undefined | Better HN

0 pointsanonymouskimmer3y ago0 comments

> Only that, in the past, it took a few years or decades to be come publicized knowledge that the media lied about every war, about every economic policy, created panics to serve its profit motive and aided the authorities, legitimizing their power; now, we know this in an instant. Thank decentralized distribution protocols.

In the years before the internet we had newsletters and amateur radio. https://media.tenor.com/9k_DNT8tBA4AAAAd/simpsons-i-wish-to-...

Today it's quite difficult sorting fact from fiction from speculation. Even among the non-postal "decentralized" distribution protocols. The old saying that people become leery of media reporting when they see how their own specialty is botched applies to even the credentialed bloggers when they step out of their lane just a bit.

I've personally noticed fact reporting biases when, for instance, reading a story on the same event from Fox News and CNN. But the basic facts reported agree when they overlap.

0 comments

marcosdumay3y ago

> Today it's quite difficult sorting fact from fiction from speculation.

That was never easy. The only thing that changed is that there isn't one specific fiction pushed with incontestable power anymore.

The thing is that people are used to that incontestable fiction. With it gone, many people never learned to healthily distrust their information, and many are unsettled that people can not agree anymore.

> But the basic facts reported agree when they overlap.

Yep, and that's manufactured. The way those media run, the basic facts agree by construction and the real world is irrelevant for that.

anonymouskimmerOP3y ago

> With it gone, many people never learned to healthily distrust their information, and many are unsettled that people can not agree anymore.

Definitely agree. But it's also difficult to fact check even if you do distrust. Even educated bloggers and readers can have difficulty accurately interpreting information, and what that information indicates, if technological advances make their knowledgebase outdated.

> Yep, and that's manufactured. The way those media run, the basic facts agree by construction and the real world is irrelevant for that.

In some cases, such as when the source of particular facts all originate from the same person, sure. Or when everyone's article is just a rewrite of the AP News or Reuters release. But in the general case we all can know who won the superbowl, and by what margin and what plays.

mandmandam3y ago

All US news stations covered Trump's campaign at least 20x more than Sanders.

All US news stations covered Hilary's campaign at least 5x more than Sanders.

That's without even getting into the hit pieces, the lies, the questions sneaked to Hillary in advance.

That style of narrative warping is repeated across every topic that might hurt corporate profits. There's facts, and then there's repetition, presentation, sentiment.

Look at how US media covered the Northern Southern train derailment - one story on page 20, with no context linking the accident to Biden's strike breaking, no context about Northern Southern's $10 billion stock buyback last year, no context about their lobbying against the very regulations that would have prevented this. The vast majority of corporate news ources didn't even name the company.

US media is absolute unequivocal dogshit across the board. It's utterly indefensible. That half of American's have any faith at all in corporate news is astounding. Trust them for sport coverage, sure - but that's entertainment friendo, not news.

1 more reply

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse