Want to bash the media? Take your best shot. (503 hits)
Category: NoneRating: -0.67 on 3 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by Joe Bob <wilkdee at hotmail> (View user info) at 2004-07-01 18:12:29 EDT
I actually wrote this on Mark Cubans blogmaverick.com, because I got sick of assholes sucking up to Cuban by bashing the media, like he does. Perhaps no one involved in entertainment realizes where the people that go to their events come from, but they don't just find out about a basketball game by showing up at the arena, he kinda needs us as much as we need him, but I digress, (constantly) here's what I wrote, and as I was writing thought, this is long enough, it could waste bandwidth on Ubersite:
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To the dude who said this:
"My perspective:
Most media types (not limited to just sports media folks)do not care about the truth...just whatever BS will sensationalize the story the most to attract the biggest audience to help pay the bills (get the cash). The sound bits to hook are usually very misleading and the "story" turns out to be a fairy tale.
Reardless of what they are called either by themselves or others (reporter or gossip columnist)- the end result will be the same BS and it will probably carry the same interest."
You are wrong.
The majority of this nations media are NOT talking heads. They are NOT on national affiliates. They do NOT work for ESPN, Fox News Channel or any other national network. They are the beat writers, sports writers and editors who work at your local newspaper, your hometown radio station and your local network TV affiliates.
They try to get ratings, yes, but they don't go out of their way to lie doing it. Perhaps none of you realize this, but as a journalist, I can tell you, if you work at anything less than a top 10 market or for a major cable outlet, you don't make crap. I have worked 80+ hours a week to make 32K a year with no benefits. That is NOTHING.
We go through school, myself through one of the best journalism schools in the country, and we take these bad paying, no respect jobs, because, at the root of it, we want to help people learn about their world. We want to let you know about places you can't be and things you can't experience. We bust our asses and some of us die in the line of duty to absolutely NO respect from people in the general public.
When we get done at night, or in the early morning, we do research or we just sit back to browse the Internet and we hear, "The entire media is liberally biased," "all radio talk show hosts are conservative," "sports journalists never do any research," "sports writers just want to make waves and make players look bad." etc.
These are all what are known as "generalizations" and if you make them as a writer or a journalist, you get sued. Why? Because, for the most part generalizations are wrong. Very few times on this planet are ALL X's Y. (Those are variables, for the algebra challenged).
Who are journalists? We are you. We are a group of people who go to work, try to do our job the best we can, and most of us love it, because if we didn't, we would find something that paid better. Like McDonalds or owning the Mavericks.
Think about what I've said, Mark, and all your readers, especially the guy with "perspective" when you look at a broad group of people who, for the most part, are trying to help YOU have a better life, while normally not exactly coming up aces in their own.
User Reviews
Submitted by BuzzArcher (user info) at 2004-07-20 18:04:57 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
Hey....I didn't mind it.
Submitted by RouteTwo (user info) at 2004-07-18 14:21:25 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch. you're so full of shit. the media's job IS for ratings and money--not to inform the public. think about it, if you made NO money, would you still do what you're doing?
Submitted by hcp28 (user info) at 2004-07-01 18:16:25 EDT (#)
Ranking: -1
Would you like some cheese to go with that whine?