the major news organizations. People on the extremes of the political spectrum see PBS as biased against them, as they would any centrist organization.

Centrism is also an ideology https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radical_centrism

Re: The Push for a “PBS for the Internet”

#25

Post by barbecue_sauce » Mon, Aug 02, 2021, 4:47 PM UTC

starkd wrote: post #3

1-6 wrote: post #2

If we just focus on video just a sec and not the ENTIRE INTERNET, PBS seems increasingly irrelevant in an era where YouTube has narrowed the gap between content creators and content consumers. I remember the 90's being filled with pledge drives so PBS can raise funding. The content was good at the time but it's no where near what YouTube has become. If we go back to this original article linked, who gets to decide wh…

A lot of good programming on PBS. But ever notice that the good programming generally occurs during the pledge drives? I mean, they might as well just run commercials. That said, there are definite problems with the ad driven model of YT too. Maybe it's not the model that's the problem but who ultimately runs it.

Pledge drive programming is usually "best of" highlights programming that have been edited down to allow for the interruptions. (I also get the impression that people who would usually be producing content get drafted into the ranks of the pledge takers, though asynchronous internet-based donations have probably alleviated this need somewhat).

Re: The Push for a “PBS for the Internet”

#26

Post by Mizza » Mon, Aug 02, 2021, 4:49 PM UTC

setpatchaddress wrote: post #19

Mizza wrote: post #5

But PBS is already on the internet.. I love public media and have worked in the public media industry, and what I think what we really need is PBS for conservatives. Can you name a _single_ conservative PBS/NPR host or program? Was there a _single_ time in the past 5 years they gave any legitimate consideration to the viewpoints that 50% of the country hold, or acknowledged the material conflict underlying their ideo…

[flagged]

I don't think this comment really needs to be addressed, but since you're making my point for me: public media doesn't need to chase ratings, and thus doesn't need to chase outrage, allowing for more nuanced and in-depth reporting.

Re: The Push for a “PBS for the Internet”

#27

Post by rrose » Mon, Aug 02, 2021, 4:50 PM UTC

1-6 wrote: post #2

If we just focus on video just a sec and not the ENTIRE INTERNET, PBS seems increasingly irrelevant in an era where YouTube has narrowed the gap between content creators and content consumers. I remember the 90's being filled with pledge drives so PBS can raise funding. The content was good at the time but it's no where near what YouTube has become. If we go back to this original article linked, who gets to decide wh…

i understand the worry about the government gatekeeping disinformation/misinformation, but I think the worry is massively overblown. We're not talking about the government having a monopoly on the information ecosystem, and while there are certainly controversial topics where the government might be tempted to but their thumb on the scale if they had control over the news, the truth in most cases (climate change, the result of the presidential election, etc) is pretty cut-and-dried.

Besides, the vast majority of the existing misinformation in the US is coming from for-profit news agencies. You're already allowing people to decide what is and isn't misinformation- would you rather it be rupert murdoch, or a politician that you can vote out of office?

Re: The Push for a “PBS for the Internet”

#28

Post by duxup » Mon, Aug 02, 2021, 4:51 PM UTC

JohnWhigham wrote: post #9

Mizza wrote: post #5

But PBS is already on the internet.. I love public media and have worked in the public media industry, and what I think what we really need is PBS for conservatives. Can you name a _single_ conservative PBS/NPR host or program? Was there a _single_ time in the past 5 years they gave any legitimate consideration to the viewpoints that 50% of the country hold, or acknowledged the material conflict underlying their ideo…

Yup, this article is pretty hilarious and is just another example of how mainstream media continues to stick their noses up at any consideration of alternative viewpoints. PBS has largely followed the herd and has become yet another liberal lifestyle outlet that caters only to their liberal audience. How about we fix that first before talking about something else?

What I find strange is that the only media outlets that actually cover local rural topics in detail is my local NPR station.

Often they're lumped together as "yet another liberal" with PBS .... but they're more and more often the only ones covering those ares / giving voice to folks out there media wise.

Re: The Push for a “PBS for the Internet”

#29

Post by wizzwizz4 » Mon, Aug 02, 2021, 4:51 PM UTC

marbletiles wrote: post #23

> decentralizing the distribution of quality news This is laudable - but it ignores the reality of aggregators and user behaviour in the attention economy. The audience is centralised, and increasingly so. The question becomes: how can a pluralistic public-service ecosystem flourish within that economy? In the UK the BBC has tried a number of routes for this, including sponsoring local reporters, external linking to…

> The audience is centralised, and increasingly so.

You could design a computer system that feels centralised, but is actually decentralised – like the Fediverse[0] – and have people use that. That'd solve this problem (if you had enough draw and interop to get people to switch).

[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fediverse

Re: The Push for a “PBS for the Internet”

#30

Post by bloaf » Mon, Aug 02, 2021, 4:53 PM UTC

I don't think there needs to be a government owned internet media company.

Sometimes I wonder how weird and wild a government run social media company would be. Open to US citizens only, identity verification required? No rules other than actual speech laws? No anonymity?