A Little Dab of This & A Little Dash of That

Friday, September 23, 2016

Press & Media, Can We Talk? The Weirdest Catch 22 Ever



Bear with me.

This is one of those evolving posts.

So, for those of you who don't believe in evolution, you may want to leave now; for the rest...

On Monday, I saw:
"Why Hillary Lost: A Premature Obit," at Huffington Post, written by three of their editors, no less.

Then, I caught on Twitter, Chicago Sun Times' Lynn Sweet discussing with a panel on CNN, Gallup's recent poll that showed America's trust in the mass media has dropped to a new low.  
So, for them I found:
the world's smallest violin.

     A few days ago, when I started this post, it was entitled, "Press & Media; STOP ASKING US TO DO YOUR JOB".  
     It was to be about the seemingly ubiquitous habit of news programs using contributions from their viewers.  Such as photos, polls, and questions for guests.  
     Then, thanks to Samantha Bee, I realized that regardless of viewers' contributions,  I'm not alone in wondering:  when we look back over the past election's 18 months, what will be the MORE CRINGE WORTHY?
The nearly two dozen crazy ass campaigns... OR THE PRESS?
      Little did I know that Gallup was conducting such a timely poll.  Funny thing is, according to the poll, Democrats, (what I am) have not lost heart, with the media nearly as much as the Republicans, which my husband is.  However, ages 18-49 (how old I am) are considerably less trusting of the media, than people 50 and older, again, what my husband is. 

So, go figure.  

     Interpret Gallup's poll as you will.  According to their disclosure, 1020 adults, aged 18 and older,  were randomly surveyed.  So, if you want to discuss it, get some panels of your own, to mill over it over and over... let me know how that turns out. 

Yes, I'm a blogger.  Yes, I have a degree in Journalism.  No, I do not get paid for it.  

Yet I'm going to go out on a limb, and say, that I'm pretty sure that anyone you see on any major network, or their affiliates, gets paid pretty darn well. 

I admit, I have no idea as to how well.

     I do not begrudge them regardless.  Katy Tur, MSNBC's correspondent who picked the short pretzel and has covered Trump for nearly 18 months, deserves a raise.  To say the least.
     
     The notion that somehow, somewhere, the line became crossed as to what is media's job, and what is the public's job is, perhaps first started with that great idea, of reality television.  So, all of a sudden, instead of watching a James Bond movie, or Indiana Jones, we were subjected to SurvivorThe Amazing Race, and Naked and Afraid.

     Needless to say, today there are reality tv shows in so many areas, and involve so many demographics, that you scarcely need to meet anyone, get a job, form relationships, have kids, travel, or even get divorced, anymore.  You can virtually do it via a reality show.  They haven't managed to come with a reality show with death yet; so you'll still need to show up for that.  Then again there is Ghostly Encounters.

     Local news, as well as the ranks of Al Roker will use photos that viewers send in to entertain viewers when the weather is nice, but also to show extreme weather.  Like funnel clouds.  So, did the cameramen and photographers who used to take the photos and shoot video, have to join a reality show, or get hired by the Weather Channel or the Discovery Channel (to be in one of their reality shows, such as Storm Chasers) if they wished to stay in their chosen field and collect a paycheck?  

     Let's face it, with weather apps, not to mention the rapidly changing weather fronts, (probably brought on by climate change- may get to that in a moment) are weather folks really needed when they have about the same batting average as a player for the MLB?

     We have MSNBC's "The Pulse" and other requests for online feedback including now, FOX News is asking fans for DEBATE QUESTIONS?!!! 

This is hardly the first time I've griped about the press.
    Back in May, I wrote, Press-Stress/Stress-Press .  In it, is a diagram that shows that the 90% of media that was owned by 50 companies in 1983, as of 2011 is run by only six companies.
Here are the six companies, along with their notable properties, and the head of that company:
General Electric- Comcast, NBC, Universal Pictures, Focus Features~ Jeffrey Immelt
NewsCorp- FOX, Wall Street Journal, New York Post ~Rupert Murdoch 
Disney-ABC, ESPN, Pixar, Miramax, Marvel Studios~ Bob Iger
Viacom-MTV, Nick Jr., BET, CMT, Paramount Pictures~ Thomas E. Dooley* 
Mr. Dooley is currently the Interim CEO of Viacom
Time Warner- CNN, HBO, Time, Warner Bros~ Robert D. Marcus
CBS- Showtime, Smithsonian Channel, NFL.COM, Jeopardy, 60 Minutes
~  LeslieMoonves
     Six.  Is there's a round table somewhere, where they all meet to smoke their stogies, and pat each other's egos?  That's insane.  Just a couple of more takeovers and we'll be living in James Bond's Tomorrow Never Dies.    
     If the name Les Moonves sounds familiar, it may be because back in February he stated,
 "It may not be good for America, but it's damn good for CBS," 
referring to Donald Trump and the mudslinging of the campaigns.
   Trevor Noah summed it up beautifully.  Please click on the link to go to a clip from that episode of the Daily Show.  I came across it when I was looking up the leaders of the six companies.  Had I seen that earlier, I may have not wasted my time writing:
     "ATTENTION PRESS & MEDIA: THIS IS YOUR COUNTRY TOO!
     So, when I rhetorically asked, if the media was okay with the idea of Donald Trump being president, I guess I got my answer.  Doesn't take a genius to know that six rich white men, won't lose much with a Trump Presidency.  Even Bob Iger, the only one who has endorsed Hillary Clinton.  

Explains a lot. 
A couple of weeks ago, Samantha Bee expressed her frustration during an episode of Full Frontal.

No way I can do it justice.  Watch it!

     A year ago, many of the press and media laughed at the notion that Donald Trump could ever secure the Republican nomination, due to the fact that nearly everything that came out of his mouth was offensive.  

     Now, because that offensive behavior, to say whatever comes to mind no matter who is hurt; has become popular enough to secure him the nomination, it's up for points of view.  When someone calls that offensive behavior, deplorable, a synonym for offensive,that notion is now up for debate, and the politeness of the one who called deplorable deplorable is in question.  

     And that debate, causes networks to assemble panels and take phone calls as to whether or not calling Mexicans rapists is really that deplorable or not.  

     Excuse me, but aren't there some issues, that perhaps we should discuss now that it's less than 7 weeks until we vote?
     How about what to do about climate change, and how to implement clean energy?  How about a discussion as to see how Donald's science lessons are coming?  I think if Donald thinks that climate science is a pseudo science, the chance of him to talk about ideas of how to implement new clean energy job are pretty scarce.
Just like I find the notion of Donald having a benevolent maternity leave plan, laughable, when his running mate, Mike Pence, plans to overturn marriage equality and Roe v. Wade to implement his Christian priorities.  Personally, I have doubt that Donald knows what "benevolent' means without a dictionary.  Your welcome Gov. Pence, I purposely left out that deplorable word vice. 

     Last week Jimmy Fallon, got some flack for having the Donald on and not doing a better job, calling him out.  But really, if nobody else has, why should he?

     I had no desire to see Donald more than absolutely necessary, so I did not watch Jimmy that night, but did tune in on Monday, when Hillary graced the stage.  She was lovely as usual.  But let's be clear, Jimmy Fallon is not interested in being a political brain.  He is interested in being liked by as many as possible and playing nice with his bosses.
      Same bosses as Matt Lauer has probably.  
     Don't even get me started on the Commander In Chief Forum.  Ok... just a little.  I had a prior engagement, so I did not watch, but of course I had... well thoughts, rather than hopes for it.  Given Donald's statements over the year, I thought a couple of things might come up.  Senator McCain's POW experience; the fact Donald's referred to our military as a mess; that he has a bromance with Vladdy; does he actually "get" what a nuclear missile does?  Does he know what The Bill of Rights is?  Which Constitutional Amendment is his favorite?  Or, like his favorite Bible scripture, is that too personal?  
     The fact that we have a candidate who didn't know how many articles are in the Constitution; and we're still considering him for president; I personally find scary as hell.  But that's me.
     But then some brainiac thought a Commander in Chief Forum would be a great idea.
     So, you have Matt Lauer, a candidate who doesn't comprehend the concept of sacrifice, and the fact that entire program was only scheduled to be one hour; in a nutshell; what a fucking insult to our military.  Again, that's just my perception.
Yesterday, I heard on one of the news shows this morning, (don't remember, hadn't had any coffee at this point), some financial leader from Viacom, was discussing this and that about Viacom's future, and mentioned something about the new president bringing bigger tax breaks that would benefit the company.
The commentator then asked, "Does that mean you're voting for Trump?"
The Viacom honcho, I don't remember which one, replied, "Take it as you will."
The commentator and the Viacom honcho shared a chuckle.
For those people, who are so rich that the negative side of electing someone will never affect them, so they think; what can we expect from the 6 rich white men who run the media? In other words, if it's not in the media's power elite's interest, can we count on them to do what's best for the nation? The world?
However, I do think that despite their bosses, there are those in the media who are starting to grasp the reality of being blasé about Trump.
Frankly, as one who is excited as hell for Hillary, ( I mean come on already...what's keeping you?) on the other side of the coin, I think it's time to be done being blasé about Hillary. As OUR PRESIDENT'S SAID, at the DNC and at other times, "Hillary Clinton is the most qualified candidate EVER." I have a degree in journalism. I get about the importance of being unbiased. But I also get that when someone lies, you call them on it by presenting facts to support your claim. I also get, that it's okay to express admiration on occasion when a person has spent their life, working for others.
Hope that includes Lester Holt, the moderator for Monday's upcoming debate.
Yesterday I read a plea over at Huffington Post, that in covering the GOP nominee, "the media is sowing the seeds of its own destruction". For Huffington Post alone, I noted it had 15 photos of the Mr. Trump on their front page; I'm happy to notice today it was 5. We will see.
With last week's events in Tulsa, OK, and Charlotte, NC, America deserves at the very least a serious debate about the issues, come Monday.
Because when hell breaks loose, it trickles every which way but down. Everyone feels it.
This election is essentially important. I close with this awesome video that's been making the rounds-

Let's remember, we're all Americans, we're all in this together, and we're all we have.
Let's be good to one another.

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