Saturday, April 4, 2020

The News Media on This Day in History


This Day in History: Today is National Hug a Newsperson Day. The News Media is so full of themselves they actually have such a day. Hatred of the media goes back centuries. As one book noted, "It doesn't matter whether it's true, only that it's believable." Yellow journalism, the Lugenpresse (lying press), fake news, call it what you will, the news media has been deservedly under suspicion for many. "The news media and the government are entwined in a vicious circle of mutual manipulation, mythmaking, and self-interest. Journalists need crises to dramatize news, and government officials need to appear to be responding to crises. Too often, the crises are not really crises but joint fabrications. The two institutions have become so ensnared in a symbiotic web of lies that the news media are unable to tell the public what is true and the government is unable to govern effectively."
https://hbr.org/1995/05/why-the-news-is-not-the-truth

Even Mark Twain(?) chimed in he said “If you don’t read the newspaper, you are uninformed. If you do read the newspaper, you are misinformed.” The news media is now one of the least trusted institutions in the world. So, when you hug a newsperson today, remember the social distancing guidelines.

See also The Yellow Press, the Fake News of 100 Years Ago (1907 Article)
http://thebookshelf2015.blogspot.com/2017/05/the-yellow-press-fake-news-of-100-years.html

The Yellow Press - The Fake News of the Past by Sydney Brooks 1911
http://thebookshelf2015.blogspot.com/2017/02/the-yellow-press-fake-news-of-past-by.html

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