Now who do we trust?
The story of the election is the failure of the Red Wave to materialize. And based on my political leanings, this was a good thing. But the overwhelming Republican victories were not only predicted on Fox News, but in the "New York Times," the "Washington Post"...supposed bastions of liberalism. So if the news outlets got it wrong on this, WHAT ELSE ARE THEY GETTING WRONG?
You might have seen the article in today's "New York Times" on the advertising boom on TikTok:
"TikTok Builds Itself Into an Ads Juggernaut - The Chinese-owned video app’s ad business is thriving, even as a digital advertising slump hurts Meta, Snap and other rivals.":
nyti.ms/3AfEzCV Now don't tell me about the failing "New York Times," how you would never read it, because the joke is on YOU! That's the very first thing the Fox News hosts read each and every day, they know the "Times" is the foremost authority, and they want to see what to react to, how to steer the perception.
Here's the money quote:
"TikTok’s users spend an average of 96 minutes a day on the app —nearly five times what they spend on Snapchat, triple their time on Twitter and almost twice as much as their time on Facebook and Instagram, according to the data analytics company Sensor Tower."
And let's be clear, if they're on TikTok, they might hear some music, but the social network requires complete attention, it was not made for multitasking.
For nearly a year now, we've been subjected to in-depth analysis on the metrics and future of Netflix, the big kahuna in streaming. As a result of negative analysis, Netflix crated an advertising tier, even though previously they said they would never ever do so. And you know the adoption numbers are terrible, BECAUSE THEY'RE NOT CROWING ABOUT THEM! This is the entertainment business, if you do anything even mildly positive you tell everybody, and if you're quiet...that must mean your endeavor did not succeed.
But all I get in my inbox is the pooh-poohing of TikTok. And what I like best about the blowback is it's almost exclusively from people WHO'VE NEVER EVER USED THE SERVICE! Once again, the joke is on you. Ignorance is not a badge of honor. And if you bloviate, believing that the assembled multitude will never catch on... This always happens to politicians, they say something and then the media FACT CHECKS IT! You don't want to lie, you don't want to weigh in sans knowledge anymore, because the truth is out there. Assuming you can find it.
Now the reason I'm referencing the "New York Times" article above, is that the "Times" finally weighed in on the footprint of TikTok, its impact, its hold on the attention of the youth. And unlike with YouTube, it's not about pre-roll, it's about making the ads themselves TikTok clips, about working with creators, so that the ads have more impact.
Now if you've been using TikTok for these past months, if not years, YOU KNOW ALL THIS!
In other words, the public is ahead of the media. WHAT ELSE ARE THEY AHEAD ON?
Failing journalism schools teach people to ask questions. This is another thing that bugs me about the "Times," and once again, the "Times" is the best. THEY PROMOTE WITHIN! That's utterly ridiculous, especially when there are ready experts in seemingly all fields these days, many of whom can write. In other words, if you're not living it 24/7, your opinion is not informed, it's not worth much...AND THAT'S MOST OF THE NEWS WE'RE GETTING!
At least from the authorities.
Now my dearly departed friend Tony Wilson, primarily known for Factory Records, was also a newscaster. And when he was still wet behind the ears, before he was on camera, working late on a Saturday night he delivered the European football scores to the anchor, who promptly read them. AND THEY WERE WRONG! Tony maintained when he got the numbers they were wrong, but irrelevant of who actually made the mistake, Monday the boss came in and told Tony he should fire him. The boss said few people care about the late night European football scores, but viewers think if you can't get it right regarding such a trivial item, WHAT ELSE ARE YOU NOT GETTING RIGHT?
Yes, on the front page of the aforementioned "Times," and once again I use the "Times" because it sets the agenda for the nation, if not the world, it's the best we've got, there were polls that delineated the Red Wave to come. There were not concomitant stories about how the polls might be wrong. I mean the polling was wrong in 2016 and 2020, so I didn't trust the polls, but everybody in the media did, it was doom and gloom on the left and smiles and cheers on the right. Now in 2016 and 2020 the polls undercounted Republicans. The ultimate elections broke red, at least in higher numbers than expected. Would that happen in 2022? Did I see an analysis of that in the "Times"? OF COURSE NOT! The same "Times" that got 2016 wrong too. THE WRITERS WERE OUT OF TOUCH!
There you have it, if you're not down in the trenches you've got no idea what is truly going on. For the last week before the election I told everybody I had no idea what was going to happen, I was waiting for the vote to come in, because you never know. And it turns out other than Michael Moore, nobody did.
But Michael Moore has been neutered by the right. Not that he's always been correct, and I wouldn't call it a tsunami for the left, but at least the wave was high.
So the opinion writers, and this is not only at the "Times," are part of a club. Chummy with those they report on. They're insiders. They can tell you what is happening in D.C., but not in the rest of the country, because they're too busy trying to look fabulous to their brethren in the endless circle jerk. And they're not blowing the whistle on themselves after last Tuesday's election, they're just saying they were surprised. SURPRISED? I think it's time to fall on your sword, tender your resignation, because what you had to say turned out to be WORTHLESS! And now I'm supposed to trust what you say now?
Welcome to 2022. Which not only does not resemble 1992, but not even 2012, that's how fast the world moves today. And despite the power of the media, today it's less about one to many, than one to one. There has been no way to track buzz, you have to feel it, and the only way you can feel it is if you're in it. AND THESE WRITERS ARE NOT!
And using the Tony Wilson model, if the "Times" couldn't get it right on the election, WHAT ELSE IS IT GETTING WRONG?
Once again, who can you trust?
Seemingly nobody.
Trump won in 2016 because he tapped into truths the media missed. Like the voices of those who lost their jobs because of globalization. And the fact that no one cares about language and coarseness in today's society. Everybody use the F-word on a regular basis, but NO, you can't offend some theoretical person out there. And the reason I didn't spell out the complete word is because if I did, spam filters would reject this e-mail, I know, I'm an expert on sending e-mail, I probably do it more than anybody you know. Getting through to people is nearly IMPOSSIBLE, you don't want to make it HARDER!
So Trump was real in a way that Clinton was not. Oh please, let's not talk about politics, can you take off your party hat and just analyze the situation sans bias? Trump was a breath of fresh air, Clinton never came across as genuine, she SHOULD have said she didn't stay home and bake cookies, that she worked outside the home, BECAUSE MOST WOMEN DO SO TODAY! They're not balabustas, they take kids for fast food, they're damn tired at the end of the day. But the media said Clinton couldn't speak the truth. She backed away from the "deplorables" comment. She should have doubled-down, owned her statement, by backing away she lost all credibility.
Which brings us back to the January 6th hearings. We heard over and over, for months, that they had no impact. I've not even seen one article now claiming they did. Yes, mea culpas on abortion, but not 1/6. Don't you get it? People were sick and tired of Trump's shenanigans. As for Merrick Garland and the rest of the wimps afraid to prosecute him... Don't they realize that this is exactly what the Republicans want? They want to sideline him, take him out of commission, as for his cult...that 20-30% will never vote Democratic anyway. I mean TAKE A STAND!
The Democrats don't have each other's backs and refuse to play offense. The right kept talking about a Red Wave... Where was the left wing blowback? NONEXISTENT! The elected Democrats as well as the media were afraid to push back, they were even afraid to run on Biden's record, which is quite appealing to those who ultimately voted blue. I mean if you can't even champion your accomplishments, how do you expect to win hearts and minds and accomplish anything in the future?
As for the "Times"'s competition... Just read the "Wall Street Journal" Op-Ed pages... They're in the bag for the Republicans, right or wrong, which is why other than true believers, no one pays attention to what is said. And the "Washington Post" is seen as an inside the Beltway newspaper, which is why its subscriber numbers have tanked. Furthermore, it doesn't have enough writers with gravitas. Yes, the WaPo could do a bit of publicity, but NO!
So where does that leave us?
I mean you can read the papers, but with a giant grain of salt. As for TV news...it's a joke, not worth going into. Then again, I will. The new owners of CNN said the 24/7 news channel had to move to the center, to appeal to independents, excising its perceived left wing bias. End result? CNN got smoked by MSNBC in election day ratings, never mind Fox. You may not be aware of the switch at CNN, but everybody who watched it knows, and they jettisoned the channel. IN OTHER WORDS, the vaunted Zaslav and his team of owners were CLUELESS! The supposed experts on television knew even less than the rank and file. Cable news is about stoking the fire of either the right or the left, no one watching is wishy-washy, there are no wishy-washy people out there, you're on either one team or another. As for independents? THEY'RE JUST NOT TELLING YOU THEIR TRUE OPINIONS! Prick them, ask them the last time they voted for the other party, most never have! But they want to be above it all. ABOVE IT ALL? GET DOWN IN THE PIT! How many people in western Colorado are going to pinch themselves if Boebert pulls it out. They could have gone to the polls, made a difference, but nah, they'd rather not take the time. Ever hear of the 2000 election? Every vote counts, but you've got to vote!
I'm trying to take the temperature of this nation 24/7. But I can't cover every vertical, I rely on others for that. But it turns out I really can't rely on the big media outlets, they've lost touch with America, if not the world. Turns out women were pissed about the Supreme Court's decision on abortion, it's just that the media pundits didn't know them. I mean I didn't notice a drop-off in people talking about abortion...but the media knows better. No, IT DOES NOT! It's the Emperor's New Clothes, we've all bought the construct.
Well maybe we can trust them on straight news, facts. But in truth there's so much that big media never reports on, or does way after the fact, after everybody knows.
But it's back to business as usual in all the media. There's no self-examination. HEADS SHOULD ROLL! Just like the government did a disservice by not indicting the Wall Streeters who caused the 2008 crash. Believe me, if they had done so the financial world would be a lot more honest these days. I mean if no one is punished, what are the odds you will be? Fire some writers and the remaining will do a better job.
Or maybe the model is screwed. Maybe it's not even about reporters at all, never mind big media. Maybe it's about the endless flow, following social media, talking to your friends, getting a handle on the situation. One opinion is not enough!
Ever read the ratings on Amazon? No matter what the product, it has one star reviews. You've got to average the reviews for them to have any value.
But I don't want to go into an analysis of online ratings. I've never ever posted. That's not how I want to spend my time. But I do want to spend my time newsgathering. And a few puffed-up, self-glorifying reporters have ruined it for their brethren, for all big media news delivery. Sure, there might be good writers at the "Times," just like there are good cops, but how do you tell who is who?
I think the message of the 2022 election is don't be afraid to take a stand. Avoid groupthink. Be an individual, run with your heart. Sound like the sixties? EXACTLY! Because the institutions back then were no longer serving the young, so they had to create a new world.
And in truth, the young are creating a new world, on TikTok. And all the oldsters can say is...IT'S CHINESE! I was listening to a podcast where the household name person wondered how bad it would be if the Chinese really had all this data, what could they use it for? I'm not saying this is the correct position, but I am saying you can't have a knee-jerk reaction to anything these days, because chances are your knee-jerk reaction is uninformed.
Just like the media heavyweights!
Be passionate. Try to suss out the truth. And know you can be wrong, and admit it. It will add to your credibility.
And in an incredible world, credibility is everything.
The media keeps telling us people no longer care, that selling out is de rigueur. But since they were so wrong on the election, are they right on that? I don't think so. And one thing I know is I'm hearing from many more people than those writing these articles anyway.
It's a sad, strange situation.
But one thing is quite obvious, at the end of the day the people are in charge. That was one of the elements of the Trump backlash, they didn't want authoritarianism. But as far as those who know the temperature of the public... WHO EXACTLY IS THAT? I certainly don't know. But one thing is for sure, I've lost faith in big media. Just because you've got a byline at the institution that does not mean you know what you're talking about. God, maybe we've got to give tests to these people. One thing is for sure, they're going to get a lot wrong.
It's depressing.
But I want to be optimistic. Just give me some hope.
The mainstream media told me there was none, and then it turned out there was plenty.
But don't fall asleep at the wheel. You lefties who are convinced democracy has been saved... Remember, rust never sleeps. Beware.
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