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No news is good news

thomasjbevan.substack.com

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Re: No news is good news

#151

Post by anthk »

PaulDavisThe1st wrote: post #141
anthk wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>How do we find a healthy middle ground? In Europe we had teletext. In Spanish, but you get the concept: https://www.rtve.es/television/teletexto/noticias/129/ Small paragraphs. Almost no bias. News condensed to be read on a small tv. No bullshit, no yellow journalism. Raw and short. Teletext as shown on old TVs: https://live.staticflickr.com/1453/25222724604_15d7a974a2_b.... Now they should create pages like this. L…

How do you cover, for example, the behavior of the spouse of a US SCOTUS justice? You indicate that you think it can be done with "almost no bias" and "raw and short". Maybe. But this provides absolutely no context, which whether you feel that Ms. Thomas' actions are fine or reprihensible and disqualifying towards her spouse, you absolutely need in order to understand what is actually going on.

The context can be set in a second paragraph. With teletext we often (not usually) had a two page text for a new so you could get more info on important news such as major terrorist blasts or natural disasters.

Re: No news is good news

#152

Post by ben_w »

PaulDavisThe1st wrote: post #139
glitchc wrote: post #16

Articles that engender good feelings, either by revealing a positive story or reporting a positive event, do not receive nearly the same level of engagement. Anger sells. Outrage sells. Media companies have known it since the dawn of the newspaper. Bad news generates anger and outrage, hence all news is bad news. It's a natural consequence of the human condition.

Today I discovered a video of someone who walks into a forest in winter and builds an overnight shelter out of pine trees, lights a fire and sleeps the night in -25C/-9F temperatures with just a woolen blanket. There is no talking. His channel has about 380k subscribers. The video has TEN MILLION views. So many of the comments are of the form "this is the most beautiful/relaxing/wonderful thing I've seen in years". T…

I like stuff like that. A similar (but warmer) channel I subscribe to is “Primitive Technology” [0], and most of my subscriptions are about what is good in the world rather than what is bad.

Exceptions on my subscription list are Kurzgesagt (self-described as “Optimistic nihilism”) and the maker of the machinima “Freeman’s Mind” [1](voicing the silent protagonist as an antihero).

Thing is, I’m not normal. If my nature was the modal average of humanity, the horror genre and tabloids and spectator sports and celebrity gossip wouldn’t exist.

[0] https://youtube.com/channel/UCAL3JXZSzSm8AlZyD3nQdBA

[1] https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6PNZBb6b9LvDWpI-5CPYUxG1...

Re: No news is good news

#153

Post by inanutshellus »

dwiel wrote: post #7
inanutshellus wrote: post #3

I'll come out of my shell a few times a week and won't understand what's going on. News sites just tell me the last 18 hours' worth of updates... So... I either disengage entirely and can't carry on a conversation or I stay engaged and worry about events I cannot affect. I'd like a "I haven't checked the news in [7] days and some guy at work mentioned [Ukraine talking to the UN], what's that all about?" website. I gu…

I've actually found that Improve the News [1] is good for something like that. It has sliders to let you select what kind of new you are looking for with one of the sliders which controls "shelf life" ranging from short to long and "recency" from evergreen to recent. Not exactly what you are looking for, but I've found it can serve a similar purpose. [1] https://www.improvethenews.org/

Wow, that's super neat. Thank you for sharing.

Re: No news is good news

#154

Post by inanutshellus »

kgwxd wrote: post #24
dwiel wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've actually found that Improve the News [1] is good for something like that. It has sliders to let you select what kind of new you are looking for with one of the sliders which controls "shelf life" ranging from short to long and "recency" from evergreen to recent. Not exactly what you are looking for, but I've found it can serve a similar purpose. [1] https://www.improvethenews.org/

I think that left/right categorization thing actually makes it worse. I'd like a "just the facts" option.

I used to think the same, but eventually realized that both "facts" and, perhaps most especially, the omission-of-coverage categorize a journal as left or right...

Even the words a journal uses are dog whistles for "we think alike". "Latinx" versus "Latino". "Illegal Immigrant" vs "Undocumented Worker".

Re: No news is good news

#156

Post by droopyEyelids »

watwut wrote: post #15
droopyEyelids wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I believe you'd have a far more satisfying and productive time coming out of your shell if you redirected Joe's conversation to asking about him, or his kids, or his hobbies- keeping it local like the article concludes. Unless it's your job, neither of you really understand whatever is happening with Ukraine and your conversation will be mostly limited to repeating what you've been told to each other, which doesn't e…

I think that OP meant Joe Biden. Timeline checks out. It is unlikely OP is in position to talk about presidents kids and hobbies. > Unless it's your job, neither of you really understand whatever is happening with Ukraine and your conversation will be mostly limited to repeating what you've been told to each other, which doesn't enrich either of your lives. A bit of very practical issue here is that Russian troll for…

this is the the same with every piece of news

Re: No news is good news

#157

Post by airstrike »

groby_b wrote: post #68
jazzyk wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Perhaps more like globalist/corporatist, which reflects their recent ownership? In 2015, Pearson - a publishing company - sold its controlling stake to a bunch of corporate owners, like the Agnellis (43%) and the Rotschilds (21%), among others. The change in their editorial direction was immediately visible (I had been a subscriber/reader for 35+ years until 2016) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Economist_Group

I wouldn't argue with that one, either. But it's also not "hard left" :) The word - if we're willing to shed many of the more populist overtones around it - is probably "neoliberalism". Consistently siding with money & corporations, with a democratic bent. (But not too much!) Since 2016, it's more and more living on its reputation and not coming quite to terms with the changes in the world. It is still firmly rooted…

Sharp left, not hard left :) Think of it like a sharp taste, as in "distinct", "memorable"

Re: No news is good news

#158

Post by groby_b »

airstrike wrote: post #157
groby_b wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wouldn't argue with that one, either. But it's also not "hard left" :) The word - if we're willing to shed many of the more populist overtones around it - is probably "neoliberalism". Consistently siding with money & corporations, with a democratic bent. (But not too much!) Since 2016, it's more and more living on its reputation and not coming quite to terms with the changes in the world. It is still firmly rooted…

Sharp left, not hard left :) Think of it like a sharp taste, as in "distinct", "memorable"

It's not distinctly or memorably left, either. It really, really isn't. It's milquetoast centrist with a helping of globalism, and a good chunk of neoliberalism.

You won't see it calling to defund the police, or that we should tax the bejeezus out of billionaires. And these are moderately left, not memorably left.

Re: No news is good news

#159

Post by t0bia_s »

dragontamer wrote: post #82
gumby wrote: post #36

I have been a very strong adherent of this philosophy for over 30 years. There’s an adage, “there’s nothing as worthless as yesterday’s news”. Which led me to wonder, “was it even worth knowing yesterday?” I realized the solution was a low pass filter. I first switched to a seven-page newspaper (CSM) delivered through the mail. I realised the editors had to figure out whether it would still be interesting by the time…

> I do find it interesting that I have yet to have anyone bring up the Ukraine situation. Speaking of "weekly" discussions, the Ukraine situation has been brought up in my weekly Church prayers since it started. Generally speaking, if it a current event that the Priests make 2 or 3 "intentions" for (in the Catholic mass, the prayers that occur after the Homily but before the preparations), its an incredible event. In…

I'm more concerned that a lot of friends in our parish called for war and justify censorship or strict sanctions. I guess this are not Christian values.

Sure, we should help. But not only Ukrainian's but all people that are damaged by war. We should also pray for our enemies.

Re: No news is good news

#160

Post by t0bia_s »

xorfish wrote: post #146
NikolaNovak wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it's context specific. Suffering caused by armed conflict, in Europe? Probably. (I'm from Sarajevo and I think we are a close second if not the first.) Mass suffering by any cause anywhere? Between the Tsunamis and diseases and earthquakes and awful civil wars and genocides, sadly, I think the competition is quite stiff :(

There is also the pandemic that killed around 1 in 400 worldwide and is still causing around 15'000 deaths per day.

Usually elder people (average 78y) with other comorbidities. Yes, we are mortal.
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