# Did Anyone Watch BOTH Town Halls? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [October 16, 2020, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-watch-both-town-halls/923102 "2020-10-16T11:50:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2020, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-watch-both-town-halls/923102/121 "2020-10-19T01:25:23Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > I’m sorry, but this is crap. Ever since the founding of the republic, the popular news media have been more about profit and sensationalism. There has always been serious media for people who wanted it, but then as is now the people who want serious news are in the minority. > > Don’t “good old days” this. I took a few minutes and read a couple of articles. Here’s one that aligns with my point, my memory (of the 1960s, watching the evening news on ABC, CBS, and NBC), and my belief. I’m sure it’s easy to dismiss it as the opinion of just one academic, but … > **[How News Has Changed](https://www.macalester.edu/news/2017/04/how-news-has-changed/)** > > Macalester Prof. Michael Griffin offers insights about the past, present, and future of news in the U.S.—and what that means for media consumers today. I also mentioned the [Fairness Doctrine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FCC_fairness_doctrine). Its repeal in 1987, midst the peak of the commodification of TV news, threw another napalm-coated log on the fire. I don’t think it _was_ … ‘always thus.’ ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2020, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-watch-both-town-halls/923102/122 "2020-10-19T03:57:15Z")
The term “yellow journalism” dates back to the 1890s but the concept well predates. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2020, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-watch-both-town-halls/923102/123 "2020-10-19T04:19:04Z")
More on its origins in America anyway. > **[The History of Fake News in America](https://www.theatlantic.com/membership/archive/2018/01/the-history-of-fake-news-in-america/550103/)** > > Fake news isn’t new in America. Objective news is.   It goes back to Ben Franklin at least. ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2020, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-watch-both-town-halls/923102/124 "2020-10-19T05:47:57Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > The term “yellow journalism” dates back to the 1890s but the concept well predates. The history of yellow journalism isn’t really relevant to what’s been happening to TV and online news over the past few decades. It’s a different phenomenon. @DavidNRockies’s [article](https://www.macalester.edu/news/2017/04/how-news-has-changed/) is worth reading. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2020, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-watch-both-town-halls/923102/125 "2020-10-19T15:43:16Z")
The only way I could envision watching BOTH town halls is by turning it into a drinking game. Take a sip every time Trump mentions Hillary, Russia, Covid, Hunter, China or states that his Presidency did a great job. Take a sip every time Biden mentions Obama, Covid, Putin, Protest or anything to do with Latinos or a foreign language. Otherwise, you are either a journalist, a masochist or completely dead inside. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2020, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-watch-both-town-halls/923102/126 "2020-10-19T15:45:52Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > …and the Beatles. ♫ a hey um um ma… ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2020, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-watch-both-town-halls/923102/127 "2020-10-19T15:55:08Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > He is, after all, a survivor. If his gut tells him he needs to run, he will run. He has no principles except self-preservation. If things were only up to Trump’s principles, he’d be very easy to predict. And to some extent, he is very predictable. He seeks flattery, avoids shame and punishment, grabs everything that isn’t nailed down. It scarcely needs mentioning that he’s a profligate liar, and his words are reliably hide the truth. What makes Trump unpredictable, to the extent that he is unpredictable, is that he has no power of his own. He gets his power from other people and entities. He depends on them and is in debt to them. Their principles are no deeper or more virtuous than Trump’s, but they have agendas and priorities that are only partially visible to us. Trump is only done when they decide he’s done. Not a minute sooner nor later. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-watch-both-town-halls/923102.md?page=6)