FUCK. CNN. HEADLINE. NEWS.

[wolven7]

Here in the Atlanta Metro Area, a teenaged girl has gone missing. Her family is from one of the more socially conservative areas of town, and the girl was involved in what seriously sparse Goth Community there must have been in her area. They, of course, blame the goth lifestyle. How do i know all of this? Because CNN Headline News (or "HLN," if they prefer-- actually, no; I refuse) is running an "Interview," with her family, on the show "Issues with Jane Velez-Mitchell," and, later, in an effort to make it seem like they're discussing all sides of the situation, they're talking with Michelle Belanger.

I have watched roughly 20 minutes of this shit, not counting commercials, and let me tell you, Fake Martin Luther King, Jr. said that BET was the worst thing he had ever seen, and he might have been right, in terms of what had happened to the African-American community. But you know what? He obviously hadn't watched CNN Headline News.

From Nancy Grace, to this Jane Velez-Mitchell bullshit, CNN Headline News engenders a culture of intolerant, reactionary emotionality & ratings-driven/-driving fear, rather than seeking to truly understand Anything other than the narrow worldview it crafts & to which it caters. It is a channel which started off with the somewhat laudable goal of trying to pare down the news in to bite-sized chunks, but in a move that is sickeningly easy to understand it has morphed from that into a shortcut for thinking. They have provided people with Fear, Anger, and Inarticulate Outrage, and they formulate their stories using words and phrases which seem designed to cloud thought, rather than enable it.

What I'm saying is, it just makes me want to shake the fear-mongering, straw-man-invoking, deliberately-obfuscating Shit out of these people!

And if you think this doesn't matter, then you don't know how TV works. The money from Cable Networks and advertisers is mapped by the shareholders, who then go to the meetings of the other companies in which they hold shares. Viacom, NBC, ABC, FOX, CNN, Time-Warner, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. All of these trends in viewership, money, and presentation models are funneled into Network Standards, and those are passed down to Local News Affiliates. Which is where it gets disseminated to the vast majority of the viewing public. Fear and intollerance is perpetuated.

This is how TV Works. Somebody should send a letter.

No. Really, Send Them A Letter.

I really think this bullshit has to stop, somewhere. Why not here?

Comments

[satans-muse.livejournal.com]

It's interesting that you bring this up now because last night on one of Australia's most popular current affairs discussion shows (The 7pm Project), they ran a story about Astralians making overseas internet purchases under $1000. When you purchase something under $1000 we do not pay tax or stamp duty.

Now they want us to lower the threshold to $500 so Australian Businesses who have to pay the tax and stamp duty on their imported products get a fairer go, lest we end up living in a country where Australian Businesses do not exist.

How do Australians feel about this? Will this become legislation or will Australians raise their voices against it? etc, etc.

The footage that was shown as those questions were posed, were of full on rioting, and before the news girl introduced the guest speaker, she finished with "well, that footage wasn't alarmist at all!"

and I found it quite refreshing to see one of the hosts of a show pointing out the alarmist style of journalism that had been used in the story, even though it was on her show.

Not only that, it shocked me that I had just sat there and watched it, and if she hadn't mentioned the alarmist footage, it wouldn't have even registered with me.

It exhausts me to have to dissect the reports I'm shown just to try and find that small grain of truth behind all the fear-mongering.

In an ideal world, Church WOULD be separated from State and News would be truth instead of the currency of corporations, spouting their propaganda to control our "free societies".

[wolven.livejournal.com]

and I found it quite refreshing to see one of the hosts of a show pointing out the alarmist style of journalism that had been used in the story, even though it was on her show.

I Really like that. That makes me super happy.

And yeah, but until then, we have to vote with money, and make sure they understand that we don't have to put up with their bullshit.

[satans-muse.livejournal.com]

That's exactly it.

Like any relationship you ever have, if you tolerate poor treatment, it will continue. It's up to every person to stand up and say that they deserve better than this. We are in a relationship with media outlets and it's time we get more assertive.

We are the ones with the power, a lot of us are just not aware of how much power we as individuals can wield. It has to start somewhere.

Posts like this are that somewhere.

Your posts provoke individual thought. You don't ask for people to adhere to your way of thinking or your opinions, you implore them to form their own and that's one of the biggest reasons that I enjoy being part of your flist.

Through your posts, you make me think and question and research topics that do not only impact me and my tiny world but which affect society in general.

Being such an inward-looking person, I need prompts every now and then to get my head out of the sand and see what's going on outside, so thanks, because your posts really do help me with that.

[wolven.livejournal.com]

I don't know what to say to this.

Thank you.