One thing that struck me reading Burke's piece was that the cable news so often dismissed as simply ideology and punditry is really a product of the wider vapidity of the American news media. It has filled up the vacuum created by a lack of critical and opinionated journalism, and in this sense the bread & butter of Jon Stewart's ridicule is actually on to something. The problem is that there's also an accompanying vacuum present in American public discourse more generally. We've spent too much time listening to pointless and scripted to know what meaningful and inspired would look like. We are also so guarded about being moderated and balanced in public discourse (cf. public radio, which I appreciate but can also be pretty flat) that the more critical dialogues have been relegated to private spheres where they only interact with their own kind.
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I think a lot of the real critical thought has moved to blogs - blogs can be echo chambers too, though.
ReplyDeleteBlogs have democratized (1.) the university, and (2.) learned magazines (for lack of a better term). I'm thinking of The Atlantic, TNR, etc. These things were previously gated commentary and slow commentary. Now they're more opened up. And of course there are amateur blogs like ours doing their part too.
I think it's easy to get depressed about media but there's a lot of good stuff out there too.
Random anecdotal data point: I find the network news so superficial that it's pretty pointless to watch it. The PBS Newshour is sometimes good, but they also perpetuate the he-said-she-said type commentary that is the mainstay of cable news, though with voices at reasonable volumes.
ReplyDeleteI find interesting about Americans that somewhat contradictory views are clashed and compared in their media debates.
ReplyDeleteHere in India, with a population of one billion, each side on every issue is very insular and does not interact or debate the other sides. They are not even aware of the other sides. Each single sphere is big enough for all of them to stick there and not venture out.
Social democratic magazines like Frontline and Outlook simply have debates between social democratic perspectives. Nationalist magazines like India Today have debates between nationalist perspectives. Business newspapers like The Economic Times and MINT are by-wonks-for-wonks only. All crowds are very segmented and segregated completely.
The result is that while the same magazines may have journalists and editors reaching slightly different conclusions, they start from the same premises, and do not consider whether their own fundamental premises and assumptions were right in the first place.
From a South African (lifestyle) blog: http://www.2oceansvibe.com/2011/01/31/fox-news-sucks-at-geography-and-objective-newscasting/
ReplyDeleteDo you think the screen-shot is legit?
Wow.
ReplyDeleteI hope not, but with those guys you never know.