Why The American Media Is Sad: In Four Simple Pictures

watch afghanistan is just going to be like when hitler was in power in germany. he kept telling everyone that hes winning the war and before you knew it the truth comes out and they lost. i beleive that the american right wing media beleives that they can glaze our eyes over with footage of some guy in a turban getting blown to peices and they can tell us that the effort is paying off. but the way i see this war its just like vietnam ie: guerilla warfare takes the upper hand in a combat situation simply because they know the land and the local population is aware of thier prescence, which puts our boy in blue at quite the disadvantage

I'm sorry but journalism is only going to get worse. Even though we read our news on the internet, watch on TV, or listen to the radio, like 95% of these stories originate from AP and or newspapers. Newspapers are hurting not just from the internet, but also from the lack of advertising revenue from the bad economy.

People like the internet because they get to read the same news, but with the 'spin' that appeals to them.

We've substituted whole newsrooms (remember like the you see in Superman or other movies) for blogs and opinions.

Yes we get news faster now, but I also get a BigMac faster than a Steak too.

Tell me, what has a bigger impact on your life:
The soldier who won't go to war because of Obama's legitimacy question, or the proposed landfill near you that is being debated between commissioners and developers. The internet won't cover that.

It's sad and it is not going to get better.

27jd,

To be honest I really can't argue with any of your points. You have the more mature perspective out of the two of us on this.

I just see what happens when gonzo journalism/media influences populations nearly completely like it has in the US. Intellectuals like you are the exception to the majority of the population. I guess it happens in a lot of countries besides the US I just think we are the world leader of it and we export it to other countries or at least try to. soon the gonzoness infects their culture and then everything is one giant cesspool of lame.

When I was in CHina a while ago they have most of the internet we have and it's not too censored. but at the same time when asked about the whole situation the general answer was that they didn't really mind the censorship. they would then go on to explain how american culture while appealing in it's on right is just like a drug. its pretty useless, makes people useless and spreads like disease making other countries useless all together but it sure feels good. it's just pretty useless in it's current mutation. maybe in the future it will change but right now we are not doing anything to help ourselves, instead we insulate ourselves and don't want to see reality. Of all countries in the world you'd think the US would be at the height of furthering enlightenment and the model of how the human race should work. and for a while we were until the corporations and the media took over all in an attempt to increase capital profits (for themselves) and left the population a bunch of zombies for a lack of a better description.

PS glad to hear from another fellow s. Californian. weathers really nice today huh.

[edit on 15-7-2009 by BASSPLYR]

reply to post by BASSPLYR


I also agree with what you're saying, I think it may be a catch 22. I guess I just feel like everybody is entitled to spend their time however they wish, but you're right, the downside is that most people are content wasting their time away watching TMZ and maintaining 10 social networking sites, as if they're all SO important that the world needs to have access to their lives in real time, 24/7. Blah. I can't find it in me to be interested in that crap, I'd rather be out in the desert looking for gold and meteors. Usually people are old before they find joy in nature, I feel fortunate that I'm young and found it...gives me time away from all the stimulus of the city and my job. I guess it's hard to tell if things will get better or worse, since technology keeps doubling itself they will probably get worse, since as you say, the crap can be addictive to alot of people.

BTW, I'm actually in Phoenix...I don't want to talk about the weather, we're about 115 degrees right now, it's like living inside a nuclear explosion...I'll be in San Diego the 1st week of August though, can't friggin wait, lol.

ah phoenix is a lot like a convection oven when you step outside. I feel your pain. It's more like 80 and slightly humid here. Have a blast when you're in san diego next month. The surfs up-if you like to surf.

You're right the situation is one giant catch 22.

I agree people should get out more, get connected to nature, and find joy in the outdoors sooner than later. I too am lucky enough to have discovered how great playing in the dirt really is. As a kid I would hike the hollywood hills. everybody else would go on the 15 foot wide fire road/trails. Me i'd find the nearest deer trail and meander around those instead. you see a lot better vistas and more wildlife. and it's nice to not see a empty cigarette pack or empty beer bottle while hiking the animal trails like you do when you walk the people ones. I am fine with people throwing their trash on the street a place of nature we've already destroyed by covering it with concrete and sing it exclusively for our own purposes. Peeved when people do that to the untouched places. have they no respect for nature at all or their environment or the planet? Nope it's easier to just litter I guess than deal with the garbage they put into the world. talk about self responsibility. or lack thereof.

[edit on 15-7-2009 by BASSPLYR]

Originally posted by BASSPLYR
The surfs up-if you like to surf.

I certainly do, although I'll probably be stuck boogie boarding, it's a family vacation so I'll have my kids, gotta be closer to the shore so I can watch them, they aren't the strongest swimmers yet, lol. I'll probably sneak over a little later in the year without the kids...

I am fine with people throwing their trash on the street a place of nature we've already destroyed by covering it with concrete and sing it exclusively for our own purposes. Peeved when people do that to the untouched places. have they no respect for nature at all or their environment or the planet?

Yeah, me too. On the positive side though, nature can erase evidence of our existence pretty quicky. There's a cool show on the discovery channel called life after people, it shows how things will break down over time...you should watch it if you haven't already.

It's a great show. seen it.

I also like shows that try and speculate what animals will look like on earth after another million years of evolution. Have fun at sea world and the animal parks (cause your with the kids I figure) San diego is pretty.

the water though if your going to the beach is clear and about 68 degrees if not warmer. great for swimming. warm southern current I think is getting san diego for a while now. should be even better in aug.

yea i totally agree, but dont you think that michael jackson is recently being used as a sapegoat to draw attention away from the real issues going on. the fact that the media is so oversaturated with this dreck is one of the factors that the general populus is so completely oblivious to whats going on around them that when they hear of things such as alternative media, that they are so skeptical of what real news is. i believe that the mainstream media is one of the greatest desensitizing tools ever invented

Originally posted by BASSPLYR
I also like shows that try and speculate what animals will look like on earth after another million years of evolution.

Yeah, that one's cool too. So are all the extreme fishing shows they've been playing lately, like river monsters.

Have fun at sea world and the animal parks (cause your with the kids I figure) San diego is pretty.

Gonna hit Sea World for sure, my grandparents live in San Diego so I've spent many summer days there. I remember when budweiser didn't own it, lol. I'm glad they have all those rides though, you can only put so many different hats on an otter, or change shamu's trainers wetsuit colors so many times before you've seen it all, gotta freshen it up a bit, lol...

warm southern current I think is getting san diego for a while now. should be even better in aug.

Hope so, warm to you and warm to me are probably not the same though, lol. Even in the summer that water sends my balls into my stomach, until the numbness sets in. I know that when the el nino current hits it gets pretty tolerable though, so i'm optimistic.

More on topic, although the OP has a valid point, it was really just posting a few different covers of a crappy magazine. Still, look at all the stars and flags it got, simply because it bashes america, not real quality content. Then watch all the hateful, ignorant posts belittling us, our families, and our friends. We are americans, and we're not stupid. There are stupid people that live here, but there are stupid people in every country. I can accept criticism, if these haters were calling american pop culture stupid, i would agree with them. But they aren't, read some of the trash on this thread alone, you'll see some pretty disrespectful, direct insults on us as a people. I won't accept that, we're all human and we're all capable of being stupid...none more capable than those who are throwing around blanket insults.

This just shows how much they try to keep the fog over our eyes.

the ocean any part of the year will always make your balls retract. Just the way it is. no matter what for us guys there's going to be that difficult stage of where we have to get past our waists in the water. you know. the little waves keep coming and we keep thinking if we just turn sideways when the wave hits we'll spare out little buddies. The only time that doesn't happen is when you are in the tropics and the water is literally body temperature.

Hit up the animal park if you can. I know it's a little bit north of the city and not connected to the SD zoo but the "safari" ride is worth it. especially for the kids. And the lion there as a real cool attitude. he's practically posing for the tourists and loves the attention. they have this gutted out old hummer he lives in on this acre lot. looks content as a clam.

Wow that really is sad. Can't wait to show this to my friends ahaha

reply to post by kadugen


All things being equal, the Afghani man look healthier and more "attractive" that the wealthy American photographer (whoof whoof).

Personally, I think that current US political news might be more damaging to judgment than reality TV shows. CNN, Fox, NBC, ABC, WSJ all use propaganda. I prefer the majority of the population to read something about a couple and quintuplets than lies intended to f us up.

Originally posted by BASSPLYR
Hit up the animal park if you can. I know it's a little bit north of the city and not connected to the SD zoo but the "safari" ride is worth it.

Yeah, I haven't been there in a long time. It's right at the base of that big mountain range, a bit east. I remember they had a electronic dinosaur thing there. Might go check out the lion, thanks.

I suspect that the amount of crap that is pumped out for people to read is an indicator of how much people want to avoid knowing. Self knowledge can be painful. Our "news" (what we can get) is often the rest of the world's history.

reply to post by baseball101


This image would have been also great to amplify this message, but as you have stated, U.S.Media is playing a poker game.

Newsspeak is nothing but pure propaganda and has been for years. It might be eligible for lining your bird cage, but the birds might get offended. If it wasn't obvious already it became clear to me after they gleefully published article after article saying that capitalism has failed and then promoted their brand of neo-socialism. Of course only the elite will have anything under their scheme.

It really just reads like a political pamphlet from US communist party. I'm hardly surprised that they vary their content. Overseas of course they have to fuel anti-US hatred. At home they can't be so obvious about it. Note also the skin color of the terrorists seems to change. Hmmm.

Excellent thread. I had no idea that they did this kind of thing. First image is striking, Cant beleive what they feed americans =/

To the OP

That is damning evidence.

if you want more just take a screenshot of CNN.com's most popular stories, ANY DAY, ANY WEEK, ANY MONTH.

It's sickening.

We used to have a real press that gave a damn and did something about it.

Where have all the real reporters gone?