Everyone has had it in for the media for a while now. It’s much worse with the polarization, and many now find the news irrelevant, especially the political news. That’s not true across the board, of course, but even some liberals, including me, have lost faith in the reporting we get. It’s tiresome, repetitive and frequently uninformed.
Look how major media has covered the recent killing of the United Healthcare chief. CNN ran the story virtually nonstop for 3-4 hours last night, the details repeated ad nauseum.
Well, not everyone dismisses the media. Many liberals are still addicted to MSNBC, Heather Cox Richardson, Rachel Maddow, et al. and tune in daily. Many need the fix of the commentariat to reinforce their beliefs. For the Republicans, it’s Fox and all the splinter media, as we shall call them. Why would the MAGgots have any inclination to read The Atlantic?
As to their lost credibility, consider the New York Times and the collapsing Washington Post, both of which are very good at waltzing around the political implications of their stories about both parties. Fox News does not waltz; it stomps. Then there are the goofy (see Drag Queens Musically Mocking Christmas Is the Best Holiday Tradition) and yet sometimes trenchant sites, like The Daily Beast.
Should we boycott the news? The social media sites will exploit anything. They dither about Hunter’s pardon, and the truly foolish things that nobody should care about. New York Magazine is a prime example of this, with dumb stories like today’s Dick Van Dyke Is ‘Acutely Aware’ of His Mortality. So far, that drew three comments. And yet they often publish thoughtful political-cultural stuff, like The War Over Woke by David Freedlander.
The business sites aren’t much better. Here are some recent headlines from Bloomberg. (I haven’t subscribed; it’s too expensive.) These may give you an idea of what blather, at least for today, moves the business world.
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- Bill Gross Is on the Alert as Momentum Mania Sweeps Wall Street
- This Year’s Best Wall Street Book Is Also the Least Salacious
- Real Shareholder Democracy Is the Answer to ESG.
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Some of the generic problems in the major media were identified 28 years ago by James Fallows. These include:
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- Reporters’ failure to take responsibility for their errors
- Loss of credibility
- Opinion writers being out of touch
- Making pointless predictions that go wrong (like Why Kamala Will Win ).
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There is only one real cure for all of this: quit watching and reading the news. Or give it a quick scan and then take a brisk walk.
fwiw here’s a contrasting take. news is an expanding buffet with an endless supply of offerings beyond anyone’s ability to digest. so we pick and choose the items we find of interest and we gravitate to the places where the percentage of offerings we like is highest. Ultimately news is like salt or water, essential but dangerous in large quantities.
Another spot-on commentary, John. As I process what unfolded after the election, I feel sickened by the packaged liberal media I consumed. I am realizing that in many regards, MSNBC was just the mirror image of Fox.
Years ago I read The Economist and I think I need to start doing that again. What impressed me about The Economist’s editorial approach was that, like the reasoning of any economist, nothing was inherently good, nothing was inherently bad. It was only about the trade offs we were choosing to make.
You’ve described what many people must feel. I have tried to go stretches consuming less news at different times in the past, but for the first time ever I’m finding it much easier to do. For now, it seems a matter of mental survival. Good piece, thanks, with good links as usual.