Most Trusted News Source
- Thread starter Evmetro
- Start date
evince
Truthmatters
Thanks for the profound contribution to the topic.
Old Trapper
Verified User
Sorry dumb fuck, but you are once again supporting the idea that the media is the "enemy of the people" I actually subscribe to about a dozen different news sources from Time, The Nation, Mother Jones, National Review, Saturday Evening Post, The Atlantic, The Week, Readers Digest, Forbes, Smithsonian, and more. Not all are political, like Birds and Blooms though.
The notion that the media is an altruistic industry that is here to be your friend and to inform you of what is going on in the world sounds pretty romantic, but it is actually bullshit. The media industry is a business that can be your friend or enemy, depending on how you use it.
That's right, "use it". When we view or listen to news programs, we become part of a statistic that they use to market advertising. The more viewers, listeners, or clicks a company has, the more they can charge companies for advertising. The media is not here to be our friends, they are here to make money off of us. We give them the audience statistics, and they give us information. We "use" them, and they "use" us. We have no obligation to remain loyal to any media, and it becomes dangerous if we do become loyal. Media companies know that many folks will become loyal, and they WILL exploit this kind of stupidity.
There is no need to think of the media as anybody's enemy, but there is certainly no reason to think of them as a friend. They are just there, and we use each other. If you are stupid enough to trust them and become loyal to them, this is when they become your enemy. Just get information from them, but make sure to vet it before you believe a word of it.
I was pretty amazed myself, during Desert Shield and Desert Storm, to see things from the perspective of being there in the sandbox. I was too young to have knowledge of politics and religion, so my perception of the people in those countries was not influenced by preconceived notions. I have a negative perception of the people, religion, and culture in those countries that is based upon my experience in them, but agree with you that the experience of one person is not as valuable in forming an opinion from many blogs or interviews of many. Not everybody was exposed to hostile fire, and those who were not may have more positive memories.
I have made an effort to run this thread from a non partisan position, since the information that I am sharing is important to and applies to BOTH sides. Yes, I hate lefties, and lefties hate me, but if you look back through this thread, you will see that I am not making any effort to fuck with lefties. You are certainly welcome to bring the partisan hate to this thread, but there are plenty of better threads where we can bicker and fight.
I don't hate you. I feel sorry for you.
That post was not directed toward you, it was directed to the guy who substituted an intelligent response with arbitrary partisan hate.
Old Trapper
Verified User
Now you are delving off into your fantasy world again following the world Trump has created trying to sound philosophical yet sounding like a fool. If the media is neutral, neither friend nor foe, then you have nothing to fear. Knowledge is acquired by listening to all sources, and then creating the truth that most satisfies the curious mind. It is not available to the closed mind, or to a rigid dogma. Then too, if it is too open then truth just slips through never being grasped. That is the point at which you have arrived.
Facts make us feel more confident in the news and propaganda that we take in, but we need to remember that facts can be taken out of their full and proper context to create whatever narrative the media source wants to push. If we do not understand that true facts can be used to create a false narrative, the media can exploit our ignorance. We must also be aware that a history of presenting lots of true facts does not mean that all information presented is indeed factual. It is a bad idea to trust that what is presented as fact really is fact.
cawacko
Well-known member
You basically listed left wing sites. You're correct, right wing sites will (most likely) be different. Now just because a site comes from the left or right doesn't automatically make it wrong or incorrect but it comes from a different perspective.
cawacko
Well-known member
Why would someone trust nothing? I guess if that's a good idea if you are living in some alternate reality. For example, take the word conservative in politics. There can be debate over its exact meaning but there's a general framework people fall into who are considered conservative. Yet in your world you and Trump are the only two people who are deemed worthy of the label. Everyone else is a liberal, communist or RINO.
So trust nothing and then just create what you want like you do? No thanks dude.
When I describe the benefits of taking in a broad range of media from all political perspectives, both lefties and righties understand what I am talking about. Where it gets complicated, is that not everybody sees the same path of getting this information. Many will be confident that they can rely on having sources that are aligned with their own ideology interpret or report on what the other side is up to. People like this are valuable assets to media companies, since their opinions can be shaped. That's what advertisers pay for. In reality, the only way to get that broad range of information is to actually visit the opposing media sites and programs.
That's right, do not trust ANY media source. It does not matter if you are a lefty, righty, or a rino like you, the media is not here as an altruistic news reporting service that is here to better our country. They are a business, and they are in the business off marketing. They do not have your best interest in mind, they have viewer statistics in mind. They get paid to make you believe in products and information, and they will not hesitate to exploit trusting viewers.
You can trust whatever media you want to, I cannot stop you. If you want to form your own perception of the political landscape, do not trust ANY media source. Squeeze whatever info you can out of each source, and then verify it somewhere else. No media source can offer you independent thought.
Media companies have viewer bases. You are just a tiny part of those statistics. You are just a statistic to them, so you owe them nothing. Enjoy forming your OWN independent perception of the political landscape, fuck the media, both your side and mine.