“Distracting headlines” as a canard gets a bit old. Everything is a distraction from everything else, because we have a heavily monopolized mass media and a shrinking pool of investigative journalists with any kind of budget.
When you had twice as many newspapers and half as many people, the idea of “distracting headlines” was more a matter of consumer choice (you could read serious news at the New York Times or junk pop-media at the New York Post). Now media functions as a cartel, with papers all echoing one another on topics of the day. Or deliberately remaining silent on embarrassments the business community owners would rather not talk about.
This isn’t a “Trump” problem, though. Its a problem of consolidation and privatization on a national scale.
This. Media consolidation has been going on for the last 40 years, with the numbers of owners going from around 40 in the 1980s to only 5 today. And if those 5 billionaires get together and decide something isn’t going to be talked about, then it’s NOT getting talked about.
This is also why the so-called “mainstream news media” is all lies, sanewashing and WrestleMania rage bait. It’s why the news loves to say, “things suck” but NONE of them want to talk about WHY things suck. This is by design. It’s a distraction so the owners can keep the lower classes fighting with each other while they, the rich, run off with all the farking money.
“Distracting headlines” is basically the symptom of the populace having the attention span of a gnat with ADHD using meth as a cure. We don’t focus on anything long enough to generate enough traffic and therefore money for these media companies. So the media end up producing a constant barrage of shit and drivel while ignoring the stuff that likely matters.
I don’t disagree this blame lies on the people producing the news but it’s also due to the consumers sliding into a character from Idiocracy.
I’m just hoping it was an /s-less sarcasm. I agree with the point through. Our attention span are shorter and the world always appears to be ending, but I think a lot of that is that along with all the lies and manipulation, we’re actually seeing more of ‘how the sausage is made’ than ever before.
As disastrous as smartphones have been, it’s never been easier to collect and instantly share evidence.
This, of course, is not to say that I think we’re not supremely screwed right now, and there’s still a lot happening in the shadows, but I feel there’s definitely an increase of visibility.
Cracked has an article that points how Trump does know some things to a very high level. One of those things is how media attention works and also a complete and absolute lack of shame.
Him admitting that he tore down part of the white house because he just didn’t like it and could have built around it is exactly those two things. He wanted to distract people and he legit does not give a damn.
He wanted to make distracting headlines, and he got them.
“Distracting headlines” as a canard gets a bit old. Everything is a distraction from everything else, because we have a heavily monopolized mass media and a shrinking pool of investigative journalists with any kind of budget.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decline_of_newspapers#United_States
When you had twice as many newspapers and half as many people, the idea of “distracting headlines” was more a matter of consumer choice (you could read serious news at the New York Times or junk pop-media at the New York Post). Now media functions as a cartel, with papers all echoing one another on topics of the day. Or deliberately remaining silent on embarrassments the business community owners would rather not talk about.
This isn’t a “Trump” problem, though. Its a problem of consolidation and privatization on a national scale.
This. Media consolidation has been going on for the last 40 years, with the numbers of owners going from around 40 in the 1980s to only 5 today. And if those 5 billionaires get together and decide something isn’t going to be talked about, then it’s NOT getting talked about.
This is also why the so-called “mainstream news media” is all lies, sanewashing and WrestleMania rage bait. It’s why the news loves to say, “things suck” but NONE of them want to talk about WHY things suck. This is by design. It’s a distraction so the owners can keep the lower classes fighting with each other while they, the rich, run off with all the farking money.
“Distracting headlines” is basically the symptom of the populace having the attention span of a gnat with ADHD using meth as a cure. We don’t focus on anything long enough to generate enough traffic and therefore money for these media companies. So the media end up producing a constant barrage of shit and drivel while ignoring the stuff that likely matters.
I don’t disagree this blame lies on the people producing the news but it’s also due to the consumers sliding into a character from Idiocracy.
I’ve seen more intelligence from consumers in the modern landscape of bullshit and scams than the Reagan Era landscape we hold to such high esteem.
As someone who actually is old enough to remember the Reagan era, I’m not sure it deserves that much nostalgia.
I’m just hoping it was an /s-less sarcasm. I agree with the point through. Our attention span are shorter and the world always appears to be ending, but I think a lot of that is that along with all the lies and manipulation, we’re actually seeing more of ‘how the sausage is made’ than ever before.
As disastrous as smartphones have been, it’s never been easier to collect and instantly share evidence.
This, of course, is not to say that I think we’re not supremely screwed right now, and there’s still a lot happening in the shadows, but I feel there’s definitely an increase of visibility.
Cracked has an article that points how Trump does know some things to a very high level. One of those things is how media attention works and also a complete and absolute lack of shame.
Him admitting that he tore down part of the white house because he just didn’t like it and could have built around it is exactly those two things. He wanted to distract people and he legit does not give a damn.