Sunday, December 09, 2007
My problem with AlterNet:
(A copy of this will be sent to Don Hazen at AlterNet.)
I do not watch TV or TV news. When reading news on the web I pick what I want to read, and more importantly, pick what I don't wish to read by the headline.
So the other day the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) is released that states Iran gave up their nuclear ambitions years ago. This left egg on the faces of our idiot president and his neo-con buddies. It pretty much defused their drumbeat to war with Iran.
It was a big win for those of us who oppose war and violence, particularly when those wars only serve to get young men killed so old men can make more money or have more power. The balloon Bush had been blowing up was popped quite thoroughly.
It was a big win!
But what did I see on AlterNet? I saw this article entitled; "Neocons Devastated by Iran Intel Bombshell, But Don't Count Them Out Yet."
Instead of celebrating a win for our side they felt the need to engage in more fear-mongering from the left. I'm pretty liberal, an advocate for peace, a Democrat. And one of the things I hate about the Rupert Murdoch School of Journalism, (Fox News,) and the mainstream mass media is the constant focus on "fear and consumption." (The brilliant observation is by Marilyn Manson.)
Fear and Consumption.
But it seems that AlterNet can only get the first-half right – the fear mongering. So many of their stories scream at the reader – "Be terrified of these bad people! Be terrified of what Bush and Cheney might be doing right this minute! Look out for the evil corporation! – Fear! Fear! Fear!
Extremism is just as ugly coming from the left as it is from the right.
I didn't abandon American TV and the mass media only to have the alternative press fed me the same line of fear and consumption. (There are all kinds of little ads on the AlterNet site encouraging you to buy political bumper stickers and t-shirts, though in fairness the consumption part is much more played down than in the mainstream media.)
And I see this happening on AlterNet more and more. Freelance journalists who want to convince us that elected official (x) will take us back to the Stone Age, or that our government is about to start WWIII that will end in a world-wide nuclear cataclysm.
Using fear to compel your readers into thought and/or action works for a while. Until the reader gets tired of being afraid and stops going to the site. AlterNet loses another reader because of their constant negativity.
But don't fret. AlterNet will always have plenty of "nut-jobs" ready to believe whatever conspiracy theory that comes down the pike, people who enjoy living in Liberal Terror Land. They will always be around to eat up the garbage that passes itself off as journalism on AlterNet.
There are plenty of bad things going on in the world, most of which the entire Western media misses completely. But they do catch a few things worth reporting. We have become so accustomed to bad news we are becoming numb to the suffering of those around us. So I offer my congratulations to the mass media, with a nod toward the alternative press. Between the two of you, you have made the people apathetic to suffering through your constant bombardment of fear and consumption.
Take a bow.
So maybe, just maybe, the next time there's good news – you can just report that without having to whip up a dose of nebulous fear. Or maybe you've been doing that for so long you have forgotten how to write a news story that doesn't contain an unhealthy dose of fear.
What the alternative press is doing is making themselves as irrelevant as the mainstream press. They may have already succeeded in doing so. But don't listen to me. Just keep pushing your leftist blend of fear and consumption and have no doubt the right will continue to do the same.
One has to ponder: Is there any difference between the mainstream press and the alternative press? Since both seem to be engaged in the same mind games with their readers.
Yes indeed, one must ponder.
(A copy of this will be sent to Don Hazen at AlterNet.)
I do not watch TV or TV news. When reading news on the web I pick what I want to read, and more importantly, pick what I don't wish to read by the headline.
So the other day the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) is released that states Iran gave up their nuclear ambitions years ago. This left egg on the faces of our idiot president and his neo-con buddies. It pretty much defused their drumbeat to war with Iran.
It was a big win for those of us who oppose war and violence, particularly when those wars only serve to get young men killed so old men can make more money or have more power. The balloon Bush had been blowing up was popped quite thoroughly.
It was a big win!
But what did I see on AlterNet? I saw this article entitled; "Neocons Devastated by Iran Intel Bombshell, But Don't Count Them Out Yet."
Instead of celebrating a win for our side they felt the need to engage in more fear-mongering from the left. I'm pretty liberal, an advocate for peace, a Democrat. And one of the things I hate about the Rupert Murdoch School of Journalism, (Fox News,) and the mainstream mass media is the constant focus on "fear and consumption." (The brilliant observation is by Marilyn Manson.)
Fear and Consumption.
But it seems that AlterNet can only get the first-half right – the fear mongering. So many of their stories scream at the reader – "Be terrified of these bad people! Be terrified of what Bush and Cheney might be doing right this minute! Look out for the evil corporation! – Fear! Fear! Fear!
Extremism is just as ugly coming from the left as it is from the right.
I didn't abandon American TV and the mass media only to have the alternative press fed me the same line of fear and consumption. (There are all kinds of little ads on the AlterNet site encouraging you to buy political bumper stickers and t-shirts, though in fairness the consumption part is much more played down than in the mainstream media.)
And I see this happening on AlterNet more and more. Freelance journalists who want to convince us that elected official (x) will take us back to the Stone Age, or that our government is about to start WWIII that will end in a world-wide nuclear cataclysm.
Using fear to compel your readers into thought and/or action works for a while. Until the reader gets tired of being afraid and stops going to the site. AlterNet loses another reader because of their constant negativity.
But don't fret. AlterNet will always have plenty of "nut-jobs" ready to believe whatever conspiracy theory that comes down the pike, people who enjoy living in Liberal Terror Land. They will always be around to eat up the garbage that passes itself off as journalism on AlterNet.
There are plenty of bad things going on in the world, most of which the entire Western media misses completely. But they do catch a few things worth reporting. We have become so accustomed to bad news we are becoming numb to the suffering of those around us. So I offer my congratulations to the mass media, with a nod toward the alternative press. Between the two of you, you have made the people apathetic to suffering through your constant bombardment of fear and consumption.
Take a bow.
So maybe, just maybe, the next time there's good news – you can just report that without having to whip up a dose of nebulous fear. Or maybe you've been doing that for so long you have forgotten how to write a news story that doesn't contain an unhealthy dose of fear.
What the alternative press is doing is making themselves as irrelevant as the mainstream press. They may have already succeeded in doing so. But don't listen to me. Just keep pushing your leftist blend of fear and consumption and have no doubt the right will continue to do the same.
One has to ponder: Is there any difference between the mainstream press and the alternative press? Since both seem to be engaged in the same mind games with their readers.
Yes indeed, one must ponder.
# posted by Phillip T. Alden @ 2:56 PM 
