Dragonfly
Samurai Cop
...is no Barry Windham.
Posts: 2,478
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Post by Dragonfly on Jun 29, 2018 16:34:39 GMT -5
I post my issues, and...
This place: A reasoned, enlightening discussion about the media and news cycle, some of it from a seasoned local reporter.
The other place, which shall remain nameless: I feel that way solely because of my white (yes) male (um... no...) privilege. Furthermore, all of our (my wife and I) non-white friends are miserable, but we don't notice because of said privilege. (For the record, I completely believe in white privilege and whatnot. It's just... The whole thing was a masterclass on how to make an upset person feel infinitely worse.)
Goddamn, I love this place.
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Post by The Thread Barbi on Jun 29, 2018 17:40:37 GMT -5
Amazes me how in 2018 news channels are still even relevant. This. I haven't watched news actively since around the Michael Jackson death. All my news is from online media or the local radio station bulletins. Having said that, the OP isn't wrong. However, I don't know if the doom and gloom has intensified, and it feels like it, or that I was too young or too stupid to realise it earlier.
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Post by Fade is a CodyCryBaby on Jun 29, 2018 18:06:24 GMT -5
I pursued journalism in HS. Was told I was "too opinionated" and wasn't objective enough. Shit's funny.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 29, 2018 18:37:22 GMT -5
If someone bangs your girlfriend or mugs your mom, that's a reason to beat their ass. If someone doesn't agree with you on abortion or immigration laws. That's a really dumb reason to want to get violent or start a "civil war".
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 29, 2018 18:41:31 GMT -5
One thing that does really need to be emphasized is that crime is on the decline and has been for years. Media coverage would give you the impression that civilization has now devolved to a point between Robocop and Mad Max, which simply isn’t true. Sure, there are true hellholes in this planet, but we as a species actually have been trending towards getting along better. Better communication has enabled that, but it has also better enabled us all to realize every bad thing that happens. Those things are anomalies that are on the decline; we are just more aware of them. We as a species have more growing pains to deal with, but things are not as bad as the media would lead you to believe. I was gonna make a similar post. Crime and violent crime has been going down since at least the mid 90s. But with what 3 or 4 24/7 news channels they gotta have something to talk about. And stories about crime draw ratings. My grandma (rest her soul) and I had a convo about this a few times. I don't know what the statistics are but like a lot of old timers, she thought the time she grew up in (60s/70s) were a lot better than today because "people weren't going around shooting each other up." My opinion was that because media has gotten so much bigger since then, it only seemed that way. She watched a LOT of TV news (Fox News specifically, even though most of her opinions didn't even match theirs)
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Burst
El Dandy
*inarticulate squawking*
Posts: 8,482
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Post by Burst on Jun 29, 2018 18:49:07 GMT -5
My grandma (rest her soul) and I had a convo about this a few times. I don't know what the statistics are but like a lot of old timers, she thought the time she grew up in (60s/70s) were a lot better than today because "people weren't going around shooting each other up." My opinion was that because media has gotten so much bigger since then, it only seemed that way. She watched a LOT of TV news (Fox News specifically, even though most of her opinions didn't even match theirs) What's funny, if I pose the same sort of question to my dad, who was born in the mid 50s, he thinks for overall "badness" today's still got nothing on the late 60s to mid 70s. I've tuned out predominantly because it was frankly just making me too angry. I keep up on my local news sites and basically just enough to make sure I don't have to go running for the hills. I'm at a very transition-y point at my life right now between a new job and moving, and frankly the extra stress from keeping up with the news cycle was pushing me over my limit.
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Post by EvenBaldobombHasAJob on Jun 29, 2018 19:12:37 GMT -5
I exist in a 24 7 media blackout zone. I keep as informed as I need to be and deliberately avoid stories that seem overly sensationalistic or biased. And my life is much better for it.
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Post by bootytea on Jun 29, 2018 19:14:46 GMT -5
So glad Im not the only one to feel this way.
I essentially avoid reading responses to trending tweets because the vitriol is maddening. Even something as simple as #whatdoyoulookforwardto turns into an ugly flame war.
The media is being really irresponsible and toying with peoples emotions, not just in the US, but even here in Canada. How many people really watch a full conference being summarized by their talk show hosts or even read past the first few sentences of an article? Its sensationalism, slander and manipulation on a scale Ive never seen in my life.
Not everyone has to agree with each other. To me, it is completely unacceptable to dehumanize people you have an opposing view with as justification to harass and intimidate them.
Its scary that my own mom told me to keep my beliefs to myself because people will treat me badly or marginalize me. All belief systems have their pros and cons, having to hide my values to satisfy people that make negative assumptions about me is not something I can accept.
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Post by Alexander The So-so on Jun 29, 2018 20:06:11 GMT -5
Well, I won’t lie, the news and politics has gotten me pretty despairing and depressed lately. And as an LGBT person, I can’t help but be concerned, because politics always has an effect on my life. Hell, politics effects almost every aspect of everybody’s work and lives, so you ignore it completely at your peril.
But I can respect the fact that you’re tired of conflict, respect people’s differences, and want to avoid unfounded apocalyptic messages. Turning away from 24/7 news definitely isn’t a bad thing. I would at the same time encourage you not to tune out completely: if you want a calmer, kinder, safer, more tolerant and prosperous society, it’s up to us to make that happen by being involved.
Hope this post is within the rules.
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Post by Clash, Never a Meter Maid on Jun 29, 2018 20:50:04 GMT -5
I post my issues, and... This place: A reasoned, enlightening discussion about the media and news cycle, some of it from a seasoned local reporter. The other place, which shall remain nameless: I feel that way solely because of my white (yes) male (um... no...) privilege. Furthermore, all of our (my wife and I) non-white friends are miserable, but we don't notice because of said privilege. (For the record, I completely believe in white privilege and whatnot. It's just... The whole thing was a masterclass on how to make an upset person feel infinitely worse.) Goddamn, I love this place. Right- there's a way to explain the realities of social privileges without shaming others, or alienating those one is trying to inform. As a black guy, I know there are privileges as an African-American I can't benefit from the way a white person could, and it's better for me to convey that to another person in a way that isn't meant to attack or be confrontational. Likewise, as a cis straight dude, I know of social privileges I have that a woman or anyone LGBTQ wouldn't share. We'd be a lot better off in terms of treating each other better if we were able to point out these problems without falling into tribalism or letting our emotions get the better of us. Other social media places don't have that sort of understanding. The only viewpoints I don't tolerate are from those willingly and being openly hateful/malicious towards others. But outside of situations like that, I don't see the point in tarring and feathering someone if they're a generally accepting and compassionate person with a few different views from me.
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Post by Hit Girl on Jun 29, 2018 22:29:12 GMT -5
I fully realize that this is might possibly get me banned, or at the very least, suspended for a week. Don't care. I find myself lying on my bed with a throbbing headache, listening to whoever the hell's on CNN right now talk about the shooting in Maryland. I see people talk online about how this is a second civil war or how we on the ____ need to be worse to the people on the other side of the aisle to "get the point across." I see [insert loudmouth political figures or commentators here] act like assholes, but that seemingly gets a pass from a loud group of people. I find myself tumbling headlong down a rabbit hole of despair, thinking that every apocalyptic sci-fi prediction is coming true at once. And that's why I'm done with this bullshit. Seriously. I'm done. I'm not saying that things aren't bad. There are racists and anarchists and old fashioned assholes that simply want to stoke tensions. And I'm not saying that we shouldn't feel passionate about what we believe in and fight for what we feel is right. But this idea that every single person in the US is ready to go full Purge on each other at any moment is goddamn ludicrous. That's not what I see. You know what I see? I see my wife go into an office every weekday with people she considers to be close friends. People who are from the deep south or are Muslim or are first-generation Haitian-American. People from Atlanta and Vancouver and Newcastle. People with political opinions and musical tastes and everything else all over the freaking map. And yet, the get along near-perfectly. I see my writing group, a place where a 57 year-old, "been reading Reason since the 70s" libertarian can be good friends with a very left wing, anti-GMO environmentalist in her mid 30s. We have veterans and Mormons and trans people; black, white and everything in between. And we all act like congenial, decent human beings. And you know what? I don't think we're the only ones. I am absolutely convinced that the rest of the country is more like us than what you see online or on TV or hear on the radio. I refuse to believe anything else. God, I hope that rant made sense. In your daily life, you'll encounter many people who seem perfectly nice and reasonable. Then they'll go online with a swastika avatar and post "Sieg Heil" to a Jewish journalist, or post a "monkey eating a watermelon" meme to a black person who takes exception to statues on public property celebrating Neo-Confederate triumphalism, or post rape threats to a woman who dared to criticise a video game, or go in a polling station and vote for open racists, theocrats and fascists, and they will be enabled by a complicit media, and social media companies who make profits on providing such virulent bigots with completely unmoderated and unaccountable platforms. Are there good people out there? Yes, but they are losing, and the keys to power are being handed to some truly horrific people. The western world, America in particular, is in very serious trouble. Every day, I am more disturbed by what it has become, and how much worse it is going to get.
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Post by Bang Bang Bart on Jun 30, 2018 10:12:17 GMT -5
I, of all people, should know that not everything is a dystopian hellhole like my mind is defaulting to on occasion when I read the latest bad news or what-have-you. Yes, things look bad, but I think it's important every now and then to recharge and relax and find the beauty in the little things. Vigilance is good, but being vigilant 24/7 is just not possible.
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