Tag Archives: the media

Hey, @nytimes, why is a story on the white birthrate dropping a “top story”?

Posted on 2012/05/17 11:41 am by thepete

I mean, I know why, but first things, first. Have a look at this screencap I took of the NYTimes daily “top headlines” newsletter I got this morning:

A story on Caucasian births accounting for less than half of the births in the US is the TOP story in the newsletter. Meanwhile, here’s where the the story ends up on NYTimes.com:

Also it’s a top story…but why? Well, it’s because fear sells. And the NYT thinks we are racist and afraid of being overrun by nonwhites. Why else would they use the term “white” instead of “caucasian” in the headline? There is even more fear-mongering in the subtitle that suggests the entire identity of the nation will change thanks to fewer whites being born.

First off, there will still be mostly rich white people running things. Secondly, why is this news? This trend has been going on for a while now. I remember, years ago, seeing John Gibson on Fox News “reporting” on this and encouraging white folks to have more babies.

Because, clearly, what the world needs is more white people >_<

If we're supposed to ever move beyond racism, stories like this need to stop being the top headline. The NYTimes is being racist and encouraging racism and the classic "fear of the other" in it's caucasian readers. The somewhat sad truth is, America's racial identity doesn't matter all that much since it's still largely white people at the top. And really, non-caucasians are no less corruptible than caucasians, so even if the current ethnicity balance in Washington were different, the country's identity still wouldn't change. We'd just have African-Americans and Latinos ordering drone strikes in foreign countries and cutting health care spending...Oh and PLENTY of white people on TV and in our movies.

So, it's a real shame that the NYT is resorting to such tactics just to get more eyes on their articles. Sure, ethnicity stats in America should be a story they cover, but a "top story"? I don't think so.

Incidentally, hey, NYT, do you mind not putting literal asses on either side of your masthead? Kinda lowers my respect for you as a newsource. Plus they're just distracting. At least they're all caucasian asses. >_<

Oh and does anyone else find a clothing line called “Bonobos” a little racist? Especially with a black guy in their ad? I mean, Bonobos are a kind of monkey. I seem to recall it being racist to call African-Americans “monkeys”.

Ah well. Just another day on Bizarro Earth…

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Draw Every Day 3/14/12: EXTINCT: the Real News Man

Posted on 2012/03/18 12:00 pm by thepete

Killed by the hot blondes of TV news!  OK, not really, but I do think there’s been way too many TV News people hired due to their hotness and not for their ability as journalists.

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Ballpoint Adventures for January 27, 2006: Billy Wonders Why TV Sucks

Posted on 2012/03/06 12:01 am by thepete

This is why I don’t want broadcast TV anymore.

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Another Example of How You Shouldn’t Trust the Media: Even on the Little Things

Posted on 2011/10/03 04:31 pm by thepete

From Coalspeaker.com:

More proof that nothing you see in the media is real.. or at least it is questionable.. the White House tipped off the AP of Michelle Obama’s Target trip before she went

So, whether it’s a story on protesters getting entrapped only to be rewritten 20 minutes later to be a story on protesters getting arrested, or even  the little, unimportant things like the above, the media isn’t representing reality.  This whole “paying attention” thing is getting pretty tedious.

Then again, I suppose the idea is to get us to stop caring. >_<

 

 

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Posted on 2010/11/27 05:23 pm by thepete



Please read: The TSA is still bad, but the media sometimes isn’t even the media.

I found the above screencap and the quoted commentary on it below via stfuglennbeck (who has since taken it down and it’s still on strikegently at least as of this writing):

yoctavias:

mssswitch

Wait. Wait. Wait. WAIT.

“Goddamn Arab”?!

Thats not racial profiling. Motherfucker. He was jerking off at women athletes. Not a fucking Arab. I dont know how people think they can just get away with saying racist ass shit like that. Like SERIOUSLY?!

(I tend to curse when Im angry, sorry.)

It wasn’t long ago that everyone was screaming about needing more security.
But now we’ve taken it way too far and it’s turning into a sexual/racial issue.

I travel by train/boat/bus/car and I have no intention of getting on an airplane until this is taken care of. You have more privacy at the gynecologist anymore.

Yeah, well, don’t get your X-Ray-proof panties in a bunch about the above article or the image in the screengrab above. It’s a complete fake. I did a Google News search for the headline “Body Scanner Operator Caught Masturbating at Colorado Airport” and got no hits.  Then I did a regular web search and found an article explaining how the image, allegedly of an X-rayed woman, was actually just taken from a stock photography package and then inverted in Photoshop to give it that X-ray flavor.  Then I did a search for the reporter “Hugh Muzzbe” and found hundreds of hits, all on the same article being reposted and reblogged all over the place—but nothing else by him.

I know, I know, you’re thinking: “HUGH MUZZBE KIDDING ME!”

>_<

Does this mean that the X-ray machines and the body searches are any less invasive or any less of a violation of our rights? NOPE.  It just means that, as usual, we have to keep our heads when reading about this stuff—ALWAYS CONFIRM EVERYTHING.  If you’ve read one story in one place, don’t assume it’s accurate until you confirm it with other news sources.

But remember, just because this one image and this one article was faked, it doesn’t mean the TSA isn’t super creepy or at all competent in their job or not violating our rights—they most certainly are all those things.  Alternet.org posted their list of the top 7 creepy things about the TSA and Mythbuster, Adam Savage, just the other day, admitted he walked right through one of the TSA’s machines and then onto a plane to Seattle with two 12-inch razor blades on his person (he carries a lot of weird stuff around with him and forgot he had them).

Oh and the good old fourth amendment of the Bill of Rights promises freedom from unlawful search and seizure.  Last time I checked, the TSA checks are not done by law, but by regulation.  Big difference. I was reminded of this while reading this account of the blogger behind NoBlasters.com being held up by TSA after flying.  Essentially, if you simply ask if you’re under arrest, and they say “no” you can go. I wouldn’t try this, but if you’ve got plenty of money for a lawyer and don’t mind missing your flight…

Ultimately, the moral of the story is that we can’t trust people to do their job, whether they claim to be in the media or that they’re doing it for our own good.

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The need for clear, objective reporting in a world of rising religious fundamentalism, economic interdependence and global ecological problems is probably greater than it has ever been. But we are no longer a national audience receiving news from a handful of trusted gatekeepers; we&#8217;re now a million or more clusters of consumers, harvesting information from like-minded providers.

Posted on 2010/11/17 05:34 pm by thepete

The need for clear, objective reporting in a world of rising religious fundamentalism, economic interdependence and global ecological problems is probably greater than it has ever been. But we are no longer a national audience receiving news from a handful of trusted gatekeepers; we’re now a million or more clusters of consumers, harvesting information from like-minded providers.

Ted Koppel: Olbermann, O’Reilly and the death of real news

It’s nice to see that someone sees the same problem I do.

Apparently, Olbermann said something against this, I think?  I’m so sick of that guy and 99.999% of the media.  They’ve made us rock stupid. They have no right to complain about us because they’re a serious part of why we say/do stupid things.  After all, most Americans just slurp up their crappy content and think nothing worse of it.  I think the MSM needs STFU and stop being so sensitive to criticism. 

It’s not like Ted Koppel has any kind of real influence any more.

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Posted on 2010/10/21 07:47 pm by thepete



AW, so nice to see Rick Sanchez working again! RT @MotherJones: What’s a singing chicken doing at ABC News?

motherjones:

politico:

newsweek:

braiker:

A singing chicken just came to our newsroom to serenade a colleague on her birthday. What happened at your office today?

Is it named Kathy Jones?

Man, nothing good ever happens at our office. More singing chickens, please. 

Here, here. Nothing this good happened at the Atlantic office today, either. There’s always tomorrow.

QUICK! TAZE HIM!

Maybe that’s the chicken Ernie Anastos was referring to?

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Posted on 2010/09/23 11:14 am by thepete



New Television “Journalist” Barbie—she looks ready for her stint on Fox News!

Found via timeoutnewyork:

urlesque:

amyvernon:

Mattel introduces new Journalism Barbie

blerg.

Now with side bangs!

This is pretty much the opposite of what we wear to work. But then, this is “news anchor” Barbie, not “magazine writer who treats every day like casual Friday” Barbie.

Actually, scratch that—I don’t think she’s hot enough for Fox.

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Juan Cole/TomDispatch on something I talked about in the last 666cast

Posted on 2010/09/19 06:40 pm by thepete

No sooner do I post episode 25 of the 666cast which encourages us all to turn off the TV news to avoid it’s stupifying effects, than do I stumble across a post on Frederic Guarino’s tumblr linking to “Tomgram: Juan Cole, The Media as a Security Threat to America” on TomDispatch.com.  In part Juan Cole is quoted in the post as saying:

The great Pakistani deluge did not exist, it seems, because it was not on television, would not have delivered audiences to products, and was not all about us.  As we saw on September 11, 2001, and again in March 2003, however, the failure of our electronic media to inform the public about centrally important global developments is itself a security threat to the republic.

Earlier today, Frederic also reblogged this:

further proof US media is insular to the point of being ridiculous

notnadia:

Wow.

All right, so I guess I should have said turn off ALL mainstream media in the US, instead of just TV. :\

Jesus, (if we can’t learn what’s really going on in the world) we’re fucked.

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WashingtonPost.com parody viral video that reminds us why we&#8217;ll miss what little journalism we had.Found via jesseellison:newsweek:For some reason, this has been sent around the office all day todayNewZweek is gonna be so much better.I can&#8217;t believe I missed this when it was first going around&#8230; must&#8217;ve been when I was shooting that wacky web video instead of writing my novel. ;(Incidentally, if &#8220;context&#8221; was all that the MSM is supposed to give us, I&#8217;m really not going to miss it all that much. :\

Posted on 2010/08/30 01:42 pm by thepete

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