News = Emotional Programming

[The Void]

I had an ephiphany years ago while watching the Today show in the morning...this was probably 6 years ago or so...not sure...anyway, I got disgusted and finally turned off and tuned out the local and national mainstream 'news' shows and news.

I was done being their tool for programming a new America where people live in fear, where people hang on every word and gossip tidbit and lie about security. I was done and still am. I don't want it in my life.

I don't want to be told how to feel about a fire that happened down the street, or how safe I should or should not feel in this country or how I should live in fear of every germ and run out and buy such and such a product. We have become the programmed, fearful superconsumers that they always wanted. The media is a spectacle of itself and journalism is dead.

There is no real story anymore since they make it be anything they want it to be. Everything is presented sanitized, slanted and skewed for your intake. They don't trust that you can handle the truth. They don't think the truth is exciting enough anymore.

When news and news shows started going 24/7 I wondered how they would handle it. The handled it not by covering enough worldwide events that meant much, they used all sorts of tactics and filler and employed sensationalist types as news casters. I have truly come to hate media personalities. They manipulate with their tone of voice and inject their opinions throughtout entire news broadcasts! This is NOT journalism and does not resemble the truth in any way.

IF you watch the news, please keep in mind that you are always watching something that has been edited to what they want you to know and then they have decided how they want you to feel and think about it and it is relfected in their words, writing on the screen, the tones of voices, etc. People are in near hysterics on the rollercoaster ride that the media has lured them on. Get off the ride, look away, THINK while you watch if you do.

I am pained to see so many people spouting off to each other verbatims of what the news says as if they are in any way shape or form correct or accurate in their portrayals. Don't be a whore to the media. Don't believe the hype.

My rant is over. If you read it, thanks.

[ssid67]

I agree with you 100% mass media is a joke. If its not horrific it won't sell.

MM said it best "keep them in fear and consuming"

[Steven]

I dont think its a case of not thinking you can handle the truth as much as it is a case of shaping the mindset of everyday people. We are being conditioned and watered down.

[Homicidalheathen]

It seems that conservative thought prevails in this area. Stay home and just be safe.....

I hear more and more oh just stay home to celebrate its safer.....

I will not let fear run my life but.....I do get scared sometimes. I won't go to the Detroit fireworks anymore because of some fights.

And shutting down the dream cruise as soon as it gets dark kinda sux.

[Scary Guy]

I didn't even see this thread when I mentioned Jello

Get me my tin foil hat.

[sinmantyx]

There is much emotional manipulation, but sometimes it has more to do with the media being scared to death to actually put their foot down and say: "This is the case."

I don't know when it happened, but all the sudden news was replaced by pundits screaming at eachother instead of real news. The idea that if you present the polar sides of an issue the resulting angry blasts back-and-forth reveal the truth...is so ridiculus. However, how else are you to show that you aren't "bias"?

I'd be happier if the media stopped showing "both sides" of an issue as if either side is equally defendable. Instead, they should DO RESEARCH and present the evidence minus the "talking points" and argument.

Thing is...even though most newcasters would be considered "liberal" by most standards, the people that OWN the networks and PAY them are not. The news is still there is make money.

If WE are not willing to demand the details and the journalism (minus some stupid "exclusive" titilating crap), we're always going to get what we want to hear...not any new information that's going to make us think. That's not a good thing.

[theremper]

I believe that all mass media is used for is a form of mind control. The tell you not only the news but also what to think and feel about it. here is something that has not happend recently so ill use it as an example. If the united states were to drop a nuclar warhead on an other country. the news would make you feel releived. this is actually done through the use of a form hypnotic suggestions here is an example.

exploding volince rock such and such a city at 10

going to 10:05 after the break explosive volince from teens in such and such city

after break the story in such and such city teens were protesting such and such and through a bottle through a window.

that was the story yes throwing a bottle is voilent yet not to the point the preludes lead to. the reason for this is that now the masses have the start of mental programing that protesting teens are voilent and should be stopped.

I had an ephiphany years ago while watching the Today show in the morning...this was probably 6 years ago or so...not sure...anyway, I got disgusted and finally turned off and tuned out the local and national mainstream 'news' shows and news. 

I was done being their tool for programming a new America where people live in fear, where people hang on every word and gossip tidbit and lie about security.  I was done and still am.  I don't want it in my life. 

I don't want to be told how to feel about a fire that happened down the street, or how safe I should or should not feel in this country or how I should live in fear of every germ and run out and buy such and such a product.  We have become the programmed, fearful superconsumers that they always wanted.  The media is a spectacle of itself and journalism is dead. 

There is no real story anymore since they make it be anything they want it to be.  Everything is presented sanitized, slanted and skewed for your intake.  They don't trust that you can handle the truth.  They don't think the truth is exciting enough anymore. 

When news and news shows started going 24/7 I wondered how they would handle it.  The handled it not by covering enough worldwide events that meant much, they used all sorts of tactics and filler and employed sensationalist types as news casters.  I have truly come to hate media personalities.  They manipulate with their tone of voice and inject their opinions throughtout entire news broadcasts!  This is NOT journalism and does not resemble the truth in any way. 

IF you watch the news, please keep in mind that you are always watching something that has been edited to what they want you to know and then they have decided how they want you to feel and think about it and it is relfected in their words, writing on the screen, the tones of voices, etc.  People are in near hysterics on the rollercoaster ride that the media has lured them on.  Get off the ride, look away, THINK while you watch if you do. 

I am pained to see so many people spouting off to each other verbatims of what the news says as if they are in any way shape or form correct or accurate in their portrayals.  Don't be a whore to the media.  Don't believe the hype.

My rant is over.  If you read it, thanks.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[theremper]

I understand and hear you so please do not take offence to my reply. I lived in detroit and worked renta cop in a parking lot. you know the people themselves don't scare me what scares me is that I think most of the people living on the streets don't have a soul. I'm not talking about lost there will. Im talking about real zombies. I think after talking with them for hours on end they are the night of the living dead. Just in the movies the zombies want brains and on the streets its some drug or another. I watched one lady walking around just like the movies going crack crack i want crack. You know I really have no fear of dying. at least yet. Its not my time yet I have not finished what I am here to do. ahh fuck I have not started

It seems that conservative thought prevails in this area.  Stay home and just be safe.....

I hear more and more oh just stay home to celebrate its safer.....

I will not let fear run my life but.....I do get scared sometimes.  I won't go to the Detroit fireworks anymore because of some fights.

And shutting down the dream cruise as soon as it gets dark kinda sux.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[cptdeath]

the kinda control you see in mass media today is simsilar to the use of religion before mass media.

a large chunk of humman history has been exactly the same story. at least were free to discuss this issue at this time in history

[Scary Guy]

Thought this should be posted somewhere.

[Troy Spiral (13)]

Its true that media is basically "entertainment" but there is still good news to be had. You just have to learn to separate the wheat from the chaff. There is no other news source for news other than stuff about your local neighborhood than "the media" (radio, TV, print (including the net)) it might not be great, but its the best thing we have.

The newsmedias integrity is currently viewed to be on a downswing, but being a student of history, the media now is far better than it has ever been. The scandals, yellow journalism, flat out lies, bribery, stories made up or spun for no other reason than to make a profit... none of that is new. But, its far less rampant than it has been in ages past. For the simple fact that communication is so much better now than it has ever been. We can compare notes, talk to others and such with so much more ease now that its much harder for a bullshit artist to sell his wares than it once was.

There will always be gullible people but the worst possible thing you can do is decide just to not care. Once you decide that all media is bad, the watchers have one less watcher. Once we get to the point were all we care about is the latest book or movie and ignore the news, that's when the powers that be take over and "win" because we just don't give a fuck. They can do whatever they want and we wont know the difference because we are too busy watching American Idol or consulting our horoscopes.

[Vater Araignee]

I didn't even see this thread when I mentioned Jello

Get me my tin foil hat.

Hey you can get sued for mentioning that product, it has happened before.

And I'm sure that somebody holds the copy right for the hat and will sue you if you made your own because doing so deprives them of money. Then the media will portray you as a thief.

[hellequin]

one of the reasons i gave up a tv is the news. i get so physically angry whenever i'm around a television newscast. i don't want to get my news from smiling blond models. i want my news from someone whos been up all night checking and rechecking facts. you know, kinda like walter cronkite only unshaved, with glasses askew, throat raspy from calling sources... you get my drift.

anyone seen the daily show's nilf segment? (newscasters i'd like to fuck)? yeah... exactly.

and the alarmist bullshit they broadcast. "you might die from that belly button fuzz. news at 7."

i got enough anxiety problems without this crap being shoved into my brain.

hence, no tv. no stupid tv news. no commercials. no more flipping channels for hours. life's better. it's calmer. i read.

[know_buddy_kares]

I have to agree, I tend to go to the net for any news I may wish to view. There's some fairly reliable websites out there worth my time that cover real issues I'm interested in rather than what the TV covers (now it's usually Paris's escapade) There's always an alternate source to go to. The more people that realize this and follow suit much like you've done Hellequin, they'll notice the sudden drop in ratings. By then... *hopefully* the answer as to why will be pretty obvious, and I may be stretching my faith here a bit... but they just might figure out how to solve this problem (should be pretty obvious, cover real events, and tell the fuckin truth) Well... all this in theory, reality is a different chain of events. If I had to put money on it, I'd say their ratings won't drop enough to really give any worry or concern about it. And if they did, they would do anything but the practical solution I said.

[BrassFusion]

they'd lose a lot more ratings if they stopped covering celebrity antics and hired fat bulldog-faced newscasters who actually have journalistic skills and integrity. and they know it.

[GARGOYLE FUSIC]

The media is fine if you know where to look. I can read about Darfur or Lebanon and I can check stock quotes thanks to the media. I think it is paranoia to think the media is conspiring to control people.

[Destroit]

I believe that no matter what there is always some form of corruption or spin in newspapers and magazines. It has nothing usually to do with 'people out to get you and the goverment is conspiring this this and this bullshit' like many people buy into. Believing that all the time is just as bad as believing everything in the news. Think of it this way, you ever play telephone when you were a little kid? One person whispers a phrase to the next person, and that person has to whisper it to the next and so on and so forth. So you start out with one phrase and end up with something completely ridiculous when you get to the end of the line. That to me is a good reason why much of our news is skewed, and also backs up Troy Spiral's idea in that skewed news is definately not new. I also have a feeling that, yeah they fill a whole lot of the space on the news channels with crap, and do you know why? There isn't always really that much stuff going on in the world that is that horrifically important daily. If there is, think back, 10 or even 20 years ago, how many news channels were twenty-four hours seven days a week? Hardly any, dad would come home at night sit in front of the tv and watch the SIX o'clock news. For one hour. Daily. That's easy to fill an hour's worth of time with news in the world, but fox, cnn, msnbc, c-span, etc are forced into running 24 hours and trying to fill that space with something meaningful. I mean, sure there's a negotiable amount of news in the world daily, but face it we don't live in an action movie, the world can be a dull place. Thus brings filler, things like celebrities and killer tomatos and rare tropical diseases from pop tarts and outlandish shit like that. I think they're bored really.

I obviously don't believe any news station is entirely 100 squeeky clean percent, you need to take it in and view at your own discretion. I'm a news junkie, but when I want to read the news I check MSNBC, Fox News (because MSNBC is slightly more democratic, Fox News is slightly more republican), Canadian news, and Zeit.de (the German news, well also to brush up on my language, but also to find out what they think about matters). When you cross reference like that you can put the puzzle pieces together easier, and go by who makes more sense. Sure I believe that most news channels go too far to try and to be all entertainment, but in a world where there's a few 24/7 news channels and they're fighting for ratings, I can see why they do. I wouldn't blame the news, I'd blame the people watching the news, since people like that sort of entertainment celebrity gossip kind of shit, that's WHY news channels fill their programming with it. It's what the people want.

[Scary Guy]

The media is fine if you know where to look. I can read about Darfur or Lebanon and I can check stock quotes thanks to the media. I think it is paranoia to think the media is conspiring to control people.

This is your first post? You're obviously not a plant.

"you wont even notice it, next time someones on your goth boards maybe its a shill maybe not when hes recommending some new product you should use"

Your viral marketing won't work on me, hahaha!

/me grabs his tinfoil hat

[Amerist]

Your viral marketing won't work on me, hahaha!

/me grabs his tinfoil hat

Although, if it's marketing something -- I am right now confused as to what. (I don't really think "the media" as a creature needs to sell itself.)

On topic. Bias has always been rampant. Critical thinking and critical examination of any news story is key--but, really, most of us don't have enough time in our days to care intensely about everything that comes across our TV screens. The media companies realize this, and their one-upmanship in trying to make everyone care about what they have on their broadcasts produces a sort of emotional resonance where it ends up being that every other story is OMG PONIES!

It's like BrassFusion said, FOX News went this route trying to produce "news as entertainment" when they created their bite-sized point sessions. Ordinary news shows deploy pretty people as anchors because they're inherently more "trustworthy" looking. They've locked themselves into a business where the most flashy, emotionally hooking dog wins.

The standard news media to me is a catalog. It's a list of issues and products (facts, events) portrayed in a "flattering" light to catch my attention. Actually understanding any given product, however, ends up with me going and actually having to research it. Often I've seen the more hot-button an issue the less factual relevance it has, the less substance, but often more grip. This is why I don't watch the news anymore. I don't like to sit through a broadcast and look back at each segment and think: boiled down this segment said, "be angry," and this one said, "be afraid."

There's no conspiracy; these people barely play together nicely--what is there happens to be a competition for the hearts and minds of more viewers, because viewership makes the grade, and with what part of the day most TV news comes on they've got tired, burnt-out people watching who don't want to be forced to think anyway. Making a story digestible ends up mangling it into something akin to junkfood.

I guess the only times that I end up watching news-news is when there's something going down in the now and I want to see it in progress. Like votes coming down in presidential or mayoral races--but when it comes to almost everything else I"m looking at print media, mostly because I have a ready resource to cross-reference anything that catches my attention at my fingertips.

[Scary Guy]

We'll see if the bot posts more.

(really I'm just trying to get a rise out of him/her to make them post more and jump in the conversation).

Oh yeah, www.nakednews.com the natural progression of where this is all going.

I think the thing I hate most about the news is they dumb things down and sugar coat it for the masses (which technically do need that but I'd rather they didn't so maybe they'd learn something).

[Amerist]

Ah yes... The Naked News. Gone from News as Entertainment to News as Staring and Drooling.

[GARGOYLE FUSIC]

Not a bot-just someone who studies mass media

[sass_in_the_pants]

I think you just have to know what you're getting into.

WSJ writes very compelling and relevant articles, geared toward a business audience. As long as you understand the audience the publication is trying to reach, you'll understand that publication's bias and filter it as you see fit.

As for television news, though...ugh. I just don't like it. It's strictly banned in my house. BANNED.

[Scary Guy]

Not a bot-just someone who studies mass media

Like I said, I figured, just wanted to razz ya to get you to post more.

Personally if I do catch the news I'll try to get it from an outside news source like a blog or something that is third party and unbiased.