7sins

Hmmm...let me start by letting you all know that I am a photojournalist. I shot for several years until moving up to a photo editor. Traveling the world I have put my life at risk more times than I could recall. I have been in the sights of automatic weapons held by grinning teenaged soldiers. During the early 90’s while in Guatemala, I was nearly kidnapped by rebel sympathizers, but the attempt was thwarted by a group of local villagers. Those were the moments between shooting football games and local elections.

We “REAL” journalists are so often smeared by being lumped in with TV talking heads, greedy moguls and tabloid trash. While shooting I was working gobs of unpaid overtime and all that sacrifice for less than $30,000 a year. Not so great for a college graduate. You don’t do this work for the money.



That said, I am not defending “the media.” I want you to know that I pretty critical of what is presented by the “media.” On the other hand I am sometimes confused by the widespread hate directed at the media.



True: Most media (print, TV, radio) is owned by corporations seeking to maximize profits...just like Mazda. It is a business and that is the American way. I have no problem with this except for the fact newsroom employees are usually grossly underpaid.



False: There is a liberal media conspiracy. Profit is the mission for CEO’s not politics...but neither drive true journalists. Obviously



There are so many constraints and challenges that many are unaware of. Folks expect perfection and that their fave form of media be all things. The business faces the same challenges that others face: money, manpower, supply ...etc. Sometimes dumb *** decisions are made and sometimes poor judgement is used. 24-hour Cable news and internet sites have placed incredible pressures on the national media and we feel some the strain even here at the local level. Without a doubt, however, nobody has ever had it better than we do as far as the choices of news sources. In all my traveling I have seen a lot of foreign reporting.



Teen pregnancy is blamed on "the media" instead of sperm.

Violence is blamed on "the media" instead of people with weapons.

Moral decay is blamed on "the media" instead of families and individuals.

The economy is blamed on "the media" instead of greed & mismanagement.

Street racing mayhem is blamed on "the media" instead of irresponsible drivers.



The fact is "the media" are corporations that have to meet financial expectations of their shareholders on Wall Street. They are in the business of making as much money as possible and do not spend time concaucting elaborate conspiratory agendas. The government, however, has been caught several times doing so.



"The media" was a term begat by squirmy politicians looking to displace blame. Sports stars do the same thing. They'll cheat, rape, break the law and play "the media" card.



Nowadays, if people don't like what they see or hear, they mimic the corrupted by citing "the media."



It is a double-edged sword. We want it all and want it yesterday and there are shortcomings that will arise from this kind of market . We would not be as informed as we are if it were not for "the media." But we also must choose wisely. It is not too different from combing thru posts on this forum.



I thought Jeep built the first SUV.

ILUVMY88CABRIO

Yeah, me too.

ThirdGenRX7

after I take my test i'm going to reply

phinsup

Jeep did build the SUV if you ask me, but everytime I turn around that stupid Ford commercial is on their with Bill Ford talking about his grandfather going camping in a model t and they drove through a mud puddle so Ford invented according to him. It annoys the crap out of, all of those stupid Ford commercials they have out now do. That's what I was referring too!

ryan

I hate those commercials too. Just because you drive a car off-road doesn't make it an SUV. I also hate the one where he claims that not being able to find old Ford trucks is a *good* sign - it's just a sign that Ford trucks don't hold up as well as other brands.

ThirdGenRX7

7sins - That's awesome that you are one of the few good media members. My problem is with things that shouldn't matter being splashed all over the headlines like this Robert Blake thing. The only reason it's there is because it is a celebrity scandal. Whether or not you like to believe it the media directs the masses. What you tell them is important becomes important to them. My personal belief is that celebrities shouldn't be celebrities at all, they shoudl be no name people who get paid the same as the average joe or even less because their jobs don't require all that much skill since they get 50 billion takes of every scene. If the media was going to glorify some form of acting it should be live theatre (not that I watch that or any tv). Since they are so powerful why can't the top news story be "so and so did such and such thing for somebody else" why does it have to be"ACTOR HAS **** SEX WITH MOM AND DONKEY AT SAME TIME AND THEN SHOOTS THEM IN THE HEAD AFTERWARDS" which headline is more likely to bring about a more pleasant society to live in. When stupid people see the mother donky headline that makes it more acceptable to them that those kinds of things happen and maybe even tempts them to try it, because the media glorify's disgusting things like that. Like the people who kill other people to get attention. If we didn't give negative acts so much attention maybe they would find more productive ways of getting attention? That's part of my beef with the media, not you personally. I don't mean censorship of what happens in other countries either. It's good to see that wars are going on in other places because it makes us appreciate that we live in a place where we can go to the store w/o worrying about getting riddled with bullets from an AK47... sorry this is turning into a rant so I'll shut up now



the fact is the media controls popular opinion so it's time they step up and do what's right for the people and not what's best for their pocket books.

ILUVMY88CABRIO

I hate those commercials too. Just because you drive a car off-road doesn't make it an SUV. I also hate the one where he claims that not being able to find old Ford trucks is a *good* sign - it's just a sign that Ford trucks don't hold up as well as other brands.[/quote]

There were no paved roads back then, so I guess any driving was "off roading."

The Blue Bomber

my friend has a 91 escort and an unpaved driveway. does that make his car a suv and since its a ford it must be bult "ford tough"

phinsup

And since you drive your car in the rain Ford also made the first amphibious automobile too.



It's like Al Gore saying he invented the internet.

7sins

ThirdGenRX7-



You and I would get along well I think. The thing is that most of us are "good guys," but it doesn't take many "bad guys" to cast a bad shadow. Most cops are decent, but all it takes is one to make us hate dealing with any of them. Same thing with sports car drivers I guess.



What really drives poor reporting is the drive to fill 24 hours of streaming coverage on cable news and the internet. In an effort to attract a larger audience they will put various types of "stories" to lure in folks with various interests: gossip, celebreties, sports, etc. I think we are seeing a shift from news reporting to informative entertaining. I agree that the Robert Blake story is low on valuable content.



What is sad is to see the results from surveys that show what folks actually read/view and what they ignore. Most of the market really is shallow and apathetic.



In short I am worried about this trend. I often think of going to a non-profit publication (like an education trade mag) or just quit news and get into an entertainment gig (auto related would be nice).



-mf