Media Trends - Those Who Pull the Strings

[Ted Striker]

Word up and the weekly, "Eating vegetable A helps prevent cancer," or the following week, "Eating [junk food B] raises the risk of cancer," stories get REALLY old quick.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/HEALTH/08/17/fries.cancer.reut/index.html

[techumseh]

RTF: I don't mean to assist in moving this thread sideways; the state of news reporting in the US and other countries is an important issue. But on the Cronkite/Tet thing: What he pointed out was that the generals and the politicians had led him, and the American people to believe that the war was being won. They did not admit that the NLF was capable of such an offensive. The fact that this offensive was defeated and the NLF's offensive military capacity was largely destroyed as a result is irrelevant to the point. (Quickly replaced by NVA military capacity, BTW) The result was the military and political leadership of the US lost significant crediblity, which it never recovered.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Originally posted by techumseh
RTF: I don't mean to assist in moving this thread sideways; the state of news reporting in the US and other countries is an important issue. But on the Cronkite/Tet thing: What he pointed out was that the generals and the politicians had led him, and the American people to believe that the war was being won. They did not admit that the NLF was capable of such an offensive. The fact that this offensive was defeated and the NLF's offensive military capacity was largely destroyed as a result is irrelevant to the point. (Quickly replaced by NVA military capacity, BTW) The result was the military and political leadership of the US lost significant crediblity, which it never recovered.

Well said. I didn't want to threadjack a thread whose main point I feel strongly about...but I've said my piece.

[Ted Striker]

There is a popular theory floating around Vietnam that Nixon intentionally pulled out of Vietnam to bankrupt the Soviets. This is the first time I have ever heard this theory but it is a very popular one there.

Maybe there is some validity to it, on the other hand, maybe it is their way of justifying the Americans abandoning the place. Many of them have the feeling that nobody can beat America.

I was very suprised to hear this and how common the theory is believed in.

[Ted Striker]

Back to the media, even the 30 minute Entertainment Tonight clones have gotten worse, it's all about celebrity gossip now. At least before they were more about actual movies and tv shows, now it's all gossip.

What a black hole.

[Timexwatch]

Originally posted by Ted Striker
Word up and the weekly, "Eating vegetable A helps prevent cancer," or the following week, "Eating [junk food B] raises the risk of cancer," stories get REALLY old quick.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/HEALTH/08/17...eut/index.html

Obviously hitting it is the only cure for cancer.


As to the decline in the quality of TV coverage, get a subscription to the NYT, WaPo, Financial Times, etc. and skip TV news. You'll learn more in an hour of reading then you will in a whole night's worth of news.

[Ted Striker]

I agree.

On both points.

I don't even turn it on anymore. PBS is still top notch and occasionally BBC. It's amazing to watch BBC's international coverage because I get a painful reminder of how ignorant I am.

Of course, with their colonial past the British are smarter than everyone else about the outside world, however, you would think with the globalization of America, we would at least be in tune with the markets we are selling our crap in.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Originally posted by Timexwatch
As to the decline in the quality of TV coverage, get a subscription to the NYT, WaPo, Financial Times, etc. and skip TV news. You'll learn more in an hour of reading then you will in a whole night's worth of news.

No argument there. The only time I turn on TV news anymore is when a major story is just breaking -- and even then, I have my laptop booted and two browser widows open: one for the AP feed and one for the Poly discussion.

[Sikander]

Originally posted by Rufus T. Firefly
.....

But in the end, the culprit was capitalism, and the placing of profits above public service. The only good news program in America (The NewsHour on PBS) and the best news outfit in the world (the BBC) are both at least partly insulated from the market, and it shows.

I agree that the Newshour is hands down the best news program, but the BBC is atrocious. They make more obvious factual errors than any of the network evening news programs or cable outfits. The only good thing I have to say about the BBC is that they are the only television source I have to get regular news coverage of Africa.

I'm a news junky of longstanding and agree that the quality of news reporting has declined almost as much as the quantity has increased.

[Berzerker]

Soaps aren't the lowest common denominator?

But in the end, the culprit was capitalism, and the placing of profits above public service.

You see the sympton and confuse it with the disease.
There was a very noticeable shift by the GOP media away from political news to the latest missing person.
That wasn't capitalism, it was politics and government.

So why? Cindy Sheehan? Was it some enlightened and bold move by much of the right wing media acting almost in unison to win higher ratings?

[:) Smiley]

Originally posted by techumseh
RTF: I don't mean to assist in moving this thread sideways; the state of news reporting in the US and other countries is an important issue. But on the Cronkite/Tet thing: What he pointed out was that the generals and the politicians had led him, and the American people to believe that the war was being won. They did not admit that the NLF was capable of such an offensive. The fact that this offensive was defeated and the NLF's offensive military capacity was largely destroyed as a result is irrelevant to the point. (Quickly replaced by NVA military capacity, BTW) The result was the military and political leadership of the US lost significant crediblity, which it never recovered.

This sounds ismilar to the current Iraq situation, except instead of outrage the general feeling here is more of ridicule. Maybe interactive media outlets cause this change?

[Theben]

Originally posted by notyoueither
Well, there is a theory that the war was lost in your livingrooms. I doubt it was the NVA who won that victory.

So if we americans start ignoring all the bad press about Iraq from our own and foreign sources, we can still win it?