[PAX] The boy who cried wolf . . .

Gaze

Gaze

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The recent spay of media hoaxes and publicity stunts in the US news has created a good amount of attention, especially the balloon boy incident. Not a hoax but yet another ploy for publicity, a couple "crashes" the White House State dinner. We are in the era of "Look at me!" because i'm worthy of your attention. And this is mixed in with real or semi-important news as well as sensational media storms. So, what's the real story? Who or what do you pay attention to which is of real importance or value, and what do we simply dismiss or ignore? Where do we draw the line and when do we pay attention?

Are these fake or bogus situations setting us up to ignore real issues or greater problems or more important but less sensational situations in the future? The likely and for many, the obvious answer is yes. But on the other hand, are we simply making a much ado about nothing?

Can't help thinking of the parable of the boy who cried wolf. At some point, when do we recognize when something seemingly harmless is actually dangerous, so that we can protect ourselves or be aware, vs. when we need to politely dismiss an incident or situation as not that important and move on? And since everything is news today, who decides which is which?

At the same time, i think we'd want to avoid being too paranoid and engaging in conspiracy theories, since this can take our understanding of the news to the other extreme.

Not sure, if what i've said is clear, but it's open for "peaceful" discussion.

What are your thoughts?
 
I get angry at stuff like the balloon incident, and the crashed whitehouse party. Not because of what those people did, but because it is in the media. I actually feel bad for those people. I don't think they should be punished, the only reason they are in trouble is because the media thought it was interesting, and then publicized it as much as they could. I read these stories initally so I can keep up with current events, but sign off once legal junk gets thrown in, it will largely just piss me off. Top news stories are often of little interest to me because they are sensationalist.
 
I'm only using the stories as an example of larger problem propping up when it comes to choosing what should or shouldn't be reported as news, and how it may be teaching us to pay attention when we shouldn't, and ignore or miss when something important is happening.
 
I thought it was pretty funny, especially that the media outlets initially bought it. It seemed like such an obvious ploy. Of course, I'm sure they had their reasons for putting such an inane story in the limelight like that, and probably some far more important yet unflattering news story fell by the wayside while everyone's attention was on "balloon boy".
 
I take everything that comes through the news and the wider media with a massive grain of salt. I suppose they think we hang on every word....."the news you need to know, when you need to know it!" As you might suspect, the machines that run that industry are no more functional than any other.

I spent 20 years producing short-form documentaries. Some stories were noble, some stories were troubling, some stories made you wonder, some stories were endearing, and some stories broke your heart......and they were all true....and they were not in anybody's news. Makes one wonder what is really going on in the world each day. It probably would not sell advertising time and boost ratings.
 
Restraint said:
The recent spay of media hoaxes and publicity stunts in the US news has created a good amount of attention, especially the balloon boy incident. Not a hoax but yet another ploy for publicity, a couple "crashes" the White House State dinner. We are in the era of "Look at me!" because i'm worthy of your attention. And this is mixed in with real or semi-important news as well as sensational media storms. So, what's the real story? Who or what do you pay attention to which is of real importance or value, and what do we simply dismiss or ignore? Where do we draw the line and when do we pay attention?

Are these fake or bogus situations setting us up to ignore real issues or greater problems or more important but less sensational situations in the future? The likely and for many, the obvious answer is yes. But on the other hand, are we simply making a much ado about nothing?

Can't help thinking of the parable of the boy who cried wolf. At some point, when do we recognize when something seemingly harmless is actually dangerous, so that we can protect ourselves or be aware, vs. when we need to politely dismiss an incident or situation as not that important and move on? And since everything is news today, who decides which is which?

At the same time, i think we'd want to avoid being too paranoid and engaging in conspiracy theories, since this can take our understanding of the news to the other extreme.

Not sure, if what i've said is clear, but it's open for "peaceful" discussion.

What are your thoughts?
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media needs something to fill thier vapid shows with since they dont want to report any actual news like Obamas falling poll numbers, the healthcare swindle or Irans nukes.
 
Are you kidding Billy? That's pretty much all I've been hearing from the US lately...

I want to know about the shit noone's telling us about. Revolutions, Politics, UN Debates, African Initiatives and so on.
 
Shai Gar said:
Are you kidding Billy? That's pretty much all I've been hearing from the US lately...

I want to know about the shit noone's telling us about. Revolutions, Politics, UN Debates, African Initiatives and so on.
Click to expand...

Funny we don't hear it on our news. Which is sort of like what the OP was saying.
 
The internet plays a big role here because we are all more or less anonymous, so whatever happened to someone happened different for everyone else. There is also something called real life, where revolutions, politics, UN Debates, African Initiatives and much equally important stuff goes on daily!
 
No, that's not real news...

  • Real news is the stuff that appears on Youtube that noone sees on CNN or Fox.
  • Police beating the crap out of peaceful protesters and then laughing about it off camera. (thankfully recorded by a real cop, and then posted online)
  • Or the Police beating down houses of people living communally and destroying their shit when they've done nothing wrong. (steampunk cultures, but recorded online on blogs with links to verify)
  • The Liberty Dollar.
That's the real news. That's what News Stations cover up.
 
Or how they cover up climategate in the US. I think thats a little more important then police brutality, especially since they want us to spend 145 trillion on fighting fake global warming.
 
Just a heads up guys (I can see this thread going south quickly), this is a PAX thread, keep it civil. It has been so far, so keep it up :)
 
The media is so sensationalist, it's disgraceful, people lap it up though...
 
Billy said:
Or how they cover up climategate in the US. I think thats a little more important then police brutality, especially since they want us to spend 145 trillion on fighting fake global warming.
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I completely disagree that it's more important than police brutality.
Police Brutality is something very easily proven, however your notion of a "Climategate" is both unproven and seems to be merely right wing propaganda.

The fact that police brutality is often hidden from viewers is very disturbing to me.
 
Shai Gar said:
I completely disagree that it's more important than police brutality.
Police Brutality is something very easily proven, however your notion of a "Climategate" is both unproven and seems to be merely right wing propaganda.

The fact that police brutality is often hidden from viewers is very disturbing to me.
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Yeah I am pretty sure everyone knows that cops overstep their authority and hurt people all the time illegally, not anything new. That everyone is about to be hit with a multitrillion dollar bill in new taxes on something that isn't evens settled science is vastly more important.
 
Billy said:
Yeah I am pretty sure everyone knows that cops overstep their authority and hurt people all the time illegally, not anything new. That everyone is about to be hit with a multitrillion dollar bill in new taxes on something that isn't evens settled science is vastly more important.
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Verification?
 
Shai Gar said:
Verification?
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[youtube]4zOXmJ4jd-8&h[/youtube]

http://www.noenergytax.com/iframe.p....org/Research/EnergyandEnvironment/wm2580.cfm

http://www.noenergytax.com/iframe.p....org/Research/EnergyandEnvironment/wm2580.cfm

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2009-11-25-Obama-global-summit_N.htm?csp=34&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:%20usatoday-NewsTopStories%20%28News%20-%20Top%20Stories%29
 
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I saw no mention of 175,000,000,000,000,000 USD tax from USA Today, and the other one is too biased to trust.
 
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