On Social Media, Cable & Mainstream News
So this email exchange is taking place right now and I thought I’d blog about it as I’m sure many of you may be thinking/struggling with the same meaning of social media as a news outlet today. Please leave your thoughts and comments here I’d like to hear your approaches to conversations like this. The following exchange is happening now with a family member who uses cable news as a major part of his news. It began with my thinking of him while reading Seth Godin’s critique of cable news.
Me: I thought of you and had to pass this critique of cable news channels. I agree
with a lot of the notions here.Him: Same could be said of the Congress and the administration.
He is guilty of the same things just by writing this blog.
Here is my reply to that last reply:
I agree to a point. But I can’t truly contact Congress, CNN, etc. directly enough and in a timely and sufficient manner that might be necessary for my real understanding. I’m not against mainstream media, it serves a purpose for keeping me (among other demographics) up-to-date, but so does Google News (check it out, it’s rich), Twitter (for reasons other than “what others are doing”), Facebook (for shared news from friends and family), Google Reader (where I can subscribe to ideas, news and people of interest) among other avenues to those generating news.
I think the difference is that readers and writers can directly interact, in a more timely and sufficient manner, with Godin and others interested in the topic through comments on his site, their own online writing, videos and more. Granted that while most are not experts, the collective conversation (through a variety of online and offline resources) can lead to a better understanding of the news topic at hand. I’ll also say that the opposite can be true as well.
What I’m getting at is that if I want to dive deeper and really wrestle with a news topic, it’s necessary that I take in multiple perspectives to construct my own understanding. Cable news channels have budgets to meet, revenue to generate and investors with deep pockets to please and that is a formula that is dangerous for open information and communication.
This isn’t meant to be an argument at all, but a window into my thoughts. It’s such an interesting time to live in right now. It’s interesting to think about how much I’ve learn and grown professionally over the past 4.5 years through a combination of social and mainstream media. I think a mix of both is what I’m getting at. I tend to be heavier on the social media side because I can subscribe to it and read it anytime, anywhere. In addition a lot my work has been social media-based.
In the end, it just might be that I really dislike commercials.
Let’s see what transpires…
Posted in: Social Media
I don’t watch mainstream media. I only watch cable news very briefly in the morning (mostly cause my 11yr old daughter forces me to). I get the majority of my news through blogs, internet news media, and news passed through social networks. I have found that I am usually better informed than those who only get their news through mainstream media. That’s not to say that I know *everything* going on, but I know what is going on that interest me. And as a (future) history teacher (and former military intelligence analyst) that’s just about everything! (sometimes unfortunately).
I actually prefer to get my news off the internet (from reputable sources) because it allows me the chance to check the source (and their sources) and research stories and events and to determine possible motives or political bias.
I’ve found that I get news quicker than most through others sharing on other networks as well. As you said, we can be aware of what’s happening, but may not be completely informed.
I also feel that it’s really important that we not only ensure that the news comes from reputable sources, but balance the perspectives we’re reading, viewing, and listening to about news. It’s interesting to read some news sources coming from overseas and not from within the US border. Some perspectives are refreshing and enlightening others make us really think and I like that.
Do you think that reputable is a relevant term on the Internet?
I agree with you about news from overseas sources. Having lived in Germany for six years and as a result of my job it was necessary to read news from other countries. It was really interesting how much impact U.S. policy has on every single other country in the world. And I say that unequivocally, not just almost every other country, but really every other country. Much of their front page news and their lead off stories dealt with the U.S.
I don’t think Americans understand how things in this country impact the rest of the world. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on your political views) this seems to be changing. Reading news from other countries also gives you cultural window to look through into that particular country. What is interesting is how a small policy adjustment made in congress dealing with some obscure agricultural issue can have a major impact in some developing country on the other side of the globe and how that country reacts to it. It’s a “wow” factor sometimes or an “a-ha” factor.
And I do believe “reputable” is a relevant term on the internet. UC Berkeley Library has some great tutorials and handouts for evaluating webpages and conducting research. You can find it here: http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/FindInfo.html
I don’t think “reputable” always means that it is free of political bias or motive, but that the reader perceives the bias and/or motive and can still extract information from the text by putting aside the bias/motive.
Eric, interesting stuff, especially what you led off with in that last comment. I agree that “reputable” doesn’t always mean free of bias. How could it? We all have bias towards something, but as you said, the difference is the awareness of it and acting in a way that doesn’t reflect that bias. Thanks for your comments!
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