Let's talk about clickbait
9/8/16 14:36![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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talkpoliticsJohn Oliver did a very smart segment on the modern ethics in journalism, if we could talk of anything resembling "ethics" there at all:
John Oliver Does a Segment Destroying Clickbait. You Won’t Believe What Happens Next
What happens when “journalism” becomes “all the puppy news that’s fit to print.”
Here is the whole segment:
[Error: unknown template video]
The problem is, either way we have a problem. The big mainstream media do have hordes of professional reporters, but in doing their job, those are compelled to misuse their power (because information is power) to promote political agendas and infuse political bias into the discourse - be it unintentionally or purposefully.
In the meantime, blogs and smaller news outlets tend to offer more diversity of viewpoints, but often at an amateurish level, inaccurate or dishonest.
And then we have the kitten macro phenomenon like the one described in such a funny yet depressing way in the video. Since in today's world which is so over-saturated with information that the most irrelevant pieces of info suddenly gain a lot of significance at the expense of deeper, more insightful analysis of issues of import, superficial sensation sells better. In a way, the explosion of information in the 21st century has brought us to a situation where there aren't enough people to fact-check each other, and furthermore, people are no longer interested and cannot be bothered to obtain in-depth knowledge on most issues, as they have become over-fed with it all.
That said, the current predicament of most print media, as significant as they have been for providing the fundamental base upon which the rest of the news-sphere still rests and depends (and political and social analysis, by extension), is as normal and predictable as it has been disheartening. Ultimately, society may be fast approaching the critical point, beyond which news will become no more about facts and events, but opinion, spin, and inherently biased meta-talk (largely dependent on the financial bottom-line). And this does not bode well for the informed society that we all crave, which is essential for a sustainable democracy. And that, in turn, potentially provides fruitful ground for skillful manipulators, populists, and emerging wannabe autocrats - and ultimately, contributes to the erosion of the free society in ways most unanticipated.
John Oliver Does a Segment Destroying Clickbait. You Won’t Believe What Happens Next
What happens when “journalism” becomes “all the puppy news that’s fit to print.”
Here is the whole segment:
[Error: unknown template video]
The problem is, either way we have a problem. The big mainstream media do have hordes of professional reporters, but in doing their job, those are compelled to misuse their power (because information is power) to promote political agendas and infuse political bias into the discourse - be it unintentionally or purposefully.
In the meantime, blogs and smaller news outlets tend to offer more diversity of viewpoints, but often at an amateurish level, inaccurate or dishonest.
And then we have the kitten macro phenomenon like the one described in such a funny yet depressing way in the video. Since in today's world which is so over-saturated with information that the most irrelevant pieces of info suddenly gain a lot of significance at the expense of deeper, more insightful analysis of issues of import, superficial sensation sells better. In a way, the explosion of information in the 21st century has brought us to a situation where there aren't enough people to fact-check each other, and furthermore, people are no longer interested and cannot be bothered to obtain in-depth knowledge on most issues, as they have become over-fed with it all.
That said, the current predicament of most print media, as significant as they have been for providing the fundamental base upon which the rest of the news-sphere still rests and depends (and political and social analysis, by extension), is as normal and predictable as it has been disheartening. Ultimately, society may be fast approaching the critical point, beyond which news will become no more about facts and events, but opinion, spin, and inherently biased meta-talk (largely dependent on the financial bottom-line). And this does not bode well for the informed society that we all crave, which is essential for a sustainable democracy. And that, in turn, potentially provides fruitful ground for skillful manipulators, populists, and emerging wannabe autocrats - and ultimately, contributes to the erosion of the free society in ways most unanticipated.
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(no subject)
Date: 9/8/16 12:17 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 9/8/16 13:25 (UTC)2016. "Please do not Pokemon Go and drive".
Same applies to "infotainment" and "clickbait news".
Despite all our technology, we've devolved. Big time.
(no subject)
Date: 10/8/16 09:10 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 10/8/16 11:31 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 10/8/16 11:39 (UTC)ZenMate for Chrome: here (https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/zenmate-vpn-best-cyber-se/fdcgdnkidjaadafnichfpabhfomcebme?hl=en).
talking politics - society of the spectacle
Date: 14/8/16 21:55 (UTC)i haven't been able to participate much in this community, since i find it commonly mainstream. any one who is interested in truth would reference independent journalism, instead of more reality tv, for which donald trump has become king. here is a forum for anyone who wishes to engage in thoughtful discussion around today's seemingly skewed issues.
link (https://www.facebook.com/groups/MontOrderFriends/)
last i heard america wishes to criminalize conspiracy theorizing. what? yes. have a cup of shut the fuck up about 911, the greatest bank robbery in world history. it's an inside job. cia trained isis. shut the fuck up or we will arrest you for treason? what? yes. does anyone wonder why the entire world hates america? dystopic, nazi wet dream.. yes, donald trump. no, donald trump. fired and bankrupt cocio-schopathic millionaires gone wild! this is the new tv reality. and rothschild is laughing all the way to the world bank. fuck the FED. open your eyes. listen to the rustle of the leaves in the trees. feel the sun and the wind caress your face. you are in a hollywood wet dream called a matrix. you are living in a prison planet. your are really fucked up. your government is lying to you. you dismiss the obama deception. the fact that bill bush was an idiot, bill clinton is a lizard and hilary has taken the place of henry kissinger on the world stage in favour of israel and the zionist agenda. america, you are fucked. checkmate.
if you give any time to this industrial military global media banking bullshit, you are guilty of enabling exactly what you are criticizing. try global non-compliance. live locally, grow local value, forget the spectacle. media has mesmerized you.
how's that working for you so far?
thank you and have a nice day.
; )
.
Re: talking politics - society of the spectacle
Date: 15/8/16 20:12 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 16/8/16 06:07 (UTC)Now looking at your doubling-down on the matter, I get even more convinced that we've made the right decision.
But thatnks for providing a moment of spectacle. Have a nice day you too.
(no subject)
Date: 16/8/16 07:19 (UTC)i don't think well inside the box..
; )
(no subject)
Date: 16/8/16 07:54 (UTC)RE: talking politics - society of the spectacle
Date: 16/8/16 06:08 (UTC)Um... OK (I guess). You cannot please everyone. =)
As for the more personal questions of yours, you do not know anything about me - whether I live local, what media I use, do I watch television at all, even which country I am from and which my government is. But commendable effort anyway.
RE: talking politics - society of the spectacle
Date: 16/8/16 07:16 (UTC)my remark is not personal, but a comment about the whole state of affairs on blogs and consumerism and politics and social media which are self absorbed entities, while an infinite universe awaits outside these four walls..
it amazes me that humans are the only species on earth that actually lock themselves into a box every night. while some free souls actually sleep under the stars away from the mind control.
the rss feed is mainstream global media fed to us by the industrial military global banking media complex. tv is a farce.
this is the society of the spectacle, this is the consumer centric society with such an abhorrent vacuum and relentless hunger beyond its own limited imagination.
why has the bush regime not been tried for war crimes? why has the fed not been audited? why has israel not been charged with genocide of palestine, the same thing they claim happened to them under germany?
we - yevgeny zamyatin on which 1984 - george orwell was based
consumer vs creative - matthew fox
society of the spectacle - guy debord
medium is the massage - marshall macluhan
the third mind - bryon gysin and william burroughs
the pornography of power - robert scheer
the denial of death - ernest becker
thecrowhouse - max egan
believe me this is not personal. this is imperative.
your end sentence pretty much sums it up - "And that, in turn, potentially provides fruitful ground for skillful manipulators, populists, and emerging wannabe autocrats - and ultimately, contributes to the erosion of the free society in ways most unanticipated."
RE: talking politics - society of the spectacle
Date: 16/8/16 10:53 (UTC)RE: talking politics - society of the spectacle
Date: 17/8/16 04:48 (UTC)RE: talking politics - society of the spectacle
Date: 16/8/16 06:20 (UTC)Signed, Illuminatus Shapeshiftinson.
RE: talking politics - society of the spectacle
Date: 16/8/16 06:51 (UTC)RE: talking politics - society of the spectacle
Date: 16/8/16 09:57 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 15/8/16 20:44 (UTC)Here's an alternate take for you:
Badly-sourced "news", up to and including wild barely-verifiable conspiracy theories, act as an immunization against the disease of deliberate corruption. You may hate them because they are fodder for the ignorant, but, when people are constantly running afoul of their own idiocy and have to actively learn to route around it, they are also unwittingly training themselves to combat the large scale abuse you (and many others) have claimed is the end-game for news, the internet, and the information era in general.
And yes there are people - and organizations - that will spin, and lie, and selectively filter, then rebroadcast their crap for their own benefit. But the instinct to lie is only slightly older than the countervailing instinct to seek out and punish liars, and we see this instinct in action in various forms all through the online realm. Sometimes it gets quite nasty, or convoluted, or both, and we are also always clamoring for better tools to do this self-policing.