awe Sudo... put on the nose piece and crank it to 80% for a few minutes and then mosey on over to the Cheech and Chong thread and take a couple of hits or have a brownie... life's too short brother...
...but the media does have an agenda, to sell advertising and (I'm with Michael Moore on this) to instill fear... but I'm not gonna get red-faced over it...
Sudo, clearly there is no good news to report. If they could find good news, they would report it. Same thing with the war and everything else going on in the world.
Reporting on the survivors would just be propaganda and not true news. This death and destruction is what constitutes "news", the rest is just "press release" information. Besides that, who wants to hear good news? Good news is boring.
At least that's what "they" say. Do you know how to change your homepage? I can help if you don't.
Come on down to the Cheech & Chong thread. I've tried the Strange One's brownie recipe and am sharing.
"As bad as it gets" is in quotation marks; I suspect in the live feed, those words came from the man with his hands over his face, because the caption that goes with his photo reads:
Lewis Harrison wipes his face after pulling children from the Fun Zone skating rink after a storm destroyed the building and a tornado moved through the area in Montgomery, Ala., on Wednesday, Nov. 15.
I would imagine that pulling dead kids out of a skating rink pretty much is as bad as it gets. It doesn't have to be about 100s or 1000s killed to be a horrendous event.
Now, I know how popular it is to bash the media, and I also know it's sometimes well deserved. But not always. Newspapers and magazines aren't published and news on TV isn't broadcast purely as a public service. These entities are in business, and they sell what people will buy. Plain and simple.
The question, "Why is there no good news?" has been asked for decades that I know of, and probably longer. The answer is simple. If that headline had said, "It rained a little bit in Alabama yesterday," it wouldn't have gotten anyone to watch the newscast (and subsequently buy sponsors' products).
not only did i belong to twi but i also dabbled for a few years with the john birtch soc, the one thing that i learned from them is that the press is a prostitute
I thought the same thing you did Linda Z. It was related to the man in the photo. Newspapers only have so much space to print stuff. They're not going to have room for much of anything other than this kind of reporting at this time, so close to the event. They still have people missing!
Thousands of planes landed safely today. School was held without any gunshots being heard all day in most every town. And millions of fuzzy little bunnies didn't get run over by any mean 'ol diesel trucks.
Better?
BTW, I was in New Orleans about 8 weeks after the storm, and I've never seen such destruction ANYWHERE at ANYTIME. I was in Mobile for hurricane Frederick in '80, in Sylmar for the Northridge quake in '94 and in Kobe, Japan for that quake a year later, and been through a dozen or so floods around the PNW. They were like a lipstick smear in comparison. Southern Lousiana got seriously f-ed up, buddy...
I'm the only one here who is bothered by the hyperbole. I learn from this kind of feedback, guys and I appreciate your replies. I'm seeing that the media have their viewers pegged pretty well, it appears. I should have realized that a professional outfit like MSNBC would have known what would appeal to most of its viewers. I mean, they have people who are experts at this sort of thing either on staff or consultation.
sudo (who lives and learns and adapts accordingly :) )
Sudo, I'm not so sure in this case it's hyperbole. I still contend that pulling dead children from a collapsed building very well might have been "as bad as it gets" to the person who had to do it.
Drama and emotion are what catch people's attention. The man made a dramatic statement, and the MSNBC reporters reported it to get the viewers' attention.
I'm really curious: How would you word your headlines on a Web site or in a newspaper for a story like this if you were in charge?
Re:"Sudo, I'm not so sure in this case it's hyperbole."
So you think it was just a quote, then, and therefore MSNBC could legitimately lead off a story about storms killing 11 people with: 'As Bad As It Gets'. Right? Evidently, Krysilis saw it similarly. I think it's obvious hyperbole to make someone click on the story, myself.
If a city was able to reduce its gang related deaths from 50 a year to just 1 then I'm sure they could get that same quote from the mother of the one death, don't you think? To HER the death of her son is "As Bad As It Gets", no? Even though things are getting really really better. This is just an off-the-top-of-my-head ridiculous example, Linda. Like my example of the devastation of New Orleans after Katrina. In spite of what Geo says.. it wasn't total devastation and I'm surprised HE missed my point. Yeah, dude.. I know it was bad but was NOT total devastation and that's what I was pointing out.
Its like the media crying wolf. Oh, there must be a little tribal sparring going on over in Darfur I see.. the media is (quoting someone there, of course) calling it genocide .
Right? Evidently, Krysilis saw it similarly. I think it's obvious hyperbole to make someone click on the story, myself.
Sudo, I see what you are getting at but I agree with Linda and Krys. "As bad as it gets" is in quotes.
Now what would *YOU* think would constitute 'AS BAD AS IT GETS'?? If you click on the article you see that only 11 people were killed out of a population of about a million. Couldn't get any worse, huh?
Actually, you don't have to click on the link to find that out, you see it right under the as bad as it gets header, "Storms kill 11 in South, officials fear higher toll." So you learn that right there in one glance. The hook is if it is only eleven deaths then as you pointed out, things could have been a lot worse. So the reader says to themselves, "Self, that is not as bad as it gets, what is it that they are talking about. I shall click and find out." That is how they get you, not through hyperbole, but by leading the reader there and leaving them with a question. Then after clicking they read the quote in context and maybe understand it a little better....or not.
Thank you sir. We are almost on the same page, I think. Yes, since as you say, it gives the death toll at 11 in the 'hook', my assumption was that it had to be something ELSE other than those 11 deaths that made it "As Bad As It Gets".
I actually feel a bit silly now for starting this thread. I thought it was a 'no-brainer' as to how MSNBC was using hyperbole but have been taught a lesson about peoples' conceptions. I reiterate.. I live and learn and adapt accordingly.
I do agree with you Sudo in that too many headlines do not come close to the story they're reporting! They are sensationalized on purpose to get us to do, whatever "they" want us to do or think.
But I don't think it's true in this case. I red those words not as a headline but as a caption to the photo! That's how I decided.
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Tom Strange
awe Sudo... put on the nose piece and crank it to 80% for a few minutes and then mosey on over to the Cheech and Chong thread and take a couple of hits or have a brownie... life's too short brother...
...but the media does have an agenda, to sell advertising and (I'm with Michael Moore on this) to instill fear... but I'm not gonna get red-faced over it...
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Belle
Sudo, clearly there is no good news to report. If they could find good news, they would report it. Same thing with the war and everything else going on in the world.
Reporting on the survivors would just be propaganda and not true news. This death and destruction is what constitutes "news", the rest is just "press release" information. Besides that, who wants to hear good news? Good news is boring.
At least that's what "they" say.
Do you know how to change your homepage? I can help if you don't.
Come on down to the Cheech & Chong thread. I've tried the Strange One's brownie recipe and am sharing.
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GarthP2000
..... ahhh, but you know what 'they' say about Cheech & Chong now, doncha?
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Linda Z
Couple of points:
"As bad as it gets" is in quotation marks; I suspect in the live feed, those words came from the man with his hands over his face, because the caption that goes with his photo reads:
I would imagine that pulling dead kids out of a skating rink pretty much is as bad as it gets. It doesn't have to be about 100s or 1000s killed to be a horrendous event.
Now, I know how popular it is to bash the media, and I also know it's sometimes well deserved. But not always. Newspapers and magazines aren't published and news on TV isn't broadcast purely as a public service. These entities are in business, and they sell what people will buy. Plain and simple.
The question, "Why is there no good news?" has been asked for decades that I know of, and probably longer. The answer is simple. If that headline had said, "It rained a little bit in Alabama yesterday," it wouldn't have gotten anyone to watch the newscast (and subsequently buy sponsors' products).
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coolchef
not only did i belong to twi but i also dabbled for a few years with the john birtch soc, the one thing that i learned from them is that the press is a prostitute
what ever sells is what they will promote
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krys
I thought the same thing you did Linda Z. It was related to the man in the photo. Newspapers only have so much space to print stuff. They're not going to have room for much of anything other than this kind of reporting at this time, so close to the event. They still have people missing!
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George Aar
Here, maybe I can fill in the void a little:
Thousands of planes landed safely today. School was held without any gunshots being heard all day in most every town. And millions of fuzzy little bunnies didn't get run over by any mean 'ol diesel trucks.
Better?
BTW, I was in New Orleans about 8 weeks after the storm, and I've never seen such destruction ANYWHERE at ANYTIME. I was in Mobile for hurricane Frederick in '80, in Sylmar for the Northridge quake in '94 and in Kobe, Japan for that quake a year later, and been through a dozen or so floods around the PNW. They were like a lipstick smear in comparison. Southern Lousiana got seriously f-ed up, buddy...
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lindyhopper
Thanks for that, George. For a minute there I thought maybe the world was going to hell in a handbasket.
Then you filled me in on the bunnies....
Thank God for the bunnies.
I think I can go to sleep now.
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allan w.
Remind me not to go on holiday with George !
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Twinky
I find it interesting to look at news reports and remove emotive and provocative verbs (in particular) and substitute more bland ones:
(eg) local health chief admits ... (probably something quite innocuous) - becomes
local health chief says/comments/....
The perspective on some of the more outrageous articles out there changes dramatically.
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Sudo
Evidently...
I'm the only one here who is bothered by the hyperbole. I learn from this kind of feedback, guys and I appreciate your replies. I'm seeing that the media have their viewers pegged pretty well, it appears. I should have realized that a professional outfit like MSNBC would have known what would appeal to most of its viewers. I mean, they have people who are experts at this sort of thing either on staff or consultation.
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Linda Z
Sudo, I'm not so sure in this case it's hyperbole. I still contend that pulling dead children from a collapsed building very well might have been "as bad as it gets" to the person who had to do it.
Drama and emotion are what catch people's attention. The man made a dramatic statement, and the MSNBC reporters reported it to get the viewers' attention.
I'm really curious: How would you word your headlines on a Web site or in a newspaper for a story like this if you were in charge?
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Sudo
Linda,
Re:"Sudo, I'm not so sure in this case it's hyperbole."
So you think it was just a quote, then, and therefore MSNBC could legitimately lead off a story about storms killing 11 people with: 'As Bad As It Gets'. Right? Evidently, Krysilis saw it similarly. I think it's obvious hyperbole to make someone click on the story, myself.
If a city was able to reduce its gang related deaths from 50 a year to just 1 then I'm sure they could get that same quote from the mother of the one death, don't you think? To HER the death of her son is "As Bad As It Gets", no? Even though things are getting really really better. This is just an off-the-top-of-my-head ridiculous example, Linda. Like my example of the devastation of New Orleans after Katrina. In spite of what Geo says.. it wasn't total devastation and I'm surprised HE missed my point. Yeah, dude.. I know it was bad but was NOT total devastation and that's what I was pointing out.
Its like the media crying wolf. Oh, there must be a little tribal sparring going on over in Darfur I see.. the media is (quoting someone there, of course) calling it genocide
.
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lindyhopper
Actually, you don't have to click on the link to find that out, you see it right under the as bad as it gets header, "Storms kill 11 in South, officials fear higher toll." So you learn that right there in one glance. The hook is if it is only eleven deaths then as you pointed out, things could have been a lot worse. So the reader says to themselves, "Self, that is not as bad as it gets, what is it that they are talking about. I shall click and find out." That is how they get you, not through hyperbole, but by leading the reader there and leaving them with a question. Then after clicking they read the quote in context and maybe understand it a little better....or not.
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Sudo
Lindyhopper,
Thank you sir. We are almost on the same page, I think. Yes, since as you say, it gives the death toll at 11 in the 'hook', my assumption was that it had to be something ELSE other than those 11 deaths that made it "As Bad As It Gets".
I actually feel a bit silly now for starting this thread. I thought it was a 'no-brainer' as to how MSNBC was using hyperbole but have been taught a lesson about peoples' conceptions. I reiterate.. I live and learn and adapt accordingly.
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krys
I do agree with you Sudo in that too many headlines do not come close to the story they're reporting! They are sensationalized on purpose to get us to do, whatever "they" want us to do or think.
But I don't think it's true in this case. I red those words not as a headline but as a caption to the photo! That's how I decided.
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polar bear
I would suggest you change your homepage to another one, it's easy to do. I don't like the msn one either.
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