Free journalism, unbiased and based on facts is what will keep democracies alive. In the USA and in Europe. All countries where journalists are hunted down, put in jail and censored in any way, will lead to a totalitarian regime. Hungary put all press critical of Orban out of business. Orban is now blocking aid to Ukraine and uses his veto power to secure €10 Billion that will end up with his corrupt friends. Free journalism is dead in Hungary and now the government wants to limit access to foreign news that is critical of Orban.
In Russia and China free press does not exist. It is all propaganda. In the USA some channels are also just propaganda and not based on facts. That is dangerous. All social media cares about is interaction so it will keep people in their ‘own’ information bubble so they might never see a fact again. Result: Democracy is slowly slipping away. Putin and Ci are cheering on the sidelines and do not understand why we do not stand up for a journalists, our ‘information warriors’ in the age of disinformation and propaganda. We thank you for your service!!
Journalism serves a purpose. That purpose has changed by greed, bias and politics. It’s a power game. Journalists are manipulated and manipulate. I liked this part especially “They choose to live in a place where the neighborhood counts for more than money, or religion, or politics.” It gives hope which, is more than I can say about journalism.
I think if you are a real journalist, you report completely unbiased. Otherwise you are considered an entertainer. Our news today is not news, it’s entertainment. Our “news/journalism” today promotes division. If it were pure news, it would be factual, informative, educational, and non-biased. Unfortunately we don’t have that anymore.
I don’t think it’s the medium in which it’s communicated, it’s the deliverer that matters.
There was an academic conference on political and social polarization at MIT Dec 1 & 2 titled “Directions of Polarization, Social Norms, and Trust in Societies Perspectives from Behavioral Sciences” sponsored by the System Dynamics Society with the goal “to delve into the complexities of political polarization, with a particular emphasis on the interplay between social norms and trust in societies. We seek to understand the roots, dynamics, and societal implications of these intertwined phenomena through multiple analytical lenses.” It was fabulous in many ways, both in beginning to establish an academic foundation for the study of polarization - as there are methodological challenges - as well as beginning to understand interventions that hold promise in addressing polarization. To much to write here, but Vicky is right (as usual) in pointing out the need to do so and suggesting the important role of journalism in such efforts.
"There is much to be said in favor of modern journalism. By giving us the opinions of the uneducated, it keeps us in touch with the ignorance of the community. By carefully chronicling the current events of contemporary life, it shows us of what very little importance such events really are. By invariably discussing the unnecessary, it makes us understand what things are requisite for culture, and what are not." (Wilde)
I always enjoy reading your column and perspective. Your reporting feels balanced and heart-centered. 👏❤️ I believe people are waking up to the idea that our media systems are morally corrupt and the subtle ways that they negatively program us. Most of the content today is making people mentally unstable. When we stop giving our money and attention to the corrupt companies and systems, they will collapse. Change is already happening at rapid speed. Journalists like you will flourish. Each person and what they choose to give their attention to matters to all of us.
Back in the day, when journalists were held in high regard, it was because of their integrity and willingness to report the news in an unbiased and truthful manner. Reporting the news was never co-mingled with journalistic opinion pieces. Today, the mainstream media at large, have lost the trust of a majority of Americans because they (i.e., most journalists) lack integrity, see fit to inject political bias in their reporting, and are slaves to their publishers who have an agenda of their own.. Once venerated media sources like the New York Times, Washington Post and CNN are a disgrace today for knowingly peddling outright lies and debunking the truth.
"What I’ve found so uplifting about small town America is that people choose to prioritize people. They choose to live in a place where the neighborhood counts for more than money, or religion, or politics."
This is hard to square with reporting that is coming out Ms. Ward's newfound stomping grounds of Moscow, Idaho:
"‘Make it a Christian town’: the ultra-conservative church on the rise in Idaho"
The Guardian
Jason Wilson
2 November 2021
A Guardian investigation has revealed that a controversial church whose leader has openly expressed the ambition of creating a “theocracy” in America has accumulated significant influence in the city of Moscow, Idaho.
Christ Church has a stated goal to “make Moscow a Christian town” and public records, interviews, and open source materials online show how its leadership has extended its power and activities in the town.
Church figures have browbeaten elected officials over Covid restrictions, built powerful institutions in parallel to secular government, harassed perceived opponents, and accumulated land and businesses in pursuit of a long-term goal of transforming America into a nation ruled according to its own, ultra-conservative moral precepts.
The rise of Christ Church may be playing out in a small Idaho city but it comes at a time when the US is roiled by the far right, including Christian nationalism, and when social conservatives are seeking to roll back basic tenets of US life such as legal abortion, as well as dominating powerful national institutions, such as the supreme court.
While the church’s previous controversies have centered on its founder and pastor, Douglas Wilson, a new generation of male church leaders – including Wilson’s son – have found ways to expand the church’s reach in Moscow and beyond, even gaining footholds in mainstream popular culture in the broader US.
The reason your profession is seen as such um right next to ambulance chasing lawyer's. we should learn for ourselves how to better communicate with the short-form so we can meet him tit for tat. You walk past the pervert traitor baby killing racist scum in the dem KKK party to attack a man and ideology that did more for blacks and women than any other in history.
Get something for you TDS and demand factual reporting and maybe you can gain some resemblance of credibility
Free journalism, unbiased and based on facts is what will keep democracies alive. In the USA and in Europe. All countries where journalists are hunted down, put in jail and censored in any way, will lead to a totalitarian regime. Hungary put all press critical of Orban out of business. Orban is now blocking aid to Ukraine and uses his veto power to secure €10 Billion that will end up with his corrupt friends. Free journalism is dead in Hungary and now the government wants to limit access to foreign news that is critical of Orban.
In Russia and China free press does not exist. It is all propaganda. In the USA some channels are also just propaganda and not based on facts. That is dangerous. All social media cares about is interaction so it will keep people in their ‘own’ information bubble so they might never see a fact again. Result: Democracy is slowly slipping away. Putin and Ci are cheering on the sidelines and do not understand why we do not stand up for a journalists, our ‘information warriors’ in the age of disinformation and propaganda. We thank you for your service!!
Journalism serves a purpose. That purpose has changed by greed, bias and politics. It’s a power game. Journalists are manipulated and manipulate. I liked this part especially “They choose to live in a place where the neighborhood counts for more than money, or religion, or politics.” It gives hope which, is more than I can say about journalism.
I think if you are a real journalist, you report completely unbiased. Otherwise you are considered an entertainer. Our news today is not news, it’s entertainment. Our “news/journalism” today promotes division. If it were pure news, it would be factual, informative, educational, and non-biased. Unfortunately we don’t have that anymore.
I don’t think it’s the medium in which it’s communicated, it’s the deliverer that matters.
There was an academic conference on political and social polarization at MIT Dec 1 & 2 titled “Directions of Polarization, Social Norms, and Trust in Societies Perspectives from Behavioral Sciences” sponsored by the System Dynamics Society with the goal “to delve into the complexities of political polarization, with a particular emphasis on the interplay between social norms and trust in societies. We seek to understand the roots, dynamics, and societal implications of these intertwined phenomena through multiple analytical lenses.” It was fabulous in many ways, both in beginning to establish an academic foundation for the study of polarization - as there are methodological challenges - as well as beginning to understand interventions that hold promise in addressing polarization. To much to write here, but Vicky is right (as usual) in pointing out the need to do so and suggesting the important role of journalism in such efforts.
"There is much to be said in favor of modern journalism. By giving us the opinions of the uneducated, it keeps us in touch with the ignorance of the community. By carefully chronicling the current events of contemporary life, it shows us of what very little importance such events really are. By invariably discussing the unnecessary, it makes us understand what things are requisite for culture, and what are not." (Wilde)
I liked this column. But just for the record, the problem with Trump's posts is not their brevity.
I always enjoy reading your column and perspective. Your reporting feels balanced and heart-centered. 👏❤️ I believe people are waking up to the idea that our media systems are morally corrupt and the subtle ways that they negatively program us. Most of the content today is making people mentally unstable. When we stop giving our money and attention to the corrupt companies and systems, they will collapse. Change is already happening at rapid speed. Journalists like you will flourish. Each person and what they choose to give their attention to matters to all of us.
In Idaho the university president Scott Green is a great guy. Might be a good interview
Back in the day, when journalists were held in high regard, it was because of their integrity and willingness to report the news in an unbiased and truthful manner. Reporting the news was never co-mingled with journalistic opinion pieces. Today, the mainstream media at large, have lost the trust of a majority of Americans because they (i.e., most journalists) lack integrity, see fit to inject political bias in their reporting, and are slaves to their publishers who have an agenda of their own.. Once venerated media sources like the New York Times, Washington Post and CNN are a disgrace today for knowingly peddling outright lies and debunking the truth.
"What I’ve found so uplifting about small town America is that people choose to prioritize people. They choose to live in a place where the neighborhood counts for more than money, or religion, or politics."
This is hard to square with reporting that is coming out Ms. Ward's newfound stomping grounds of Moscow, Idaho:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"‘Make it a Christian town’: the ultra-conservative church on the rise in Idaho"
The Guardian
Jason Wilson
2 November 2021
A Guardian investigation has revealed that a controversial church whose leader has openly expressed the ambition of creating a “theocracy” in America has accumulated significant influence in the city of Moscow, Idaho.
Christ Church has a stated goal to “make Moscow a Christian town” and public records, interviews, and open source materials online show how its leadership has extended its power and activities in the town.
Church figures have browbeaten elected officials over Covid restrictions, built powerful institutions in parallel to secular government, harassed perceived opponents, and accumulated land and businesses in pursuit of a long-term goal of transforming America into a nation ruled according to its own, ultra-conservative moral precepts.
The rise of Christ Church may be playing out in a small Idaho city but it comes at a time when the US is roiled by the far right, including Christian nationalism, and when social conservatives are seeking to roll back basic tenets of US life such as legal abortion, as well as dominating powerful national institutions, such as the supreme court.
While the church’s previous controversies have centered on its founder and pastor, Douglas Wilson, a new generation of male church leaders – including Wilson’s son – have found ways to expand the church’s reach in Moscow and beyond, even gaining footholds in mainstream popular culture in the broader US.
/ / /
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/02/christ-church-idaho-theocracy-us-america
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Guardian's story is more than two years old, but there are no signs that Douglas Wilson and his Christ Church are going away.
When I lived outside a small and impoverished town in Idaho I found that when people gathered most conversations were gossip about local officials.
The reason your profession is seen as such um right next to ambulance chasing lawyer's. we should learn for ourselves how to better communicate with the short-form so we can meet him tit for tat. You walk past the pervert traitor baby killing racist scum in the dem KKK party to attack a man and ideology that did more for blacks and women than any other in history.
Get something for you TDS and demand factual reporting and maybe you can gain some resemblance of credibility