291–300 of 337 posts
A "TV License" is one of those things I alway assumed people were making up to satirize the claims of over-regulation & bureaucracy in the UK. Finding out it was real was a mixture of hilarious and sobering.
It's equally hilarious and sobering travelling to the US as European, turning on a TV and finding more advertising than programming.
I initially thought this was concerning emails, because for whatever reason, I've very recently noticed an uptick in "Please do not write below the line" a lot more in emails I receive, presumably to encourage top posting or perhaps for AI email ingestion? Anyway, apparently a strange coincidence.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
While the public television may suck, it still pays for the only real Independent news coverage in Germany. No matter what you think of the ARD or ZDF and their management boards, the work of the Deutschlandfunk and regional broadcasters is outstanding and a pillar of a free democracy. I hate having to pay for distribution licenses for soccer games, but if that ensures continued support for high-quality journalism, s…
So independent that they parrot the ideology of the ruling parties. If you want to pay for them then be my guest but I'd rather not.
Journalists tend to have a high education background and thus tend to hold more progressive and liberal opinions, but that’s unavoidable. The public broadcast services are still miles ahead in terms of unbiased reporting than privately owned publications in Germany.
And having said all that; would you really want to have to choose between Fox News and ABC? Journalism should not depend on private interests. I’m not claiming it’s free of political influence either, but at least public broadcast includes provisions to prevent that. The alternative is worse.
A "TV License" is one of those things I alway assumed people were making up to satirize the claims of over-regulation & bureaucracy in the UK. Finding out it was real was a mixture of hilarious and sobering.
Yeah, it’s pretty annoying. Publicly funded media is a great thing to have, and the intention of TV License is to fund it independently from interference from the government of the day. In Australia there’s frequently stories about governments cutting ABC funding, which TV License is supposed to avoid entirely. But the implementation in practice just sucks. It’s baffling to think of how much money is wasted on admini…
Depends on the kind of media.
Educational content? Sure.
News? Not going to be impartial so I'd rather be able to pick my poison - otherwise it's just propaganda.
Sports? A waste of money in my view and the state should not decide what kind of entertainment gets to exist.
Inane talks shows with hosts taking home ridiculous salaries which are funded by extorting money from people who are barely able to pay for their basic needs? Unjustifiable.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
While the public television may suck, it still pays for the only real Independent news coverage in Germany. No matter what you think of the ARD or ZDF and their management boards, the work of the Deutschlandfunk and regional broadcasters is outstanding and a pillar of a free democracy. I hate having to pay for distribution licenses for soccer games, but if that ensures continued support for high-quality journalism, s…
> I hate having to pay for distribution licenses for soccer games, but if that ensures continued support for high-quality journalism, so be it. You sound like you're in an abusive relationship. Get help while you still can.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
In a similar vein, I put an ill fitting jacket on a coat rack when I started my current job in 2012. We have moved offices twice, and the coat rack and jacket have followed me across both moves at no effort of my own. We've been working remote now since the beginning of covid, but our office is still open for anyone who wants to use it. I visited earlier this summer and my jacket was gone. I asked our office assistan…
Your jacket deserves justice! I left a post it note above a doorway in an old office about 15 years ago on my last day. I ask friends who still work there and it’s still there today!
Earlier quoted context omitted.
In a similar vein, I put an ill fitting jacket on a coat rack when I started my current job in 2012. We have moved offices twice, and the coat rack and jacket have followed me across both moves at no effort of my own. We've been working remote now since the beginning of covid, but our office is still open for anyone who wants to use it. I visited earlier this summer and my jacket was gone. I asked our office assistan…
Coat rack story: I once bought a cheap wood coat rack at the drugstore for $5 or so and brought it into the office to place at our "pod" of desks as only a few coatracks had existed in that office. Later that office was being closed down to move into a smaller building and all or most of the office furniture besides the desks (cubes would imply actual walls) was priced to be sold to anyone who wanted it. I found my c…
how many times have you gone through the potential argument with them in your head?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah, it’s pretty annoying. Publicly funded media is a great thing to have, and the intention of TV License is to fund it independently from interference from the government of the day. In Australia there’s frequently stories about governments cutting ABC funding, which TV License is supposed to avoid entirely. But the implementation in practice just sucks. It’s baffling to think of how much money is wasted on admini…
> Publicly funded media is a great thing to have Depends on the kind of media. Educational content? Sure. News? Not going to be impartial so I'd rather be able to pick my poison - otherwise it's just propaganda. Sports? A waste of money in my view and the state should not decide what kind of entertainment gets to exist. Inane talks shows with hosts taking home ridiculous salaries which are funded by extorting money f…
Why can't publicly funded media be impartial?
I imagine they just slap it onto everything as a kind of Vogon poetry.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The BBC is prized in the UK, and rightly so. Most national broadcasters have strong public interest provisions but the Beeb has a history and culture of strong independent journalism, incredible childrens and family output and acts as a mainstay anchor to support a creative industry. There is plenty to criticise but the weird ring fenced tax that we pay is incredible value for money (films, tv, web, journalism for th…
I appreciate state TV content and watch it regularly. But this argument just doesn't hold water. The service is so wonderful that they had to make it a criminal offence not to be a subscriber? And surely an "independent" TV station would have to be one which is not completely controlled by the state.