I don't read news but I read too much twitter. I curated my following base carefully so now almost everything on the timeline is interesting/insightful/funny. Problem is it's still junk food and of little long term value. I really need to step away for a while.
The News Is Information Junk Food (2022)
11–20 of 205 posts
Re: The News Is Information Junk Food (2022)
#12All it takes to ditch the news is being on the inside of a breaking story, and realizing how much information being spewed out is just plain incorrect... then the next few articles you read, you realize it's not just your article they warped for clicks, but all of them.
When newspapers were the primary news consumption, it was a bit better - journalists had a few hours to collect facts before publishing. Now there's zero time so they will publish anything. Empty calories.
Re: The News Is Information Junk Food (2022)
#13I like the system in UK and Germany where taxpayers need to contribute a fee (but not a tax, to avoid government interference) to fund broadcasters and news. I think not consuming news is not a reasonable approach in our day and age, you have be informed in order to make good decisions.
> I like the system in UK and Germany where taxpayers need to contribute a fee (but not a tax, to avoid government interference) to fund broadcasters and news.
In the UK it does not improve the quality of available news very much.
> I think not consuming news is not a reasonable approach in our day and age, you have be informed in order to make good decisions.
Bad information does not make for good decisions. Your argument is addressed by the article.
It is far better to read long analytical articles, and even more to read books, on the issues you wish to be informed about. A smaller number of works (i.e. books and articles) that give you real understanding, rather than a lot of superficial information that you will mostly not retrain.
Consuming lots of news, gives you a lot of information, but makes it harder retain, analyse and comprehend it.
Re: The News Is Information Junk Food (2022)
#14I would call it a paradox of interconnectedness. We can write, photograph or broadcast about an immediate event and have that instantly shared with a huge audience online. The stories that bubble up and make it to the top attract a disproportionate amount of our attention and blur our perception of the surrounding reality.
Re: The News Is Information Junk Food (2022)
#15[dead]
Re: The News Is Information Junk Food (2022)
#16I like the system in UK and Germany where taxpayers need to contribute a fee (but not a tax, to avoid government interference) to fund broadcasters and news. I think not consuming news is not a reasonable approach in our day and age, you have be informed in order to make good decisions.
> you have be informed in order to make good decisions.
Surely, one of the key points in TFA is that almost all news is about things we have no real influence over and are removed from effect on us to a large degree. Unless you are a stock-market trader, or there's news of an approaching storm I think most of us just succumb to "Oh Dearism" and chalk it up as "no action necessary" [0]
Re: The News Is Information Junk Food (2022)
#17I like the system in UK and Germany where taxpayers need to contribute a fee (but not a tax, to avoid government interference) to fund broadcasters and news. I think not consuming news is not a reasonable approach in our day and age, you have be informed in order to make good decisions.
At least in Germany publicly financed broadcasters and news tend to waste a lot of money and they keep asking for more. I’d much rather have a choice to support organizations I want than to support stuff like Y-Kollektiv or STRG F that produce low quality content and sometimes straight out lie.
Re: The News Is Information Junk Food (2022)
#18I like the system in UK and Germany where taxpayers need to contribute a fee (but not a tax, to avoid government interference) to fund broadcasters and news. I think not consuming news is not a reasonable approach in our day and age, you have be informed in order to make good decisions.
I am a german citizen and I always wondered why people hate SO MUCH on that system. Yes, there might be some corrupt people that give themselves too much pocket money, but overall the system works really good. I didn't stop reading news, but I mostly stopped reading news that are not funded by the "Rundfunkbeitrag", because the funded news organizations are encouraged to be rather neutral and they don't use that much…
Rundfunkbeitrag is waaaay too much and they are not interested in lowering it. Compare that to the similar system in Japan which is way cheaper and they actually lowered the cost in recent years. Germany has too many public radio and tv stations where a lot of content is nearly the same. The ARD is also not as independent as they claim, just look at how many politicans are in the Rundfunkrat.
OP said it's not a tax but it is the same. You have to pay it even if you don't use it and you go to jail if you don't want to pay. Doesn't matter how they are describing it, it's a pseudo-tax.
>the funded news organizations are encouraged to be rather neutral and they don't use that much weird rhetoric
Tagesschau is all but neutral and the tone of ZDF Heute is very aggressive. At least they are consistently bad and private newspapers are even worse so you know what you get. The state of news in Germany is sad but what do you expect when journalists side with politicians and favor more censorship?
Re: The News Is Information Junk Food (2022)
#19The blending of comedy/entertainment with news, going back to the GWB era with the Daily Show is a good example of this problem. People consuming junk food thinking they are getting their vegetables.
Better to simply turn off your brain and honestly watch real junk without the false sophistication.
Re: The News Is Information Junk Food (2022)
#20I like the system in UK and Germany where taxpayers need to contribute a fee (but not a tax, to avoid government interference) to fund broadcasters and news. I think not consuming news is not a reasonable approach in our day and age, you have be informed in order to make good decisions.
I am a german citizen and I always wondered why people hate SO MUCH on that system. Yes, there might be some corrupt people that give themselves too much pocket money, but overall the system works really good. I didn't stop reading news, but I mostly stopped reading news that are not funded by the "Rundfunkbeitrag", because the funded news organizations are encouraged to be rather neutral and they don't use that much…
Just like the UK system, what annoys me is pretending this tax isn't a tax, and having to separately register for it instead of just paying taxes.