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Remember When ...

MyTeamIsOnTheFloor

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the media wasn't in bed with the government? did their job? maintained a non-aligned status? held ALL politicians feet to a fire? Asked intelligent questions?

Now our media are propaganda puppets, helping twitter and Facebook destroy what's left of what Lincoln called "the last best hope of earth."

Seriously, when when was the last time you could NOT predict what every single media outlet would say once you turned them on or clicked on their website? On ANY issue?

The headlines read like they came from a GOP or Dimocrat press release.

I miss the United States. It was a hell of a country.

101159489_3338658042831592_1662882651201077248_o.jpg.18cdc1b4914c42820a632ec9d0a0556a.jpg
 
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I liked for the Bloom County panel mostly. My favorite strip of all time. Hands down

As to the media, once news divisions had to turn a profit they had to start appealing to someone. Capitalism baby. Once cable news came around we found out how much Americans REALLY like team sports.

We’re screwed. Most people just don’t have the time/will/judgement/intelligence to discern real news from the slanted perspective they are given today. I’ve fallen for it and I’m sure you have as well.

Americans are mostly Ill informed as to the issues of the day. Most on this board are far more tuned in than 80% of the populace ever will be and I’d hesitate to think we have that many solutions. Especially to this problem.

I’ll go to work tomorrow. Kids got soccer practice starting up again. Gotta plan spring break. We’re going to Washington DC if it’s still there.

America’s still a hell of a country. We don’t need to make America great again. We just need turn off the TV, get off the internet and focus on what we can actually control. Our jobs. Our communities. Voting. That kind of stuff.
 
the media wasn't in bed with the government? did their job? maintained a non-aligned status? held ALL politicians feet to a fire? Asked intelligent questions?

Now our media are propaganda puppets, helping twitter and Facebook destroy what's left of what Lincoln called "the last best hope of earth."

Seriously, when when was the last time you could NOT predict what every single media outlet would say once you turned them on or clicked on their website? On ANY issue?

The headlines read like they came from a GOP or Dimocrat press release.

I miss the United States. It was a hell of a country.

101159489_3338658042831592_1662882651201077248_o.jpg.18cdc1b4914c42820a632ec9d0a0556a.jpg
i miss it too. It's absolutely heart-rending. I have a ten year old. all the bullshit she's lived through this year. does this feel like a country she's proud to be a part of. she has zero sense of patriotism. and believe me we try. it's crazy when i was her age; i distinctly remember two things: the miracle on ice, and my dad took me and my best friend to the airport to see rocky sickmann arrive. rocky was a marine corp sergeant who was held hostage for more than a year in iran. people filled the airport with US flags and cheered his return. we were proud to be americans. media, social media, that F*ucker ryan seacrest (he's partly responsible for our vapid populace), and who else can i think of. It’s crazy to think of what my ten year old has experienced this year vs my ten year old life. i don't know. i sure could use a bulkvanderprivilege old man yelling at the clouds about now
 
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I liked for the Bloom County panel mostly. My favorite strip of all time. Hands down

As to the media, once news divisions had to turn a profit they had to start appealing to someone. Capitalism baby. Once cable news came around we found out how much Americans REALLY like team sports.

We’re screwed. Most people just don’t have the time/will/judgement/intelligence to discern real news from the slanted perspective they are given today. I’ve fallen for it and I’m sure you have as well.

Americans are mostly Ill informed as to the issues of the day. Most on this board are far more tuned in than 80% of the populace ever will be and I’d hesitate to think we have that many solutions. Especially to this problem.

I’ll go to work tomorrow. Kids got soccer practice starting up again. Gotta plan spring break. We’re going to Washington DC if it’s still there.

America’s still a hell of a country. We don’t need to make America great again. We just need turn off the TV, get off the internet and focus on what we can actually control. Our jobs. Our communities. Voting. That kind of stuff.
yes. less tv; less internet; less water cooler; more soccer....
 
i miss it too. It's absolutely heart-rending. I have a ten year old. all the bullshit she's lived through this year. does this feel like a country she's proud to be a part of. she has zero sense of patriotism. and believe me we try. it's crazy when i was her age; i distinctly remember two things: the miracle on ice, and my dad took me and my best friend to the airport to see rocky sickmann arrive. rocky was a marine corp sergeant who was held hostage for more than a year in iran. people filled the airport with US flags and cheered his return. we were proud to be americans. media, social media, that F*ucker ryan seacrest (he's partly responsible for our vapid populace), and who else can i think of. i don't know. i sure could use a bulkvanderprivilege old man yelling at the clouds about now
Haha. I remember quite distinctly being like ten years old in a movie theater in Monticello IN watching Rocky 4. At the end the entire theater was standing and chanting USA USA. Now, I was ten and I thought that a bit weird but I understood it.
 
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the media wasn't in bed with the government? did their job? maintained a non-aligned status? held ALL politicians feet to a fire? Asked intelligent questions?
Remember when newspapers in most towns had either Republican or Democrat in their names? When even small towns had two papers because the Republicans had the read their version of the news and the Democrats had to read theirs?

Yeah, those were in the good old days when you knew you could get the straight shit from Walter or Chet & David. They told us we were winning. Government mouthpieces? WTF are you talking about?
 
Haha. I remember quite distinctly being like ten years old in a movie theater in Monticello IN watching Rocky 4. At the end the entire theater was standing and chanting USA USA. Now, I was ten and I thought that a bit weird but I understood it.
I was 13 when I watched it at the theater in North Terre Haute. Same thing with the crowd chanting even as people exited the theater.

I've always felt fairly patriotic, but at that moment it was one of the most cringe-worth things I'd ever experienced. I remember thinking this is a freaking fictional movie people.
 
I’m 43 and I don’t remember that actually. If anything, the internet medium has made it harder for politicians and government to hide their lies. In a strange twist, politicians have been able to harness the medium to create an alternate reality. Then, you whine about reality.

The biggest problem we face as a society is teaching people to accept reality vs trying to wind the clock back to 1950.
 
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Remember when newspapers in most towns had either Republican or Democrat in their names? When even small towns had two papers because the Republicans had the read their version of the news and the Democrats had to read theirs?

Yeah, those were in the good old days when you knew you could get the straight shit from Walter or Chet & David. They told us we were winning. Government mouthpieces? WTF are you talking about?

We could go back even further to a few years after the founding of this country, when Jefferson, Hamilton, Adams, Madison, etc were quite fond of insulting one another anonymously under Greek and Roman pseudonyms in the various party organs of the day, that would make even MSNBC and FOX blush (but probably not Newsmax)
 
the media wasn't in bed with the government? did their job? maintained a non-aligned status? held ALL politicians feet to a fire? Asked intelligent questions?

Now our media are propaganda puppets, helping twitter and Facebook destroy what's left of what Lincoln called "the last best hope of earth."

Seriously, when when was the last time you could NOT predict what every single media outlet would say once you turned them on or clicked on their website? On ANY issue?

The headlines read like they came from a GOP or Dimocrat press release.

I miss the United States. It was a hell of a country.

101159489_3338658042831592_1662882651201077248_o.jpg.18cdc1b4914c42820a632ec9d0a0556a.jpg

I think you are getting mixed up between social media and what is known as the (traditional) media -- where now opinions are given the same platform or elevation as facts.
And as such, people can't tell the difference between the two (ie facts and opinions) and will mistakenly give equal weightage to both.

We are basically in the middle of the social media growth phase/generation of the Internet. We will mature with its usage and hopefully come out the better for it.
The next-generation Internet technologies will hopefully address some of the ills of the past including transparency, security and accountability.
 
Remember when newspapers in most towns had either Republican or Democrat in their names? When even small towns had two papers because the Republicans had the read their version of the news and the Democrats had to read theirs?

Yeah, those were in the good old days when you knew you could get the straight shit from Walter or Chet & David. They told us we were winning. Government mouthpieces? WTF are you talking about?
The delusional always make up these fake utopias that never existed.

MAGA ....
 
I hardly ever watch TV news, preferring Internet sources where I can easily find another source if the writer is too free with his or her opinions. For unfolding events like Weds I usually go to a network or PBS, but there is still too much editorializing.

The journalism profession needs to take this on. Perhaps an independent (nonprofit) institute that evaluates the partisan reporting of major outlets would help. I know there are some groups doing that now but I don't know much about them. Maybe a more concerted and broadly understood effort could help.
 
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Sasse made a great point that the greatness of America is not in Washington D.C. It’s not our constitution, separation of powers, and certainly not our elected representatives.

It’s everyday Americans and their relationships with their family, friends, coworkers and communities. A little less time obsessing over national politics and a little more time trying to make our own corner of the world a little better than it was yesterday would make us all happier.

I’m guilty of forgetting as much.
 
I hardly ever watch TV news, preferring Internet sources where I can easily find another source if the writer is too free with his or her opinions. For unfolding events like Weds I usually go to a network or PBS, but there is still too much editorializing.
I watch MSNBC for my "entertainment news". But I rarely miss the PBS Newshour on PBS and NPR is the only thing I listen to when out and about.

Good straight news outlets are there, but they need support. Commercial outlets by their very nature will give people what they want, not what they need.
 
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the media wasn't in bed with the government? did their job? maintained a non-aligned status? held ALL politicians feet to a fire? Asked intelligent questions?

Now our media are propaganda puppets, helping twitter and Facebook destroy what's left of what Lincoln called "the last best hope of earth."

Seriously, when when was the last time you could NOT predict what every single media outlet would say once you turned them on or clicked on their website? On ANY issue?

The headlines read like they came from a GOP or Dimocrat press release.

I miss the United States. It was a hell of a country.

101159489_3338658042831592_1662882651201077248_o.jpg.18cdc1b4914c42820a632ec9d0a0556a.jpg


In the "good old days" there was a very powerful media filter, controlled by a very, very few amount of people. News was only "news" if that thick filter allowed it through. If they didn't, nobody ever heard about it.

Maybe that was better, I don't know.... people can't handle the amount of info available to them today.

Regardless, it's never coming back. People will have to adjust.
 
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Remember when newspapers in most towns had either Republican or Democrat in their names? When even small towns had two papers because the Republicans had the read their version of the news and the Democrats had to read theirs?

Yeah, those were in the good old days when you knew you could get the straight shit from Walter or Chet & David. They told us we were winning. Government mouthpieces? WTF are you talking about?
Thank you for beating me to the post. Saved me a lot of time and trouble. I was reading the OP and thinking "when the hell and where the hell did this guy grow up" ?. Media bias has always been present and people have always gravitated to media that reinforced what they already believed. The major difference is that it has always been risky for both print and broadcast tv/radio media to openly promote obvious lies and debunked conspiracy theories. Libel is hard to prove in court, but it's expensive to defend embarrassing to be accused of. It was much easier to fire writers or reporters who crossed a line, and those who got fired knew it would be damned near impossible to find work in the field again.

Nowadays, cable tv and satellite radio "news" gives the worst liars their own nightly shows and turns them into celebrities. The internet has no interest in the truth and everybody is a "journalist". It's so easy for crackpots to find each other and reinforce each other's nonsense or paranoia. I have no idea what the solution is, but I'm not sold on the idea that it's more government regulation. My own grandmother was a terrible judge of the truth. She would reject the strongest logical argument in favor of what she read in the National Enquirer or heard from the biggest liar or rumormonger in town. Fortunately, she wasn't violent and didn't feel constantly aggreived.

I'm not a huge fan of censorship. I'd rather fight misinformation with better correct information. What I do believe however is that people who spread what they know to be lies ( I'm looking at you Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley) have to be held accountable. People who act on those lies in a violent manner have to be dealt with in the strongest terms, and people who both spread the lie and encourage the ignorant to act that way need to smacked down and prevented from ever holding a position of public trust again.
 
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