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  #26  
Old 01-16-2012, 11:48 PM
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Default Re: Why the Mainstream Media Really Sucks

The China Syndrome hit theaters something like two weeks before TMI, no doubt inspiring media stories of the core melting through the earth and coming out the other side. For sure media outlets exaggerated and speculated like crazy in the wake of the accident. That doesn't make what happened at Three Mile Island was a "minor incident," though, and you having lived nearby at the time doesn't make you more knowledgeable than nuclear scientists, sorry.
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  #27  
Old 01-16-2012, 11:53 PM
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Default Re: Why the Mainstream Media Really Sucks

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Originally Posted by livius drusus View Post
The China Syndrome hit theaters something like two weeks before TMI, no doubt inspiring media stories of the core melting through the earth and coming out the other side. For sure media outlets exaggerated and speculated like crazy in the wake of the accident. That doesn't make what happened at Three Mile Island was a "minor incident," though, and you having lived nearby at the time doesn't make you more knowledgeable than nuclear scientists, sorry.

Never said I was, but it also does not prove that they got it right, especially 15 years after the fact and now 33 years later.
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  #28  
Old 01-16-2012, 11:56 PM
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Default Re: Why the Mainstream Media Really Sucks

Oh so in your opinion an assessment of the full impact of a nuclear power plant failure is best done in the immediate wake of it? No such thing as long-term effects, are there? As usual, you just can't admit you're wrong about something, even a small matter like dropping the word "minor" from "minor incident."
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  #29  
Old 01-17-2012, 12:51 AM
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Default Re: Why the Mainstream Media Really Sucks

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Originally Posted by livius drusus View Post
Oh so in your opinion an assessment of the full impact of a nuclear power plant failure is best done in the immediate wake of it? No such thing as long-term effects, are there? As usual, you just can't admit you're wrong about something, even a small matter like dropping the word "minor" from "minor incident."

And just what the HELL does it really matter? If you didn't have such a damned stick up your ass, you might be worth talking to.
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  #30  
Old 01-17-2012, 12:53 AM
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Default Re: Why the Mainstream Media Really Sucks

I think accuracy matters, yes. Hence the OP of this thread.
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  #31  
Old 01-17-2012, 02:02 AM
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Default Re: Why the Mainstream Media Really Sucks

Problem solved.
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  #32  
Old 01-17-2012, 02:55 AM
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Default Re: Why the Mainstream Media Really Sucks

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Originally Posted by livius drusus View Post
Anything look funny about that? Like 1,100 years ago isn't all that ancient maybe? Like maybe the Valley of the Kings wasn't exactly in use anymore 1,100 years ago?
LOL that would have been under the Fatimid Caliphate centered in Cairo. A huge chronological miss, when you consider that Muhammad had already come, there had already been a caliphate in Damascus, another one in Baghdad, and the Fatimid caliphate in Cairo was contemporary with the Umayyid caliphate of Cordoba in Spain.

Quote:
Now scroll all the way down to the fourth para from the bottom and you'll see this:

Quote:
The coffin of the singer belonged to the daughter of a high priest during the 22nd Dynasty.
How is it possible that a human writing this article (or more likely compiling it from press releases/local news stories) doesn't immediately see that discrepancy? You don't have to be an expert to know that Dynastic Egypt ended long before the Middle Ages, surely. For the record, the 22nd Dynasty dates to between 945 and 712 B.C., so they can't even claim it was a typo and that they meant to say 1,100 B.C. instead of 1,100 years ago.
Yep. 22nd dynasty was famous for Sheshonq, during the Kings period of the Old Testament. That was considerably longer than 1,100 years ago.
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  #33  
Old 01-17-2012, 02:59 AM
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Default Re: Why the Mainstream Media Really Sucks

The BBC got the date right btw.
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  #34  
Old 01-17-2012, 03:08 AM
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Default Re: Why the Mainstream Media Really Sucks

The BBC usually has workmanlike versions of wire/press release stories. It's not great writing -- they like to remove all clauses make sentences as short and declarative as possible -- but it's rare that they bollocks the facts.
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  #35  
Old 01-17-2012, 08:40 PM
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Default Re: Why the Mainstream Media Really Sucks

Journalism Warning Labels « Tom Scott

You can download the US formatted version at the bottom of the page, too.
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  #36  
Old 01-17-2012, 09:26 PM
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Default Re: Why the Mainstream Media Really Sucks

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Originally Posted by lisarea View Post
Journalism Warning Labels « Tom Scott

You can download the US formatted version at the bottom of the page, too.
Great, now after watching FOX news I can't see my TV screen anymore. Thanks for nothing.
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  #37  
Old 01-17-2012, 11:52 PM
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Default Re: Why the Mainstream Media Really Sucks

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Great, now after watching FOX news I can't see my TV screen anymore. Thanks for nothing.
Not being able to see your TV screen when Fox News is on strikes me as a consummation devoutly to be wished.
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  #38  
Old 02-19-2012, 09:55 PM
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Default Re: Why the Mainstream Media Really Sucks

Yes hello.

Compare and contrast the information in these two articles, reporting on the same incident:

Man trying to break up pit bulls shoots mom in leg: report - NY Daily News

A search of Google news for the story turns up nine sources for this version, including national media. Most seem to incite the type of reader comments you might expect.

Here is a more detailed report on the same story:

Son shoots mom by accident amid dog brawl in Plantation - Plantation - MiamiHerald.com

...wherein the pack of vicious pit bulls is described in more detail as "two greyhounds, two Rottweilers, a 10-pound poodle, a small herding-type dog, a shepherd, an assortment of mutts and seven cats."

Nobody thought this version was worth repeating.
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  #39  
Old 02-19-2012, 10:03 PM
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Default Re: Why the Mainstream Media Really Sucks

That one sucked enough to acquire a letter to the editor.
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  #40  
Old 02-20-2012, 01:19 AM
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Default Re: Why the Mainstream Media Really Sucks

Unfortunately, it's not uncommon at all. I saw one once where the 'pit bull' was later revealed to be a Cocker Spaniel. A lot of newspapers actually have policies that they don't report dog bite stories unless the dog is identified a pit bull, so it's not uncommon for media stories to either fraudulently or stupidly call dogs pit bulls just to get pageviews. This not only affects public perceptions, but media reports are used to compile statistics on dog bites by breed, so the bias has ended up in sciencey looking reports from the CDC and the like.

Happily there are now more people documenting that sort of thing, and making fun of the dumbasses who believe what they read.
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  #41  
Old 02-20-2012, 02:08 AM
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Default Re: Why the Mainstream Media Really Sucks

fucking mainstream media! :shakefist:


i blame the wires. it means less work and more time for drinking and drugs.
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  #42  
Old 03-07-2012, 11:03 PM
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Default Re: Why the Mainstream Media Really Sucks

bamp

I don't know why the terrible writing in this article annoys me, probably I am just grumpy this evening. This article popped up on my Google News whatsis, probably because of Franch. I started to read it and it was so awful that I assumed Google News had picked it up from one of those "write your own column and we will publish it" type content generator/aggregator things, but then I looked and it is actually from the AP.
Quote:
The best and therefore richest footballers in France fled as fast as their sports cars would carry them, pockets stuffed with cash from hurriedly emptied bank accounts and trailing agents and tax lawyers gleefully rubbing their hands.
What? Jesus.
Quote:
Quite a doomsday scenario, eh? Yet French football administrators, coaches and players say an exodus like this could become reality if the would-be next president of France levies his proposed new 75 percent salary tax on the super-rich. Basically, they are warning: If you take more of our money, we're off; goodbye, not au revoir.
Basically, :eyesbleed:
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If alarmist warnings of a player exodus are true, France could be facing a fascinating debate if Socialist candidate Francois Hollande is elected president on May 6.
And if!
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There's something of a champagne feel now at the Paris club's Parc des Princes, with the throaty roar of expensive cars filtering up from the stadium basement.
:gah:

Ok, that is all for now.
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  #43  
Old 03-07-2012, 11:46 PM
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Default Re: Why the Mainstream Media Really Sucks

Do any of the best French players even play for French teams? I'm genuinely curious. I follow English football because I'm a City supporter and things filter in about other countries when there is news of transfers. I don't think I've ever heard much about any really big name French teams. They are all mostly Spanish, Italian, English or Dutch that make the news that I see.
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  #44  
Old 03-08-2012, 06:39 AM
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Default Re: Why the Mainstream Media Really Sucks

There are no big name French teams, but investors from Qatar have bought Paris St. Germain and stuffed them with some serious cash. So look out for them in the next years. Or not.
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  #45  
Old 03-15-2012, 07:20 PM
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Default Re: Why the Mainstream Media Really Sucks

So NPR just updated their journalism standards, and the most significant change was that they're no longer going to practice that 'two sides' type of journalism where they present opposing opinions equally, regardless of the credibility of the arguments.

I especially like the part where the site is overloaded with people who are apparently pretty excited about it.

NPR Tries to Get its Pressthink Right » Pressthink

Here's the relevant part:

Quote:
In my view the most important changes are these passages:

In all our stories, especially matters of controversy, we strive to consider the strongest arguments we can find on all sides, seeking to deliver both nuance and clarity. Our goal is not to please those whom we report on or to produce stories that create the appearance of balance, but to seek the truth.

and….

At all times, we report for our readers and listeners, not our sources. So our primary consideration when presenting the news is that we are fair to the truth. If our sources try to mislead us or put a false spin on the information they give us, we tell our audience. If the balance of evidence in a matter of controversy weighs heavily on one side, we acknowledge it in our reports. We strive to give our audience confidence that all sides have been considered and represented fairly.

With these words, NPR commits itself as an organization to avoid the worst excesses of “he said, she said” journalism. It says to itself that a report characterized by false balance is a false report. It introduces a new and potentially powerful concept of fairness: being “fair to the truth,” which as we know is not always evenly distributed among the sides in a public dispute.

Maintaining the “appearance of balance” isn’t good enough, NPR says. “If the balance of evidence in a matter of controversy weighs heavily on one side…” we have to say so. When we are spun, we don’t just report it. “We tell our audience…” This is spin!
Here's the Kos coverage, with a link to a 'thank you' petition you can sign to show support.

Daily Kos: Bravo, NPR!
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  #46  
Old 03-15-2012, 07:35 PM
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Default Re: Why the Mainstream Media Really Sucks

Yes!!!!!!

Let us hope that they mean it, and that they stick to their guns.

Conservatives will, of course, insist that this is "proof" of NPR's "liberal bias."


But I'm so sick of the way the mainstream media (and NPR is one of the worst offenders) almost always try to present "both sides" of a "controversial" story, as if they have equal merit. All too often, that simply serves to manufacture "controversy" where there is none.

A good example is the "controversy" over anthropogenic climate change. On the one hand, you've got pretty-much every qualified climate scientist. On the other hand, you've got a bunch of PR guys funded by the coal and oil industries. To pretend that their "opinions" on the issue are of equal merit is just plain false and seriously distorts the issue.



Another recent example from NPR: "Whatever your view of Limbaugh, he's one of our most gifted controversialists." That made me want to throw up when I heard it.
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  #47  
Old 03-15-2012, 07:47 PM
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Default Re: Why the Mainstream Media Really Sucks

I would absolutely grant that Limbaugh is an extremely gifted creator of controversy. Not just any lying sack of shit can get media coverage for his hypocrisy!
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  #48  
Old 03-15-2012, 08:10 PM
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Default Re: Why the Mainstream Media Really Sucks

Yay for you Merkins. Over here the trend is still going the other way, with right wing populist xenophobe extraordinaire Geert Wilders playing the sensasionalist media like a violin and the 'serious' media terrified of being finger-pointed as belonging to the 'leftwing church'.
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Old 03-15-2012, 08:31 PM
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Default Re: Why the Mainstream Media Really Sucks

Seebach Exhibit 7: Balance in journalism

I think the NPR news deserves a hearty (and inexplicably sincere) "cool story bro".
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Old 03-15-2012, 08:37 PM
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Default Re: Why the Mainstream Media Really Sucks

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Originally Posted by Watser? View Post
Yay for you Merkins. Over here the trend is still going the other way, with right wing populist xenophobe extraordinaire Geert Wilders playing the sensasionalist media like a violin and the 'serious' media terrified of being finger-pointed as belonging to the 'leftwing church'.
I'm not holding my breath just yet. Our own home-grown right-wingers have proved most adept at playing the media.

Even if NPR makes good on its pledge and sticks to its guns -- and that's a big "if," in my opinion -- they represent a pretty small percentage of our media. It's a pretty non-representative subset of the U.S. population that listens to NPR. News outlets like Fox and CNN have far more viewers/listeners, and are far more influential. And I don't foresee CNN or -- God forbid -- Fox ever adopting such a policy.
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