Originally Posted By Lisann22 Enjoyed your post SuperDry. I grew up in a house that nightly watched the news together and discussed world/us/local events at the dinner table every night. My parents also insisted that we learn to read our daily newspapers. I was always the one kid in class that could talk to my teachers about current events. In living in various parts of the US for the past 20 years I've met all kinds of people. What strikes me is every time I meet one of these news junkies who can go on and on about all the "mirco" issues of Washington, etc. That's all they are; informed. Community wise they are not active; they are not the ones out making change or doing something about all the issues they spend hours and hours listening, watching on TV, reading blogs or participating in discussion boards about. It's become an addiciton of sorts but in a sense it's no different than being a Star Trek fanatic or a Disney geek. So while it's great to be on top of the news and know your current events but if you're not taking action or doing something about it what's the point?
Originally Posted By SuperDry <<< Excellent post, SuperDry. I think perhaps "the noise machine" has it's counterparts on the left as well, especially on cable news. >>> Absolutely, at least to some degree. Are you referring to CNBC and/or MSNBC? I can't remember which, but I've heard from several sources that one of those was practically gushing over Obama, even during the primaries. <<< Their radio programs are not nearly as popular though. >>> "Not nearly" doesn't even begin to describe it. Consider Limbaugh, Hannity, Savage, and some of the lesser national hosts and all of the local ones (it seems that these days each AM radio station that broadcasts Limbaugh has a whole slate of compatible local hosts, with 2-3 hosts having multi-hour shows that basically have the same message). There's nothing anywhere near this on the left. Not to mention that there's nothing anywhere near Drudge Report on the left. But the big story really isn't any of these media sources individually, but rather the totality. One can now surround themselves with this stuff 24/7, whether it be written, radio, or TV. And a great many people do so, and are in fact proud to do so! And, the notion that one SHOULD do so is subtlety reinforced by the noise machine itself. It's all very disturbing. <<< It may be because those on the left do not need it or simply that they don't know how to be entertaining as well as political. >>> There are probably a lot of reasons. I know that it's been tried, but nobody's been successful at it. I don't really know what to make of it - it's probably a combination of the factors you mentioned.
Originally Posted By Lisann22 It's a celebrity driven mentality to it. On the plane from Atlanta to San Francisco the E Channel was running the top 20 political sex scandals. I think we can all blame Gary Hart for the 24/7 news pundits now. LOL
Originally Posted By SuperDry Lisann22, it sounds like you grew up in a very interesting household. I didn't have anything like that in my home growing up. I've found it interesting that many of the great people over the past 100 years, whether politically or in industry, grew up in households where such knowledge was encouraged and expected.
Originally Posted By mawnck >>My point is that although these people might self-identify as people that are very much into keeping up with things, prior to the noise machine turning into a 24/7 medium, they were NOT the types of people that paid attention to current events.<< Keep in mind that one of the fundamental tenets of the noise machine and its adherents is that no other news sources are to be trusted. Don't discount that as a factor.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 <And, the notion that one SHOULD do so is subtlety reinforced by the noise machine itself. It's all very disturbing.> Yes, I've noticed that too. And #15 was one of the best summaries I've ever read about the noise machine, SuperDry.
Originally Posted By SuperDry <<< Keep in mind that one of the fundamental tenets of the noise machine and its adherents is that no other news sources are to be trusted. >>> Absolutely. They are CONSTANTLY talking about this, driving the point home. How often do you hear someone on CNN or CBS News tell you not to watch Fox News or listen to Rush or read Drudge? Never! In fact, the only time I've heard the noise machine even mentioned at all by the "mainstream media" is when CNN did a piece on Fox News' 10th anniversary, and if anything, it was just a "congrats" for 10 years of broadcasting with not even a hint of negativity.
Originally Posted By ecdc >>There are probably a lot of reasons. I know that it's been tried, but nobody's been successful at it. I don't really know what to make of it - it's probably a combination of the factors you mentioned.<< I know I'll be yelled at by the "both parties are all the same!" usual suspects, but I'll take a stab at it. As politically incorrect as it might be to say, I've come to believe that in this day and age, those that are left-leaning are genuinely more informed than those that are right-leaning. (I'll offer the essential caveats now: there's crazy people on both sides, there's intelligent, informed people on both sides.) This wasn't always the case, of course. It used to be that Americans disagreed over economic issues, foreign policy issues, etc. It wasn't that long ago that Republicans were people like Dwight Eisenhower or Barry Goldwater. And when a Republican like Joseph McCarthy came along, he had a relatively short career. He was censured by the Senate and loathed by many in his own party. (How ironic and telling is it that Republicans today admire him while Republicans in the 50s largely despised him?) Even during Watergate, when Americans started to become more divided, when it became clear what Nixon was, Congressional Republicans largely broke with him. Everyone was an American, we just had different ideas of how to help the country. Compare this to today and the attitude towards Bush. Even now McCain and Romney have been caught saying they think he's been a great President. McCain, for fear of alienating the base, can't call it like it is and try and appeal to the moderates. Republicans don't just disagree with Democrats anymore, many of them truly believe that they're immoral and even evil. Somehow, thanks in large part to Jerry Falwell in the 1970s and 80s, God got dragged into the equation and people began demonizing each other. In short, what it means to be a Republican has changed. The culture wars now drive Republicanism. As SuperDry laid out, it's surrounding oneself with the noise machine 24/7. It's about divisive social issues like abortion, gun rights, or the death penalty. It's a view of the world that says "This is how the world works and anyone who feels otherwise doesn't just disagree, they're somehow out to get America." It's gotten so absurd that we routinely watch conservatives on these boards and elsewhere argue *against* their own economic self-interests, insisting that tax breaks for the rich really are the way to go. On the flip side, I'm very proud of the fact that Air America is always behind right-wing radio. I was disappointed in Fahrenheit 9/11 by Moore, because the thought of liberals sitting in a movie theatre nodding along mindlessly like a Limbaugh fan each and every morning made me sick. I get my news from a variety of sources. Google News is my homepage and I'm not afraid to read stories that might be unflattering to Democrats (Obama's pandering to the middle, for example). I always find it ironic when the right-wing complains about newscasters having a left-wing bias, or college campuses being bastions of liberal thought. Maybe, just maybe, instead of automatically assuming this is bias or inherently wrong, perhaps they could try and make a link between education and liberalism, or information and leftist ideology. I started out as a teenager interested in politics. I was a diehard Republican. I did an internship with John Kasich (former Congressman and Fox News commentator) in Washington, DC. As everyone now knows, I voted for Bush in 2000. But I simply cannot understand how anyone who reads the newspaper each day, who studies the (real, not faux) history of our nation, can remain in support of the current Republican party. It's anathema, frankly. A Goldwater Republican? An Eisenhower Republican? Sure thing. But a Bush Republican? It's only possible if one is immersing themselves in right-wing propaganda.
Originally Posted By ecdc <<< Keep in mind that one of the fundamental tenets of the noise machine and its adherents is that no other news sources are to be trusted. >>> There's a name for that kind of mentality, by the way. It's called a "cult." I'm not kidding; one of the primary identifiers of a cult is the belief that information about the group is not to be trusted if it comes from outside of said group.
