Elisa, as always you are a beacon in a storm. Thank you. This resonated with me so much. I tend to feel guilty about opting out"because I conflate that with being ill-informed.....but I always seem to know what's going on! I solely listen to NPR or UK outlets now, but gather other info from like-minded friends on social, quick critical glance of the headlines, and even - gasp - having conversations with people who share new insights and info that we can critically discuss. I feel like the media is TRYING to make us stay away from the polls, with all its click bait and fear-mongering. We have to be smarter than this.
Also, I have a friend in journalism and higher ed who constantly tried to beat the drum that the lack of strong local news is decreasing civic engagement. That when we are only get information at the national level, we feel helpless to take action locally or that it even matters. Curious as to your thoughts? I kind of despise the cheesiness of local news, but it does do its part to offer ways to get involved and support after they present news stories.
Well said. I posted this to my Facebook page. Doom, gloom and allowing ourselves to be manipulated for corporate storytelling profits is not a productive use of our time.
I feel like the other thing people DON'T know or recognize is that stuff that gets reported on that doesn't appear to have a slant...does. One of the glaring examples is mainstream media focusing on dramatic crime issues in big cities. It makes for a compelling narrative. Makes it look like "soft on crime" policies are responsible. Instead there is a whole infrastructure issue that has nothing to do with policing.
I lived in DC in the late 80s/early 90s: gun bans caused riots according to media. Tolerance spread AIDS. Chicago: guns and gangs when I was there. National news every time. San Francisco is ignored unless we need house price horror stories or organized crime. NYC is now used as scare stories for the Chinese billionaires and needing a crack down on that. Reasonable people who are middle of the road voters see the spin and blame it on liberal policies. The former guy or someone one that side gets elected--that will vanish once he/she postures and screams.
Elisa, as always you are a beacon in a storm. Thank you. This resonated with me so much. I tend to feel guilty about opting out"because I conflate that with being ill-informed.....but I always seem to know what's going on! I solely listen to NPR or UK outlets now, but gather other info from like-minded friends on social, quick critical glance of the headlines, and even - gasp - having conversations with people who share new insights and info that we can critically discuss. I feel like the media is TRYING to make us stay away from the polls, with all its click bait and fear-mongering. We have to be smarter than this.
Also, I have a friend in journalism and higher ed who constantly tried to beat the drum that the lack of strong local news is decreasing civic engagement. That when we are only get information at the national level, we feel helpless to take action locally or that it even matters. Curious as to your thoughts? I kind of despise the cheesiness of local news, but it does do its part to offer ways to get involved and support after they present news stories.
Well said. I posted this to my Facebook page. Doom, gloom and allowing ourselves to be manipulated for corporate storytelling profits is not a productive use of our time.
I feel like the other thing people DON'T know or recognize is that stuff that gets reported on that doesn't appear to have a slant...does. One of the glaring examples is mainstream media focusing on dramatic crime issues in big cities. It makes for a compelling narrative. Makes it look like "soft on crime" policies are responsible. Instead there is a whole infrastructure issue that has nothing to do with policing.
I lived in DC in the late 80s/early 90s: gun bans caused riots according to media. Tolerance spread AIDS. Chicago: guns and gangs when I was there. National news every time. San Francisco is ignored unless we need house price horror stories or organized crime. NYC is now used as scare stories for the Chinese billionaires and needing a crack down on that. Reasonable people who are middle of the road voters see the spin and blame it on liberal policies. The former guy or someone one that side gets elected--that will vanish once he/she postures and screams.