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Media Bias Fact Check: Hacker News

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Re: Media Bias Fact Check: Hacker News

#31

Post by peepeepoopoo6 »

hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #20
dvt wrote: post #4

Imo, HN has moved from being moderately libertarian/right to today's slight liberal left slant as its user base aged from young, hungry, hopeful entrepreneurs to jaded senior engineers or VPs in large fortune 500 companies. I think the has also been an influx of non-US users over the past decade, which also tend to lean more left. I'd be curious to see if anyone else that's used this site regularly for the past 10+ y…

I don't really agree with this. I think HN gets a pretty decent mix of all political viewpoints, just based on the percentage of times I see stuff that I agree with (politically) and the times I don't. If anything, the thing I really like is the stuff that feels blatantly tribal one way or the other is still consistently downvoted. To your specific points: 1. "as its user base aged from young, hungry, hopeful entrepr…

[flagged]

Re: Media Bias Fact Check: Hacker News

#33

Post by JenrHywy »

cup wrote: post #7
dvt wrote: post #4

Imo, HN has moved from being moderately libertarian/right to today's slight liberal left slant as its user base aged from young, hungry, hopeful entrepreneurs to jaded senior engineers or VPs in large fortune 500 companies. I think the has also been an influx of non-US users over the past decade, which also tend to lean more left. I'd be curious to see if anyone else that's used this site regularly for the past 10+ y…

My impression is that the site has gradually shifted right, but the Overton window has shifted right faster giving the illusion that it has gone left. Edit: There is something ironic to be said about my very benign comment triggering someone to the point that they felt compelled to create an account and call me classically right wing slurs (subhuman, animal, low-iq). I think its worth considering that the internet/so…

That's an interesting observation, but I think it depends on time period you look at.

A few years ago, the discussion certainly seemed more Left-ish than now, especially around BLM/trans/women-in-tech issues.

HN of 5+ years ago was a mix of libertarianism/pro-business on the economic side but I'd say center-left socially - ie generally supportive of social support programs

Now, I think both econ and social have both moved towards the center. The libertarianism is still there, but is more "pure" in that it's far more skeptical of business ethics. There still seems to be a decent contingent of hardcore socialists and communists, too. Politically, I think the "woke" stuff is being seen through a more critical lens (or at least, people are more comfortable expressing that criticism) than a few years ago.

Re: Media Bias Fact Check: Hacker News

#34

Post by mandmandam »

naasking wrote: post #11
flangola7 wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a perfect summary of it!

On what issues has the Overton window shifted right?

Climate change, healthcare, education, deregulation, tax cuts, the military budget and accountability, manufacturing, immigration, criminal justice, the justice system, whistleblowers, etc.

There are entire states now insisting that child rape victims carry their rapist's baby to term, threatening any doctor that may assist even in other states. That's insane, and it's what "the right" have been systematically working toward for decades.

The planet is on track for immolation; irreversible and catastrophic global warming, but the Overton Window doesn't allow protestors to throw paint on the perspex screen over famous artwork.

Apologies if that wasn't actually a serious question; Poe's Law, yaknow?

Re: Media Bias Fact Check: Hacker News

#35

Post by naasking »

chatmasta wrote: post #27
naasking wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On what issues has the Overton window shifted right?

Does it even make sense to say the Overton window shifted one way or another? The claim is meaningless without also including whether the window widened, narrowed or stayed the same width. The whole point of the window is that it defines the left and right bounds of acceptable discourse. So does "shift right" mean that both the left and right edges shifted to the right? Or that the left stayed in place while the wind…

All good points, but I'm interested in any examples of a rightward shift. What are we talking about here, specifically?

Re: Media Bias Fact Check: Hacker News

#36

Post by civilized »

bawolff wrote: post #23
version_five wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you saying the realm of acceptable things one can say had shifted to the right? I may have misunderstood because I've never heard that before. I can see that maybe one could claim the leftward shift has stopped and momentum is to the right, but I don't think the fever has broken yet, and I've never even heard anyone claim it has, outside of a few "tide is turning" twitter posts. (I'm using left/right as I think t…

> Are you saying the realm of acceptable things one can say had shifted to the right? I may have misunderstood because I've never heard that before. I'm kind of surprised by your surprise, because i feel like for years now people never shut up about the realm of acceptable things shifting right. Although personally i think its less a right/left thing and more extremes on both sides becoming more vocal with the modera…

Are we talking about law or culture? They have moved in different directions on different issues.

What would be an example of something people on the left advocate for that was acceptable some years ago but isn't now? According to whom?

Re: Media Bias Fact Check: Hacker News

#39

Post by bawolff »

civilized wrote: post #36
bawolff wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Are you saying the realm of acceptable things one can say had shifted to the right? I may have misunderstood because I've never heard that before. I'm kind of surprised by your surprise, because i feel like for years now people never shut up about the realm of acceptable things shifting right. Although personally i think its less a right/left thing and more extremes on both sides becoming more vocal with the modera…

Are we talking about law or culture? They have moved in different directions on different issues. What would be an example of something people on the left advocate for that was acceptable some years ago but isn't now? According to whom?

I feel like some of the eat the rich-type rhetoric you see on reddit would be much less acceptable a decade ago.

Edit: i misread your comment as the opposite of what it said and am confused. I am not claiming that i believe left-wing views that used to be acceptable are not anymore. I am claiming i see people say all the time that the right end of the overton window has expanded out so that right wing views that used to be unacceptable are acceptable now (which i agree with, but i think the same could be said for the left, maybe not to the same extent).

Re: Media Bias Fact Check: Hacker News

#40

Post by ghayes »

cj wrote: post #22
mysecretaccount wrote: post #3

Left-right seems like a false dichotomy to me. e.g. the reason to avoid cable news is not because of some sort of "left" or "right" bias (which is already nebulous), but because of conflict of interest: health care and military contractor ads sandwiched between pundits attempting to sway public opinion regarding health care and defense policy.

The biggest problem with cable news (IMO) is instead of presenting a news story and moving on to the next, they present a story and then give their personal opinions on it. Instead of letting the audience form their own opinions. In other words, cable news has turned into a level of quality that’s no better than late night talk shows.

Alternatively, the real problem is that they are in the entertainment business more than the news business. On a good day, news is boring. Instead, on cable networks, everything is a panic. Cable news has ended up on the extreme end of sensationalism.
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