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How to Fix the News

aaronsw.com

11–16 of 16 posts

Re: How to Fix the News

#11
Too bad that most people want dumb news. It is touching that some people make a valiant effort to create something intelligent, but the fact is, they will always be a struggling minority.

Even Hacker news is no exception: I constantly click on those "The most important thing you need to know" articles, against better knowledge. It is just the way the human brain is wired - therefore we will always read the sex gossip stuff and only occasionally force ourselves to read something more demanding.

Re: How to Fix the News

#12
post #11

Too bad that most people want dumb news. It is touching that some people make a valiant effort to create something intelligent, but the fact is, they will always be a struggling minority. Even Hacker news is no exception: I constantly click on those "The most important thing you need to know" articles, against better knowledge. It is just the way the human brain is wired - therefore we will always read the sex gossip…

i learned not to click them.

so either brains aren't wired that way, or we can rewire them.

Re: How to Fix the News

#14

Doesn't Jon Stewart already fit the bill? Intelligent, comprehensive, and entertaining. And, more news value (pound for pound) than just about any other news show.

It's really sad that a comedy show is the best news show. If I was a billionaire I would hire Jon Stewart to produce a cable news channel. I wonder if he would do it if funded sufficiently.

Re: How to Fix the News

#15
The writer makes the common mistake to equate circulation decline with decline of interest in the news. That clearly isn't the case which even a quick look at Pew Research stats would show. People are getting their news from the internet.

The news and music industries are very similar and despite what you read both are booming. It is the newspaper and recording industries that are buggered.

Re: How to Fix the News

#16

Doesn't Jon Stewart already fit the bill? Intelligent, comprehensive, and entertaining. And, more news value (pound for pound) than just about any other news show.

For some reason, I don't think basing selection of news stories on whatever is the funniest to crack jokes about is the "goal" we should aim for with reporting. Not trying to knock Jon Stewart, but just because sometimes he is more informative than some news shows doesn't mean we should be looking toward him to set the standard.
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