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Things you notice when you quit the news (2016)

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Re: Things you notice when you quit the news (2016)

#421
post #274

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Buzzfeed is the pioneer of that. Ironically, BuzzfeedNews is pretty good.

Unironically, no it's not.

Given their strong track record, that opinion would seem to lack a solid foundation.

Re: Things you notice when you quit the news (2016)

#422
Living in Canada during the Convoy was a huge dose of this sentiment expressed in this article. You'd think that most Canadians supported a siege over our borders and capital city - but you'd be wrong. What was being characterized as a protest, resembled more of an attempt to overthrow of government via social media. You were better to not know anything about it.

Re: Things you notice when you quit the news (2016)

#423
post #256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you give some examples? Particularly with NPR, you have to focus on particular shows and stations. There's no central editorial staff for the content that comes from their member stations. For example the Takeaway has quite different editorial standards than All Things Considered or Morning Edition.

For the “network” content, NPR has good reporting but hammers topics again and again and again and again. The selection of stories tells the tale. Whenever the topic de jour hits, you’ll get a good 7-10 minutes of patter about it every hour for a month. I’m all for it, and don’t consider them “compromised”, but there’s typically not enough content to support that level of coverage.

Can you give an example of what you mean by that?

Re: Things you notice when you quit the news (2016)

#424
post #419
post #256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you give some examples? Particularly with NPR, you have to focus on particular shows and stations. There's no central editorial staff for the content that comes from their member stations. For example the Takeaway has quite different editorial standards than All Things Considered or Morning Edition.

With the Economist - their support of the Iraq war. If something has elite consensus they will usually support it. This is probably the last place where youd want an ideological blind spot to be, also.

Do you have an article in mind?

Re: Things you notice when you quit the news (2016)

#425

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm puzzled by that reaction. In my head at least, the distinction is pretty deep, and describing The Economist as "libertarian" in any sense would be clearly misplaced, other than to say it sometimes supports positions libertarians also agree with. Historically, when The Economist was founded, libertarianism would have been associated with French anarchism. The core, consistent theme of libertarianism is that indivi…

If you read your own words carefully, you will agree with me: There is not a definitive / clear line between classical liberal and libertarian. The core values are the same. The historical context of French anarchism has nothing to do with the common use of the term libertarian in the modern (American) context. Your own words "They represent the classical liberal position, which is not Libertarian, and never has been…

Your two positions are really not far apart from a third party perspective, but throwing in claims like "unnecessarily divisive and seeking for flame war" just seems to be a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Re: Things you notice when you quit the news (2016)

#426
post #296
post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a firm believer in quality over quantity when it comes to news. Google News has gotten increasingly annoying though, forcing me harder toward the "personalized" results, the kind of filter bubble I'm intentionally trying to avoid. What worked well for me was getting a print subscription to the Economist. They definitely have a bias (particularly in their editorials), but it's mostly of the "free trade" variety, w…

My personal favorite recommendation in this vein is The Atlantic: https://www.theatlantic.com/ . They've got some great writers and editors and often deliver pretty unique insights. Their articles tend towards long-ish-form, but not nearly as long as e.g. the New Yorker. They're a little less world-focused and more US-centric, but not completely. There is some bias (isn't there always?), but I've seen them cover a si…

Here's another vote for The Atlantic. They are also the only online website (AFAIK) where, once you pay for a subscription, you actually get an ad-free experience.

Re: Things you notice when you quit the news (2016)

#427
post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same here, just scan news.google.com periodically, never watch anything unintentionally [0]. The incessant talking heads are such obvious brainwashers, whenever I get tricked into watching some in a clip or at a bar/taqueria it's utterly offensive and patronizing manipulative trash. I can't imagine how broken people are who constantly consume the stuff. [0] youtube-dl is a godsend for maintaining this without totally…

Google News is filled with spam and cheap attention grabbing garbage these days IMO. It’s also highly targeted leading to a bubble. But I agree with both of you otherwise!

I don't really understand where this comes from, if you're skimming the news periodically then the "Headlines" mobile app tab (or the "Top Stories" section in the website) is actually un-personalized. Google News explicitly pushes personalization in the separate and aptly named "For You" section.

Re: Things you notice when you quit the news (2016)

#428
post #354
post #4

I fully agree with this. Scanning Google News or a couple of the more professional international news services like BBC / Al Jazeera / Reuters I still feel pretty well informed (and confident that there's usually nothing of immediate consequence to me) but it doesn't grow into "expert analysis" or impact my feelings much. Here's another thing I noticed: how manipulated / manipulative it is. And not just news and I do…

In 2016 Google News was great because with a 5 minutes glance you coudl hved all the necessary news. However this strategy doesn't work anymore thanks to Google News trying to be smart by adapting news to your browsing history. I haven't been able to find a good alternative to the old Google News. I tried subscribing to one or many newspapers, but they all have too many useless articles inbetween valuable news such t…

I don't really understand where this comes from, if you're glancing at the news then the "Headlines" mobile app tab (or the "Top Stories" section in the website) is actually un-personalized. Google News explicitly pushes personalization in the separate and aptly named "For You" section.

Re: Things you notice when you quit the news (2016)

#430

So much to unpack here. For starters, being informed makes for more interesting conversations with others. It means that you get to reflect on what you stand for, and grow as an individual with an opinion. News is also the gateway for deeper information. If you stick to just the news, that's one thing, but if you then go deeper into the topic (what is the relationship between Ukraine and Russia?) then you get invalua…

> In the traditional sense, it's reporting on facts, checking sources, and providing two sides to every story. Opinions and partisan "news" are not that.

Unfortunately, the mad scramble for eyeballs for advertising dollars coupled a particularly virulent set of political objectives has completely decimated news, morphing it into nothing but a massive reality distortion field designed to keep you completely uninformed, pissed off, powerless, and addicted.

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