# Two rants in one: ethical bankruptcy in the media, and general ignorance. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 14, 2005, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-rants-in-one-ethical-bankruptcy-in-the-media-and-general-ignorance/290035 "2005-02-14T17:18:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2005, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-rants-in-one-ethical-bankruptcy-in-the-media-and-general-ignorance/290035/21 "2005-02-14T20:43:39Z")
> [@Kaspar Hauser](#): > > I know who my senators are, but I have no idea who they’re dating. > > (I do know who my governor was dating, though.) I know to whom one of my senators is married, but I have no idea whom he is dating at this time. I can’t keep up with his infidelities, real and/or imagined. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2005, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-rants-in-one-ethical-bankruptcy-in-the-media-and-general-ignorance/290035/22 "2005-02-14T20:47:58Z")
> [@D\_Odds](#): > > I know to whom one of my senators is married, but I have no idea whom he is dating at this time. I can’t keep up with his infidelities, real and/or imagined. Where’s the edit button? The “he” is the husband of the senator, not the senator herself. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2005, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-rants-in-one-ethical-bankruptcy-in-the-media-and-general-ignorance/290035/23 "2005-02-14T20:51:51Z")
The thing about the news media is that they’re a _business_. They know that sensationalism equals ratings. If they just report the news in a matter-of-fact nondescrip manner, they’ll attract less viewers, the sponsors will stop buying ad spots, and the show will get canceled. The alternative is for the news to be government or privately funded, which means it becomes a propoganda tool. Televized executions, an even worse prospect than televized suicides, wouldn’t be too far behind in this case. Our choice is the lesser of two evils. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2005, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-rants-in-one-ethical-bankruptcy-in-the-media-and-general-ignorance/290035/24 "2005-02-14T20:53:43Z")
Actually, I realized last week I couldn’t recall who our non-Dole senator was. I just looked it up, though, and realized that I’d blocked it out. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2005, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-rants-in-one-ethical-bankruptcy-in-the-media-and-general-ignorance/290035/25 "2005-02-14T20:54:24Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Julius Caesar, wasn’t it? No, that was Cleopatra. Who were her senators? ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2005, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-rants-in-one-ethical-bankruptcy-in-the-media-and-general-ignorance/290035/26 "2005-02-14T20:58:17Z")
> [@Knowed Out](#): > > The thing about the news media is that they’re a _business_. They know that sensationalism equals ratings. If they just report the news in a matter-of-fact nondescrip manner, they’ll attract less viewers, the sponsors will stop buying ad spots, and the show will get canceled. > > The alternative is for the news to be government or privately funded, which means it becomes a propoganda tool. Televized executions, an even worse prospect than televized suicides, wouldn’t be too far behind in this case. Our choice is the lesser of two evils. Right, and not only do they want to keep the sponsors happy, but they pretty much work with the sponsors. They set us up (oh isn’t the world a horrible, rotton, frightening place? You might be a good person but you’re going to be gunned down anyway. Living is a deadly game. Why don’t you just give up?), and the sponsors knock us down (Wait, it’s not that bad! You may not be able to control the world, but you can get a clean and shiny floor! Doesn’t that make you feel better? Well it will if you buy our product! Come on, smile!). I agree, it’s the lesser of the two evils. ---
**Author:** ![akennett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee59a6/32.png) [@akennett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/akennett)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2005, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-rants-in-one-ethical-bankruptcy-in-the-media-and-general-ignorance/290035/27 "2005-02-14T21:10:31Z")
> [@Airman Doors](#): > > No, that was my mistake. She was referring to Arlen Specter. Well, this being the case, you may have to cut her some slack. It’s possible that it not have been ignorance, but, as is the case with many Pennsylvanians (myself included) on all ends of the political spectrum, a conscious choice to block out the names of many of our representatives in DC. ---
**Author:** ![Sauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Sauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sauron)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2005, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-rants-in-one-ethical-bankruptcy-in-the-media-and-general-ignorance/290035/28 "2005-02-14T21:17:23Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Those of us old enough to remember the advent of Happy News know who to blame - the masses of TV viewers, network and local management, and the news sluts (of both sexes) for whom the rating point is king. Tax policy or a fire? Guess what gets on. I’ve told this story before, but it seems appropriate again now … I was in college in 1987, studying journalism. In October of that year, the stock market suffered its single-largest one-day drop in history – more than 500 points. It was the lead story on the five-o’clock newscast. On the six-o’clock newscast, it was not the lead story. The lead story was about a police horse that had a conniption and kicked a car downtown. I remember watching the news that evening and thinking to myself, “Who in the world made this the LEAD STORY?” I asked my professors the next day, and they were perplexed. Later that year, we had a symposium with local newscasters. I asked specifically about that story. The answer I got, given with absolutely no hesitation or attempt at justification, was that they had video of the car the horse kicked. Not video of the horse kicking the car – just video of the dent in the car. That’s why it got bumped to the top of the heap, broadcast-wise. They say in Whoville that my cynicism grew three sizes that day. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2005, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-rants-in-one-ethical-bankruptcy-in-the-media-and-general-ignorance/290035/29 "2005-02-14T21:44:58Z")
> [@Left Hand of Dorkness](#): > > Actually, I realized last week I couldn’t recall who our non-Dole senator was. I just looked it up, though, and realized that I’d blocked it out. > > Daniel Yeah, that was a shame, wasn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Katriona](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/katriona/32/113_2.png) [@Katriona](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katriona)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2005, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-rants-in-one-ethical-bankruptcy-in-the-media-and-general-ignorance/290035/30 "2005-02-14T21:46:43Z")
> [@pepperlandgirl](#): > > I know who mine are, and isn’t J-Lo married to Mark Anthony or something? Yep. And since I know who my US and State Senators, Reps, and heck, I even know my city council member, would someone PLEASE tell me who she is dating? I think my date in the ‘how soon will THIS marriage break up?’ pool is coming up. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2005, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-rants-in-one-ethical-bankruptcy-in-the-media-and-general-ignorance/290035/31 "2005-02-14T22:20:23Z")
I can’t remember which cable network I was watching recently, but without warning, they began showing old film footage of a plane with missionaries on it being shot down mistakenly by our government. All I had time to do was close my eyes and cover my ears. (They had mentioned that screams could be heard.) I don’t want to hear that or the screams of someone being murdered on a 911 emergency phone call. But I do think that it is my _duty_ as a responsible citizen to watch film footage that accurately reflects the realities of the war in Iraqi – the best and the worst. That footage not available. The lack of footage is a source of ignorance. I can’t remember not knowing who my senators are, but I came from a family where politics was a regular topic of discussion at the supper table. When I was a kid, I did think that our senator had a weird name. Who ever heard of a stupid name like _Keep-Off-Her_? That was back in the days when we were becoming concerned about _French Indoor China_. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-rants-in-one-ethical-bankruptcy-in-the-media-and-general-ignorance/290035/32 "2005-02-15T02:05:01Z")
> [@Knowed Out](#): > > The thing about the news media is that they’re a _business_. They know that sensationalism equals ratings. If they just report the news in a matter-of-fact nondescrip manner, they’ll attract less viewers, the sponsors will stop buying ad spots, and the show will get canceled. > \ Exactly. The problem is that the people don’t get this - they think that they are watching THE NEWS (ie factual reporting on current, real life events). ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-rants-in-one-ethical-bankruptcy-in-the-media-and-general-ignorance/290035/33 "2005-02-15T12:07:17Z")
It is quite sad when you listen to old recordings of Edward R. Murrow. The language he used appears to have assumed a higher level of intelligence on the part of the audience than newscasts of today. I suspect that many people today would find him irritating and pretentious, rather than finding fault with themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-rants-in-one-ethical-bankruptcy-in-the-media-and-general-ignorance/290035/34 "2005-02-15T14:39:26Z")
Is J-LO dating someone new! I’ve got number 713 so I know I’m coming up in the line. What kills me about the news media is that they are going over some trial in great detail all the time. If it’s not Scott Peterson, it is Michael Jackson. After MJ there will be another trial that is absoultly critical to devoting all this national air time to covering every detail. Now the outcome of these trials affect about what, a dozen people directly? Maybe a 100 people indirectly. But yet, national and state laws get hardly any in depth coverage. You usually hear about a law the day the president or governor signs it. True the information is out there and I can go find it, but the networks are not serving the public good. ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-rants-in-one-ethical-bankruptcy-in-the-media-and-general-ignorance/290035/35 "2005-02-15T15:05:53Z")
> [@Hentor the Barbarian](#): > > It is quite sad when you listen to old recordings of Edward R. Murrow. The language he used appears to have assumed a higher level of intelligence on the part of the audience than newscasts of today. I suspect that many people today would find him irritating and pretentious, rather than finding fault with themselves. Murrow, Cronkite, Sevareid. News. Intelligent commentary by those who brought depth to the word _journalism_. Theirs was a time when news reporting was something nourishing for the mind. Today, the tube offers fast food. No wonder so many minds are out-of-shape and happy. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-rants-in-one-ethical-bankruptcy-in-the-media-and-general-ignorance/290035/36 "2005-02-15T15:07:16Z")
> [@John Mace](#): > > Presumably Ted Koppel. What were you saying about ignorance again? 🙂 I know who Ted Koppel is. Stodgy voice, bad hair, very annoying. This was not Ted Koppel hosting this show. > [@](#): > > Some 20 years ago Neil Postman wrote Amusing Ourselves To Death about the effect of television on public discourse in this country. Still highly relevant, especially as we see his predictions coming true. Oh, the irony! At this very moment I have that book in my hand, as it is required reading for the class. ---
**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-rants-in-one-ethical-bankruptcy-in-the-media-and-general-ignorance/290035/37 "2005-02-15T16:11:06Z")
LA is a whole different world when it comes to car chases. They’re obsessed with chopper footage and will break into anything to show it-- which is why the world was subjected to OJ Simpson. But it ain’t like that everywhere. We’ve got good people in the media, and we’ve got boneheaded idiots, and everything in between, and for some reason the idiots get far more power than they should control. Luckily, some of them get fired every so often. News _used_ to operate at an arm’s length from the profit-generating part of a station. Now we’ve got marketing idiots running shows because some exec decided the 10% return on profits wasn’t enough, and they _still_ can’t figure out why the audience is fracturing… ---
**Author:** ![MizQuirk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/94ad74/32.png) [@MizQuirk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MizQuirk)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-rants-in-one-ethical-bankruptcy-in-the-media-and-general-ignorance/290035/38 "2005-02-15T16:32:54Z")
> [@Airman Doors](#): > > you know where the inevitable decline of this country will start (and has started)? With its citizens, the fat, sated, utterly uninformed, completely vapid, and ridiculously unconcerned populace that couldn’t give two shits about anything as long as they can watch the newest fad reality show every night. > > Where did we go wrong, what can we do to fix it, and do we want to fix it or do we want to just chuck the whole rotten mass and start over? Can you clarify, please, who the “we” are? It seems there might be too many of the citizens you describe–as well as those with good intentions and great smarts–to form a lobby, whether you decide to fix or to chuck. How would you even get all the fixers to agree on how to do the fixing, or all the chuckers, the chucking? Maybe all we can hope for is that anyone who can’t recite senators’ names at least knows how to find out who they are and how to reach them, if need be. But I do hope you find a better solution to the whole mess, with or without J Lo’s help. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lodoen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b3f665/32.png) [@Jeff\_Lodoen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lodoen)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-rants-in-one-ethical-bankruptcy-in-the-media-and-general-ignorance/290035/39 "2005-02-16T13:30:14Z")
> [@Airman Doors](#): > > I know who Ted Koppel is. Stodgy voice, bad hair, very annoying. This was not Ted Koppel hosting this show. Brit Hume was at Fox News when they went to ‘air’ in 1996. I think you mean Chris Wallace, son of Mike, who joined Fox in 2003. He was the designated sub for Koppel. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-rants-in-one-ethical-bankruptcy-in-the-media-and-general-ignorance/290035/40 "2005-02-16T16:18:10Z")
> [@Airman Doors](#): > > What pissed me off, more than anything else in the whole show, was their apologies. They aren’t sorry. They never were. While this guy was contemplating suicide, I’ll bet any money that they were egging him on back in the control room. When he blew his head off, I’ll bet any money that they were cheering, giving high fives, and smoking cigars. Why? Because nothing generates ratings quite like violence, live violence even more so. “I weep for you,” the Walrus said: “I deeply sympathize.” With sobs and tears he sorted out Those of the largest size, Holding his pocket-handkerchief Before his streaming eyes. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-rants-in-one-ethical-bankruptcy-in-the-media-and-general-ignorance/290035.md?page=1)