March 2, 2007
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What information do you trust?
What does trustworthy information even look like, anymore?
Back in the dark ages, we used to read the news in the paper and we trusted that because it was printed in the New York Times or the Washington Post, it was trustworthy. Perhaps we thought the same about news that was presented on network TV.
But these are the days of information overload. 600 cable and satellite chanels and 200,000 newsblogs clamoring for our attention, as each spins the latest news with their own twist. What can be trusted?
It seems the onus increasingly falls on each individual to filter everything, according to our own standards for trustworthiness. But can we even do that, objectively.
Let’s just start with the fact that news is no longer an “information” or “public service” business, but a profit driven activity. Sure, the Town Crier of olden times was compensated, but he didn’t have a Board of Directors, nor shareholders to keep happy. With news increasingly becoming “info-tainment,” how do we even start with decent “raw material” to then decide whether to trust, or not? I was reminded of this just yesterday– there were riots in Copenhagen, in my native Denmark, because the decades-old “Youth House” (a “safe house” for troubled youths) was being closed, and the youths (who have essentially been “squatting” there for 25 years– although vaguely condoned by the City of Copenhagen). The events were reported on US TV with soundbites and film of flames, rioting people, blood and police sirens. I thought “WTF????” to myself and headed for the computer… looking up the Danish national TV system, and watching their coverage. Which was largely interviews, and a story of the place, and the political ramifications… and maybe 10 seconds of flames and blood.
It made me really think about the whole news-as-entertainment angle… and how much it surely must bias the reporting we’re exposed to.
So, the more information we’re bombarded with, the more we have to become “discerning” in what to trust. But in having to choose what to watch and trust, there is a rub. Will we really get “information,” or “the news?” Let’s face it, we have a natural tendency to seek out beliefs that support our own perception of the world. And with as many opinions as we can now get from all the world’s newsfeeds, we can almost invariably find a “version” of information that supports our paradigm.
From where I’m sitting, that looks like an open invitation to have our delusions fed, rather than an opportunity to find trustworthy reporting.
Comments (7)
I’m with you on this. I don’t trust most of what I see on the news. Plus I think that as a country there is some brainwashing going on from the powers to be. I try to not be paranoid by this, but just look at it objectively…if that’s possible.
Ah, but think of how much we have gained as a result of the information we are bombarded with. Technology is not without it’s miracles. Somehow, I don’t think Lincoln would have been elected President back in the day if they had the visuals we are graced with now because he wasn’t (by today’s standards) Good Looking.
We learn. We grow. We become apathetic. Oh … Gods! The dichotomy of today.
Do we escape into the realm of visual information, or do we use it to our advantage? It’s overwhelming.
Thank goodness for sunlight glistening on the Pacific. The shimmer of snow on a mountain top. The sound of robins in Spring. And my cell phone ringing …
Good points. I watch the Daily Show with Jon Stewart (someone has to keep a sense of humor) and subscribe to a site called Common Dreams. I cannot abide most of the mainstream media….
I agree… I find the news more for entertainment value now… I do read the paper, but again wonder what the story is behind it all…. good points…. ‘Til The Next
There are several questions to ask oneself:
!. Does it make sense. For example, the claim that Iran is arming insurgents who are usinf their bombs on American troops does not make sense. Most of the roadside bombs have been by Sunni insurgents. The administration wants us to believe that Iran is arming Sunnis. It makes no sense for another reasdon: the international arms trade is so large that I’ll bet arms from almost any industrial country can be found in Iraq.
2. Does it gibe with what we know of history?
3. What are the sources? How reliable have they been in the past?
4. Does anyone or any ideology stand to gain from this information. If so, could the information be influenced by that?
I could go on but we are fooled if we are ready to be fooled. – The Geezer
All I need is the who, what, where, when and how. Any other info I just tune it out
I am with you on this. I would say this about just about any entertainment show on television.
Through the information we gain daily, we create a perception of our environment. does this kind of news reporting create fear?, does it create phobias? I defintely think so. We are bombarded by it now too. I can’t help but to know the latest about brangelina’s baby, or britney’s psychocapades, because even if I don’t see it on TV, there’s someone who has seen it, who wants to talk about it. Because, the news makes us feel like it’s important, when it’s not…what is important, is our lack of good education….confronting the reasons we are still at war when we shouldn’t be….and why we have starving people in america, but we’re spending millions to fight a war we shouldn’t be fighting…..