I read Say Uncle every day because his posts are short, sweet, and to the point. This post, however, is a touch longer. In it, he sounds off on some of the annoying parts of the gunny internet world. I’ve only been “in the game” for a few years now and I have to say that I agree with what he is saying here. Go. Read. Enjoy.
Category Archives: People
Media, What Bias?
What is the media’s responsibility with neutral, objective reporting? There seems to be an unwritten belief that media must be unbiased and objective. But where does this idea come from? Is it better to have a news outlet like Fox News which claims to be “fair and balanced” yet is center-right, or to have a news outlet like MSNBC which makes neither claim to neutrality nor bias, yet is center-left? It can be safely said that media bias is likely a reflection of consumer bias.
Media Objectivity
At some point in our cultural history, the idea of objective news reporting was created. Whether this idea was created as a way to further democracy in the Western world, or as a way to manufacture consent and control the masses (Herman & Chomsky, 1988), will probably be debated for centuries. Conventional wisdom in America is that Fox News has a center-right, or conservative, bias and that its “Fair and Balanced” tag line is more of a marketing tool than an ethical guideline. This same wisdom claims that major media outlets such as ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, MSNBC and “the paper of record,” The New York Times have a center-left, or liberal, bias.
Yet, despite the claims of liberal media bias, research does not fall in line with popular belief.
“Whether the news media have a liberal bias has interested politicians, journalists, scholars, and the public. Many seem to believe that a political bias exists. According to a … survey by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press (2002), 47% of those who answered a question on media bias believed news organizations in general are politically biased in their reporting. In comparison, 35% of respondents disagreed” (Lee, 2005, p. 43).
Whether news media contains more liberal or conservative bias is indiscernible and a topic of debate among scholars (Lee, 2005).
What does this all mean? Meaning is in the ear of the beholder, literally. “…[P]eople‘s perceptions of trust in media and bias in news are related to their political predispositions” (Vraga, Tulley, & Rojas, 2009, p. 71). Thus, there is not a whole lot that journalists can do to reduce perceived bias by consumers. However, this does not mean that perceived media bias has to remain forever. Media literacy education may be the answer.
Media literacy education is designed to help consumers understand how media is constructed and consumed. It does this by teaching people “how to decode contextual media messages in film, music, television, corporate advertising and communications technology to understand better the range of influence and impact the media have on their lives” (Vraga, Tulley, & Rojas, 2009, p. 71). Does media literacy education really work?
“[The] findings lend partial support to the idea that news media literacy can affect perceptions of the media. While exposure to a news media literacy presentation decreased perceptions of bias in the subsequent news story, it did not appear to increase trust…. The analysis of the very liberal and conservative clarifies these results: these groups reported different levels of bias and trust based on their political predispositions. When dealing with the media and political issues, political ideology plays a central role in how individuals respond to a media message, as well as to a presentation about the media” (Vraga, Tulley, & Rojas, 2009, p. 77).
Clearly, the claim of objectivity, or lack thereof, matters little to news media consumers. Does news media have to be neutral and objective? I think not. What is important, however, is that consumers are knowledgeable regarding what they are consuming and how to best interpret and understand it.
Works Cited
Herman, E. S., & Chomsky, N. (1988). Manufacturing Consent. New York: Pantheon Books.
Lee, T.-T. (2005). The Liberal Media Myth Revisited: An Examination of Factors Influencing Perceptions of Media Bias. Journal of Boradcasting and Electronic Media , 43-64.
Vraga, E. K., Tulley, M., & Rojas, H. (2009). Media Literacy Training Reduces Perception of Bias. Newspaper Research Journal , 68-81.
A Note to the Left and the Right
Something has touched a nerve today, I’m not quite sure why. I was sitting her surfing the interwebz when I, again, became annoyed with the political establishment in this country. For several generations now we, the citizenry, have sat back and allowed our government to become extremely top heavy on the Federal end. In some cases, an extremely vocal minority have called for this increase. In most cases, an extremely apathetic majority simply sat back and did nothing.
We have lost something that the founders had enjoyed and come to love. I do not say founders in meaning the Big Boys of American History, but rather the citizens who supported the Big Boys. The citizens of the original 13 Colonies had spent almost 170 official historical years governing themselves. Lifted from the source of all truth and knowledge, Wikipedia – “Each colony developed its own system of self government. The[y]… voted for their local and provincial government.”
Yes, the early years of American history are not the golden age that many on the right try to paint them. They are not, however, the historical arm pit that many on the left try to paint them. It was imperfect, what with indentured servitude and slavery and what not, but it was 17th and 18th Century America. The one thing they truly got right was local government and a citizenry active in that government.
The British government started poking their nose in where the American Colonials felt it didn’t belong. The Americans rebelled, declaring
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.
The War was fought, the Americans won (with the help of the French who wanted to spite England), and The United States of America was quickly recognized as a nation by Morocco. The people then set out to “form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity….” On September 13, 1788 the United States Constitution was confirmed ratified and the country was set on its historical course.
The US citizenry then fought another war about slavery and about independence in government. For the better, the Union won the War of Northern Aggression and the United States stayed intact, to some extent.
So, what am I rambling on about? “Federalism,” the great American experiment, has changed many, many times over the last 235 years (see the source of all truth and knowledge). The authors of the Declaration of Independence were correct when they said, “Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.” In modern speak, Common sense (because “common sense” has replaced prudence) tells us that when a government has been around for a long time it shouldn’t be changed on a whim. History also shows us that the people will mumble under their breath against government overreaching rather than giving up the entitlements granted while their rights are being trampled.”
Sound familiar? It should, because we are living it! The Federal Government has gotten too large and overstepped its constitutionally set limitations. Several factors are involved, not the least of which is the ever expanding authority of the Executive Branch, the weakness of the Legislative Branch and its relinquishment of authority to the Executive, and the failure of the citizenry to remember that the Judicial Branch exists outside of the Supreme Court (apart from viewing the Judicial as a tool to circumvent the Legislative). I’m not saying that the Federal Department of Education can’t exist, but I am saying that it shouldn’t under our current Federal Constitution. Do you want a Federal Department of Education? Then convince your state legislature, or your Senator or Representative, to make a push for a Constitutional Convention or Constitutional Amendment so that the Federal Department of Education can be instituted properly.
Your role as a citizen is to read and understand the United States Constitution and your State Constitution. If you haven’t read them then you can’t know when your governments are overstepping their bounds and what their constitutional limitations are. When you know these things then you can become active in your community and allow the private sector to do what the government has no authority to do.
Governments are not all powerful. If you think they should be, please remove yourself to Europe. They favor that type of thinking over there. The United States of America was founded on principles of INDIVIDUAL LIBERTY. To members of the Right and the Left who have special interests, you are partially at fault for the current state of American politics. The apathetic also hold responsibility, as do the political weasels who have found “public service” to be a career and not service.
There, my rant is over. Return to your regularly scheduled programming.
Because I Find it Interesting
I listen to Dennis Prager every night on my way home from work. I enjoy his show. Every Wednesday night, the second hour is called “The Male/Female Hour.” It’s a fun hour to listen to as Dennis discusses various aspects of relationships. Here is a small taste of what the Male/Female Hour is all about.
RTKBA
Via Breda comes this video which will make you smile -
It’s unfortunate that some on the Left would rather see this girl injured or traumatized rather than able to defend herself. Good job Alyssa!
Crime and the Death Penalty
If you haven’t heard, back in 2007 there was a horrible triple homicide in Connecticut. The Petit family was enjoying a quiet night at home when two men broke in, beat the father nearly to death with a baseball bat, raped the mother then strangled her to death, raped one of the daughters, then tied them both to a bed and set the house on fire. The girls were left to burn alive. Miraculously the father, who had been tied up in the basement, escaped and survived.
Last week, Steven Hayes, one of the two men who broke in that night, was convicted by a jury of his peers and sentenced to death. Hopefully his accomplice will be as well.
I’ll never forget sitting in a college class when the teacher asked who was in favor of the death penalty. In a class of over 150 students, barely 20 of us raised our hands. We were then berated as barbaric Neanderthals who failed to see how capital punishment is “cruel and unusual punishment,” how it is “expensive,” how it does nothing to “deter crime.”
Cruel and unusual punishment – I’m sorry but sticking a needle in someone’s arm and giving then a mixture of chemicals that makes them fall asleep, then stops their heart, is not cruel. Allowing this person to live is cruel to the victims of their crime.
It’s expensive – The appeals process (lawyers fees) has made it expensive. Also, making sure that the lethal injection is done with a clean needle, in a clean facility and to make sure the procedure is not cruel, all make it expensive. On the other hand, one round of .45 ACP ball ammo is about 40 cents.
It doesn’t deter crime – Prison doesn’t deter crime either. If your litmus test for a criminal punishment is deterring crime, then nothing really works. Capital punishment is about removing and purging evil elements of society. Capital punishment is not there to deter crime, it is there because, at times, some people prove through their choices that they don’t want to live in society and be a productive citizen. And no, in these cases, rehabilitation doesn’t work.
Now, please don’t get me wrong. I’m not in any way suggesting that the death penalty should be applied in all cases. But for heinous crimes it definitely should be applied.
The Root of The Vote
Sebastian talks about the root of the voter populous and how politics work.
What politics really comes down to is a very small number of activists struggling against another very small number of activists, using the vast and ignorant voter rolls as pawns on a chessboard.
15 Manly Smells
Artofmanliness.com has released a list of 15 manly smells. I don’t consider a bowling alley a manly smell, but what do you think of the list?
Why Elections Matter
Sebastian talks about Justice Kennedy staying on the bench through the 2012 presidential election.
I Have the Answer
To all of the Californians who vacation in/move to Utah – STAY OUT! We’re tired of being associated with this crap:
PARK CITY, Utah – A woman who says she relied on Google for walking directions in Utah that got her hit on a major roadway has filed a lawsuit against the Internet company claiming it supplied unsafe directions.
Attribution in the Internet Age
I received an email this morning containing a message titled The Gun is Civilization attributed to a Major L. Caudill USMC (Ret). I immediately recognized both the title and the supposed author.
You see, Marko Kloos, of munchkin wrangler fame, is the actual author of The Gun is Civilization. Here is the 2007 original post. In 2009, after having been circulated on the internet attributed to this Maj. L. Caudill, it was published by Ted Nugent in his book Ted, White and Blue. Thankfully, Ted made things right with Marko later that year.
The point is, boys and girls, in the age of the internets, viral emails should be researched before being forwarded.
Tennesseans Demanding Help From FEMA
People are so demanding, aren’t they? Natural disaster strikes and it’s time to get angry at the government for not doing anything. Oh wait, that’s not what’s happening.
