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US Media Blacks Out Snowden Interview

benswann.com

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Re: US Media Blacks Out Snowden Interview

#181
post #131
post #129

Occam's Razor - Which is more likely? 1) The US government has persuaded major media outlets CNN, FOX, MSNBC, NYT, etc. to bury the interview. 2) The German media company that did the inteview is asking foreign news outlets for more money than they're willing to pay for the interview (and is protecting its copyright by having internet copies taken down).

False choice. It's far more likely they're not running it because the advertisers and the corporate brass don't like snowden.

It's far more likely they're not running it because no one cares. Seriously, the general public really doesn't care. Why would they report on something that's going to make their viewers change the channel?

Re: US Media Blacks Out Snowden Interview

#182
post #177

Reddit takedown of this stupid blog post: http://www.reddit.com/r/politics/comments/1wddfp/us_media_bl... Of course, on the Internet, it's not Occam's Razor that controls, but Godwin's, which states that among competing hypotheses, the hypothesis with the greatest dramatic implications must be selected.

I don't think your definition of Godwin's Law matches its stated definition. However, I want your definition to get forked into its own law because it is an incredibly astute observation.

I think he's calling it Godwin's razor, if I read correctly?

Re: US Media Blacks Out Snowden Interview

#183
post #80

We need to keep our paranoia in check. That article is B.S. — wrong on all the verifiable points. And the rest is just random guesses. I went and checked the German news (I'm American but lived in Germany 5 years, and am still fluent) and it turns out that ARD screwed the pooch on this one: the two most respected media outlets in Germany are pissed off and have written about ARD's shoddy editing and refusal to provid…

The US media simply could have bought the rights. They usually pay millions for some pictures with an ape and some prominent person, or for photos of an enhanced ass married to some other guy.

Because people want to see them. People (as in the general public) really don't care about yet-another Snowden interview, so news outlets aren't going to shell out the big bucks.

Re: US Media Blacks Out Snowden Interview

#184
post #74

A blackout ordered by the government, huh. Quite an allegation. But don't forget to consider that rather than the American media, not a small bunch to corral easily, conspiring at the government's request not to report on something "juicy," that the media may have simply had things to cover that they felt were juicier or were perhaps spooked by the incendiary nature of the interview and engaged in self-censorship. An…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxdSgLmez5Q&t=33m31s

Re: US Media Blacks Out Snowden Interview

#185

Reddit takedown of this stupid blog post: http://www.reddit.com/r/politics/comments/1wddfp/us_media_bl... Of course, on the Internet, it's not Occam's Razor that controls, but Godwin's, which states that among competing hypotheses, the hypothesis with the greatest dramatic implications must be selected.

To be fair, this being mentioned 2-3 times per channel kind of pales in comparison to when the Duck Dynasty thing happened it was on every news station nearly 24/7 for a week. I think the complaint is the amount of coverage this has been given, not whether it has been covered at all.

Re: US Media Blacks Out Snowden Interview

#186
post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is just so much nonsense. What can they do, deny your press-pass? so what If the whitehouse denies access like that - cutting off some of their own ability to disseminate propaganda - the journalist can simply write on the subject anyway. Even better, while other journalists are busy copying down the usual stuff, the "cut off" journalist can run the "government interfering with the Free Press" story. Loudly. Den…

You are wrong. It's not the press pass it is access to the "unnamed high ranking official" that "leaks" you stories that sell your paper. Not only do you not have breaking stories you don't even have sourced stories. Imagine if WaPo had to write things like "the NYT is reporting...". That's a death knell. And what do you complain about? That the government is not leaking you information anymore? That anonymous source…

There are at least two types of "unnamed high ranking" leakers.

One is deliberately leaking the story line that the administration wants published, but for whatever reason doesn't want to be directly quoted on.

The other is the conscientious leaker, who wants to get the truth out but fears for job/safety if he went "on the record."

The former can be directed to "leak" only to favored media outlets. The latter cannot.

Re: US Media Blacks Out Snowden Interview

#187

Reddit takedown of this stupid blog post: http://www.reddit.com/r/politics/comments/1wddfp/us_media_bl... Of course, on the Internet, it's not Occam's Razor that controls, but Godwin's, which states that among competing hypotheses, the hypothesis with the greatest dramatic implications must be selected.

To be fair, this being mentioned 2-3 times per channel kind of pales in comparison to when the Duck Dynasty thing happened it was on every news station nearly 24/7 for a week. I think the complaint is the amount of coverage this has been given, not whether it has been covered at all.

I have sneaking feeling these are the same people who freak out on youtube...

"THE GOVERNMENT IS CENSORING THIS VIDEO cuz they dont want you to see it. IT'S STUCK AT 301 VIEWS!!!1111!"

Re: US Media Blacks Out Snowden Interview

#188

Reddit takedown of this stupid blog post: http://www.reddit.com/r/politics/comments/1wddfp/us_media_bl... Of course, on the Internet, it's not Occam's Razor that controls, but Godwin's, which states that among competing hypotheses, the hypothesis with the greatest dramatic implications must be selected.

To be fair, this being mentioned 2-3 times per channel kind of pales in comparison to when the Duck Dynasty thing happened it was on every news station nearly 24/7 for a week. I think the complaint is the amount of coverage this has been given, not whether it has been covered at all.

I have sneaking feeling these are the same people who freak out on youtube...

"THE GOVERNMENT IS CENSORING THIS VIDEO cuz they dont want you to see it. IT'S STUCK AT 301 VIEWS!!!1111!"

Re: US Media Blacks Out Snowden Interview

#189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was surprised to hear there was a blackout. The reddit commentary shows that it was picked up, albeit with lackluster coverage. One important thing is still missing, though: Where is a link to the video that has a chance of persisting for some time? After all, this is a document of a certain historical significance, so it should be accessible. Maybe I'm to meta-cynical, but the reason for that link not existing mig…

> zeeed 3 hours ago | link > the full interview is here: https://archive.org/details/snowden_interview_en Very good quality and on archive.org.

Thank you and thanks also to the good people at archive.org.

The whole situation makes more sense now, given those links. I also just remembered that the original video of the interview was region-locked for Germany (where I live) on youtube, so residents of non-Germany recieved a "blocked in your country" message. Smells like somebody badly misjudged and sold territorially limited broadcast rights for the interview.

Re: US Media Blacks Out Snowden Interview

#190

Reddit takedown of this stupid blog post: http://www.reddit.com/r/politics/comments/1wddfp/us_media_bl... Of course, on the Internet, it's not Occam's Razor that controls, but Godwin's, which states that among competing hypotheses, the hypothesis with the greatest dramatic implications must be selected.

To be fair, this being mentioned 2-3 times per channel kind of pales in comparison to when the Duck Dynasty thing happened it was on every news station nearly 24/7 for a week. I think the complaint is the amount of coverage this has been given, not whether it has been covered at all.

The fucking title says blacked out.
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