The Musings Of An Opinionated Sod [Help Me Grow!]

“News is incredibly important, however if it is allowed to continue in such an influenced state, then it’s in danger of becoming more like a horoscope than anything of fundamental value”

You sum it up pretty well there Robert.

I really enjoyed John Pilger’s speech and agree with much of what he said but there are so many situations that get adversly affected by organisations and people protecting their own personal interests that its almost become an accepted normality.

As they say, perception is reality even if the reality is just perception.

On this topic, we’ve found talking about the issue of recession in focus groups that as Australia moves closer and closer to “officially” being in recession, the average consumer STILL feels like it’s all “media hype”. Self fulfilling prophecy?

Oh and Bazza, considering I had a vent about iPhone limitations on this blog in the past, I figure I should say well done on the 3.0 update. It looks really promising mate and credit to you and the Apple folk for proving that you’re brave enough to not only know the product but also listen to the people. Much respect.

As with the recent financial reporting dust up Stewart vs Cramer shows..

journalist have become snake oil men by talking to the markets, instead playing the role of John the Baptist and claiming foul play whenever they see it regardless of popular opinion. plus there is no middle class journalism. The washington post and Atlantic have been writing about the subprime since 2007. But where is the translation (read contextual connection) for those who don’t read the Atlantic, but also don’t just read the Sun (thought the Sun if it wanted to could become a beacon of thruth to power, but that is another idea/post/pitch). Context/meaning is the biggest business opportunity of the 21st century.

On the other hand this does create a great opportunity for artists to claim that role more for themselves. Artists are often the ones with the ability to confront, create thought and capture imagination while not just playing to the crowd.

Just look at the data visualisations on the web..they somehow give more overview than long articles and tags.

Somewhere along the line greed ate up the Peabody Awards..

PS Rob..FUCK indeed…

Incidentally, has anyone watched British ITN recently? They no longer deliver much fact, they deliver their view on what the facts mean. Really bad.
Thank God for John Stewart – did you see him take apart the financial press? So depressing itt took satire to expose the truth, and about those supposed to be telling it.

Lee can get me free Apple stuff?

great post rob!
if mass media, and especially tv, were channels for top-down information distribution, then an unregulated internet is the medium liberating people from that. aren t we living in times of individualisation/individualism. and the internet is where people turn to when they trust themselves more than information raining down on them from the economy or politics. it gives them freedom to go and construct their realities following their own interests. think for themselves and not just adopting everything. though, that needs some understanding about how media works. but you can even get that online. and there has never been a time when one could find various information of all kinds in such an easy way. if one feels it s propaganda coming over the air, one can get counter points or a little bit of conspiracy theory, e.g. from people like alex jones…
i still watch news on tv. just to see what s on the agenda which admittedly still shapes such a thing as public opinion and therefore politics. or vice versa. but i think with a further rise of the internet (using it for more than social networking), there comes a lesser influence of classic mass media and the days of a consistent majority in public opinion might be gone, if they are not gone already. ironically, i think obama gave it the kiss of death. we will see… anyway, just a thought… and. i. love. jon. stewart.

hahahahhhh! now that s a compliment andy, is it? thank you! 😉
though, i hope to spend some more of my time doing whatever i want to. no change going to happen to this attitude any time soon. i would therefore make a lousy president of anything. that s what i believe in. mwahaha!

what am i worrying about now, john?

Been reading a book called Bad Science recently, and its remarkable to see how the media has effectively increased measles rates through their reporting of the bullshit MMR-Autism reports.

The shit that passes for reporting, and the hideous amount of deception, lying, mis-reporting, hype and bias that western media gets away with makes CCTV look like the fucking Guardian.

[off] welcome to lost on fysy. today’s episode is about trust and truth. we ll be right back after a short break. [/off]