Monday, September 12, 2016
Episode 62: No News Is Bad News
Play Now!You've heard me touting the news that news is dead, or at least dying. Here's a question: What has that got to advertising? Maybe, everything. In this Episode 62: No News Is Bad News, I trot out evidence that things are much, much more dire than, well, the news is ready to admit, and that not doing anything might be the most disastrous move ever.On this episode, you'll hear me read from two books by Robert W. McChesney and John Nichols; a bit came from Dollarocracy: How the Money and Media Election Complex is Destroying America (Nation Books, 2013); most from The Death and Life of American Journalism: The Media Revolution That Will Begin the World Again (Nation Books, 2010, where I also found the quotes from Finlay Peter Dunne, James Madison, and Thomas Paine). I also threw in a couple quoted snippets from Robert McChesney's book Digital Disconnect: How Capitalism is Turning The Internet Against Democracy (The New Press, 2013).Podington Bear's album Pensive provided all the appropriately downbeat incidental music. From that album you heard, in order, "Down Day," "Little Black Cloud," and "Lonesome." Since I mentioned the On The Media BGs, I had to play a "Staying Alive" stinger a couple of times as well. Bruce Livesy and KMFDM opened the show, and Mistle Thrush closed with "It's All Like Today."
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Not sure if you've seen this, but read and weep http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2016/09/adblock-plus-starts-selling-ads-but-only-acceptable-ones/
ReplyDeletePS love your podcast....a little too much and use its content to argue with my uncles all the time
Thank you, Kind Listener! "A little too much" is just enough love for me.
DeleteAs to your link, yes, I'm sadly familiar. It was included in Episode 37, after all, just about a year ago.
Ah, I remember you saying that, but thought it was some kind of deeper and more insidious incursion. Sad how slowly this kinda thing gets out. Now if someone would only make a few podcasts about how journalism is failing us....oh wait ;-)
DeletePretty stunning stuff. (Well presented too!) The factors you discuss here explain a lot about the current election. Seems to me this year that, worse than other years, the articles that people cite as reasons to vote for one Presidential candidate or the other are just opinion pieces and puff pieces, comparatively little real investigation and unearthing of facts this year than other years... almost like the articles everyone is citing have been written by one candidate or the other's PR office. Hmmmmm. Meanwhile very few articles appear, compared to other years, about local candidates and local propositions and so forth. Almost as if _those_ PR offices couldn't afford to put out nearly as much material as the Presidential campaigns. Hmmmm.
ReplyDelete"Stunning!?" I have arrived! *Squee!* Thank you!
DeleteAnd yes, once one becomes aware of just how screwed newsrooms have become, the type of coverage suddenly makes more sense, sadly. Very, very sadly.
What's worse, I hope to make the case that this is not accidental, not the mere side effect of corporate capitalism and its continuing cutting of expenditures.
We'll see how well I make that argument.
Pretty stunning stuff. (Well presented too!) The factors you discuss here explain a lot about the current election. Seems to me this year that, worse than other years, the articles that people cite as reasons to vote for one Presidential candidate or the other are just opinion pieces and puff pieces, comparatively little real investigation and unearthing of facts this year than other years... almost like the articles everyone is citing have been written by one candidate or the other's PR office. Hmmmmm. Meanwhile very few articles appear, compared to other years, about local candidates and local propositions and so forth. Almost as if _those_ PR offices couldn't afford to put out nearly as much material as the Presidential campaigns. Hmmmm.
ReplyDelete