quote:

Originally posted by mbinky:
Liberals (like the communists and socialists they are derived from) crave power and influence over other people. That is why they gravitate to politics, law, academia, and journalism.

I'm with mbinky's thinking. When you combine this mindset with "rust never sleeps" it's very dangerous. The "Rust never sleeps" aspect means that some of these liberal folks live, eat, breath for the latest cause/flavor of the week.

Most conservative folks I know work towards changing the things that they can and accepting the things they cannot. (Rather like normative and empirical thinking).

And it's said- nothing is more dangerous than someone who knows what is best for everyone.

Nothing is ever static, nothing stays the same. The "liberal" values that most here would agree with (free speech, free press, freedom of religion) have all been perverted in today's political world. Democrats have become libertarians, Socialists are Democrats and Republicans are....I don't know what.

I think in time the the "new" media that Trump leveraged so well - social media, alternative news outlets - will become the main source (if they have not already) and will likely fit the "middle of the road" vs. Liberal/Conservative label.

As to why so many in the media - mainstream media moved on from being about news and facts so long ago that now we just have performers of one type or another. Narcissistic, egomaniacs that are like the old 1920 actress stereotype "I'm ready for my closeup now!" Of course they know better, many journalism degrees are the "easiest" (not all) and many are frankly downright ignorant.

In the end, we created a perfect environment for the ignorant, arrogant, egotistical, "know it all" with a low bar to qualify. That is now what we call "liberal".

At some point, we need better labels because none of us here or mostly in the US fit the labels used to describe us.

quote:

Originally posted by bald1:
I seriously wonder if some chemical imbalance in their brains doesn't play a role.

Mainly Marijuana?

quote:

The "liberal" values that most here would agree with (free speech, free press, freedom of religion) have all been perverted in today's political world.

First, these are not liberal "values", they are Constitutional Rights.
I don't view them as either liberal or conservative or even libertarian-hybrid.
Have they been perverted? Perhaps yes.

Lots of thoughtful analysis. I think it's our education system. Liberals took over the education system decades ago and the country has inevitably followed.

quote:

Originally posted by sigmonkey:
The Ten Planks of the
Communist Manifesto
1848 by Karl Heinrich Marx

It is a systematic approach at boiling the frog.

Most are "live and let live" types. Others are "control and be controlled" types.

The latter fear self reliance, responsibility for self and accountability for actions and the acceptance of consequences for actions, good or bad.

That leads them to "create safety" (a fiction) by controlling others, and being controlled.



Beware of those who are afraid and cowards. For they are more dangerous than the brave and strong.
-sigmonkey

My thoughts precisely.

When I attended SJW-U in the early 90s, after education majors, journalism majors were among the least likely to dress themselves and function in public on a daily basis. The intellectually lazy, SJ-pandering journalism dimwits needed "control and be controlled" to get through life. They consequently project that need upon us unwashed masses.

Oh. And marijuana. Lots of marijuana.

quote:

Originally posted by smschulz:

quote:

The "liberal" values that most here would agree with (free speech, free press, freedom of religion) have all been perverted in today's political world.

First, these are not liberal "values", they are Constitutional Rights.
I don't view them as either liberal or conservative or even libertarian-hybrid.
Have they been perverted? Perhaps yes.

They are absolutely values, whether or not they are constitutional rights. There are those of us who cherish those rights, and even swear to defend them with our lives, because we cherish them as values we incorporate into our lives.

If they were just words on paper they would have been abolished long ago. See Prohibition. They have staying power only so long as they remain core American values.

For examples of those who don't, see relatively recent op eds demanding the repeal of the Second Amendment or further restrictions on the First or the erosion of the Fourth Amendment. Rights or not, the authors of those pieces clearly do not hold them as values and we're lucky they're not the super-majority they think they are.

Leftism is not natural. It must be evangelized. What better way?

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
You also have to take into consideration the common liberal mindset of "we know better than you/it's for your own good". They see themselves as intellectually superior to "the masses", and they feel that it's their job (and the Nanny State government's job) to protect the average "dumb citizen" from themselves.

I believe they actually feel superior to regular persons in every way. Perhaps scared of, but they definitely feel as the working class as below them. Anyone who does not have a white collar job, or is not an artist or possibly musician, is definitely an inferior person in their minds. I have lived around these snowflakes, right in their midst, and their projected air of superiority is quite obvious.

I believe that the dumbest people on the planet are in the media - they're simply not smart enough to get hired to do anything but bloviate or fabricate

if they were smart, they'd have the brains to determine wrong from right and they wouldn't be swayed by socialists and communists

until we get a better class of person as a 'journalist' we will continue to have an entire industry built around taking the easy way out of tough situations

quote:

Originally posted by c1steve:

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
You also have to take into consideration the common liberal mindset of "we know better than you/it's for your own good". They see themselves as intellectually superior to "the masses", and they feel that it's their job (and the Nanny State government's job) to protect the average "dumb citizen" from themselves.

I believe they actually feel superior to regular persons in every way. Perhaps scared of, but they definitely feel as the working class as below them. Anyone who does not have a white collar job, or is not an artist or possibly musician, is definitely an inferior person in their minds. I have lived around these snowflakes, right in their midst, and their projected air of superiority is quite obvious.

I think the best people are the ones who make the world go around - scientists, engineers, tradesmen and technicians of all kinds, business owners, etc. These people make things happen. The other people watch the best people make the world go round trying to add meaning to it, with the bad ones failing miserably.

quote:

Originally posted by konata88:
Maybe there is alignment between the Left (who may tend to be more emotional and have emotions steer their lives) and the media who focuses upon stirring emotions and sensationalism as engines behind revenue generation?

There's no doubt that emotion-based individuals are going lean left. In the simplest sense, facts don't matter, as long as you 'feel good', that's the only concern. Never mind about guardrails to life, setting up some foundation, nope, just go do whatever works for you. Making a scene, attracting attention, exaggerating and over-inflating, no problem nothing is too big.

Media types in school were the popular kids, always running around currying favor with others, sometimes they're stylish, they wanted everyone to get along never being a contrarian, their yearbooks were filled with their pics and everyone's signatures. Their only skill was social, in an analytical or, structured environment, they're completely out of their realm: airline pilot, military, LEO, engineer/surveyor, banker/accountant/finance, sales..any of those career fields you're unlikely to find a hard liberal.

The liberal who longs to get into politics you can find in the movie Election, Reese Witherspoon's character Tracy Flick emulates every person I ever knew who ran for student body government and later in life went into legal or, government. They tried to be both emotional and analytical but, would instead manifest themselves into this perverse individual where everything was leveraged for their greater social gain without every producing anything or, achieving anything beyond individual satisfaction.

My take is simple really. Most newsies liberal because as people they are liberal. Liberals "feel" and conservatives "think." A lot of folks who , at a young age, set out to "change the world" get involved in journalism and that sets the mold.

I believe it's the same with politicians. Saving the world one "Dreamer" at a time. Just the other day Chuck announced we all "love" dreamers... no, chuck, we don't all love dreamers. Our first love is to our US citizens...

The idea of an “unbiased media” is the thing of the past. There really are not Left or Right media outlets, that is a fiction. What you have are media outlets pandering or “selling” the bias of the audience back to that specific audience. The listening public, for the most part, has no interest in “unbiased media”, they just want “news” to re-confirm their own particular bias. (conformation bias) And that “news” is valuable, it sells.

I do believe the perception of a “left” leaning media started during the Viet Nam war, in which the entrenched Republican conservatives and the Dixie-crats targeted the press for speaking poorly of the war. But then, IMO, as we moved past that era, the outlets realized it was more profitable to “sell” the news people wanted to hear vs just reporting the news. Started first with news print media and then it gradually shifted to TV.

No one really wants to sit down in the evening and listen to newscasters tell them that what they believe regarding a topic is actually false. That narrative does not sell ads.

quote:

Originally posted by Southflorida-law:
The idea of an “unbiased media” is the thing of the past. There really are not Left or Right media outlets, that is a fiction. What you have are media outlets pandering or “selling” the bias of the audience back to that specific audience. The listening public, for the most part, has no interest in “unbiased media”, they just want “news” to re-confirm their own particular bias. (conformation bias) And that “news” is valuable, it sells.

I do believe the perception of a “left” leaning media started during the Viet Nam war, in which the entrenched Republican conservatives and the Dixie-crats targeted the press for speaking poorly of the war. But then, IMO, as we moved past that era, the outlets realized it was more profitable to “sell” the news people wanted to hear vs just reporting the news. Started first with news print media and then it gradually shifted to TV.

No one really wants to sit down in the evening and listen to newscasters tell them that what they believe regarding a topic is actually false. That narrative does not sell ads.

If this hypothesis were true, there would be at least as many 'Fox News's as there were other media outlets. Fox News has been the #1 cable news outlet for years, if these media companies were interested in selling more ads and making more money, they would offer more conservative news. The fact that they would rather go under than offer a balanced news product tells you that there is more at play than wanting to make money.

I'd really be interested in hearing your rebuttal on this. When I started offering this view over a decade ago whenever someone said that media outlets were just chasing dollars I never got a rebuttal, it has always been radio silence. If they are interested in making money, why aren't they doing what the network who is the most popular and making the most money is doing?

quote:

Originally posted by BamaJeepster:
I'd really be interested in hearing your rebuttal on this.

First, look at where the top TV markets are located. The top 7 cities, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas-Ft. Worth, San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, Boston. It kind of goes on like that. Pretty consistently "Blue" cities. So what news would sell best is a strong "Blue" city? Fox? or a more liberal leaning news program?

Now the other problem is that we have news programs and news "shows". Rachel Maddow is always to top contender along with Hannity and Carlson, but that aint news, those are entertainment shows. And all of those shows fall way below in ratings compared to sports or some other BS show. I think Judge Judy beats them all. So you are looking at smaller fractions of viewership.

Now, actual nightly news, Fox is nowhere to be found in the top, its ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX comes in way down with total viewership. And again, this is News, not some entertainment “news show”. When it comes to Cable News, FOX is a pretty consistent leader, but the numbers don’t come close to the big 3. And numbers equals money. If I am reading the numbers right, ABC nightly news averages about 10 million viewers, FOX about 2 or 3 million. FOX is the big fish in a small pond. So which way do you think the "news" will drift in the NY market (which is the #1 market)?

When FOX starts to push 10 million viewers, you’ll see more “FOX” like news. But I’ll repeat, you’re not getting news from any of them, just a lot of confirmation bias.