Why I've Unplugged from DirecTV
Although long in the brewing,
today Gail and I finally pulled the plug on DirecTV altogether. The main reason is that cable news coverage
in general and that of election 2016 in particular has deteriorated to a point that
it has become literally unwatchable. Reporters
and pundits, especially those on NBC, MSNBC and CNN who seemed somewhat
credible in earlier times have now become happy talk apologists for corporate
power and willing shills for Donald Trump, despite their well-rehearsed posturing
as thoughtful, critical journalists.
Their knee jerk maneuver is to hold high the banner of “both sides do it”
false equivalency, giving cover to each and every lie, misdeed and failing of
public figures, encouraging viewers to abandon the idea that underlying truths
might be discovered with a little more searching, attention to evidence and
reasonable conversation. This media
posture has become more obvious, less credible with each passing day. TV talking heads now go miles out of their way to avoid asking the most important, most troubling questions of the political figures they interview. Frankly, we’re done with this ongoing dodge.
While the particulars here
are too numerous to list, three stand out as patterns too often repeated to be
mere glitches in programming. One was
the preference for showing – often for hours on end – the empty podium where
Trumpy was expected to speak rather than telecast even a small segment of
speeches by Bernie Sanders and other candidates running for office. By some estimates the value of free TV
coverage for our now Confidence Man Elect eventually totaled $2 billion – a
lavish gift from networks supposedly licensed to serve the public interest.
Another telltale sign was the
utterly negligible amount of time devoted to substantive issues in the
presidential campaign broadcast by nightly news programs on ABC, CBS and NBC. According to the Tyndall Report, an
organization that has tracked network news coverage for decades, the total for months
from January through October came to 32 minutes total. Even more astonishing, no attention at all was given to what is
clearly the most crucial issue facing the nation and Planet Earth: climate
crash (often politely called “climate change”).
Not ONE minute. Pathetic.
Finally, I’d note the glaring
lack of diversity among the voices and perspectives of those asked to speak
even on the paltry range of issues, rumors and scandals that now fill the screen 24 hours a day. With a little work, the cable channels' election campaign coverage might
have found any number of articulate people from across the broader range of
American opinion – women from different points on the economic spectrum, African
Americans, Muslims, Latinos, millennials, blue collar workers, farmers, leaders
in small business, climate activists, Native Americans, techies, labor union
officials, notable social scientists, etc. Instead what we were invited to hear was very short
list of talkers – the usual suspects, most of them white – comprised of “conservative” blowhards,
Democratic “strategists,” Bush administration retreads, and a stable of amiable
dimwits invited to try to get a word in edgewise over the obnoxious shouting of
Chris Matthews.
While I regret to say it,
particularly annoying to me in recent months has been the once engaging
presence of always chipper, always bubbly, compulsively enthusiastic Rachel
Maddow. Yes, the content of her evening
show is often solid in its history and analysis. But the mood in which she probes the
disasters unfolding these days often seems simply fatuous. “We’ve got a great show tonight!” she
exclaims as the litany of horrors unfolds. Hey, what a fabulous spectacle American public life has become! Golly Gee! It’s also obvious that some topics are
strangely off limits for Maddow’s intelligent probing, for example the syrupy right
wing propaganda dished up each day by of her officemates in the Comcast office
suites. While it may be unfair, it
occurs to me that Rachel and her colleague Chris Hayes are just too nice as
people to seriously confront the ghoulish, destructive forces now looming in
the U.S.A., global economy and biosphere.
Fortunately, there are fine
alternatives: reading books, following serious websites, pulling down video
news clips from the Net, talking with family and friends over dinner. It turns out that local TV news is readily
available to us via our (slow rural) Wi-fi.
And, hell, I’d pretty much given up on watching pro football anyway, acknowledging what I know now about long term health problems that confront NFL
players.
Hence we’ll spend some of the
$90+ a month satellite bill to support
intelligent podcasts -- The Majority Report, Professional Left, Radio Ecoshock, and Best of the Left along with other good programs and causes.
Most of all we’ll be relieved of the agony of trying to pretend that cable and satellite TV offer a serious, reliable source of news and commentary about the world in
which we live.
- Langdon
You make a good case, of course. Boycotting the evening news is a good start, and football has always had serious steroid/militarism/neo-slavery issues, but it's still on college campuses, still the number one religion in America.
ReplyDelete"Serious" websites, though? I can't really think of one that does not have major flaws. Counterpunch, Common Dreams, Alternet - each with glaring stylistic failings.
As far as books go, I'd recommend Robert Gordon's "the Rise and Fall of the American Economy" as a fun and captivating read.
Who knew that Underwood's Deviled Ham (not the worst foodstuff, but pretty hideous if regularly consumed) was the first consumer good to be trademarked?
wowwwwwww
ReplyDeleteYou used to teach looking both sides of an issue and particular probing of the arguments of both sides of an argument. I did not see any programs on the Right on your selection. I think this is a mistake. I have found no willingness from the Left to consider the arguments on the Right In recent decades. Both sides have embarrassing speakers. I see both sides enjoy poking fun at them rather than attempting a serious approach to deconstructing arguments on the other side. I long for the days of discussion of Gore Vidal and William F Buckley.
ReplyDeleteGet you Xiaomi Mi Box S now from amazon and enjoy you TV as a Android phone.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteSTOCK EXCHANGE GENIUS AND VERY BRAVE CIVIL HERO MICHELE NISTA (MICHELENISTA6@MAIL.COM PH NR + 44 (0) 7939508007)! HE GET IT RIGHT ON WORLDWIDE STOCKS, CURRENCIES & COMMODITIES ALWAYS! ABOUT 5000 PREDICTIONS ON INTERNET SINCE 9.2007: 5000 SUCCESS! 100% SHOCKING WINNING SCORE!!! GENIUS, KING MIDAS, CIVIL HERO MICHELE NISTA (MICHELENISTA6@MAIL.COM PH NR + 44 (0) 7939508007)! ADVANCED IN EXTREMELY PERFECT WAY THE CONTINUOUS WALL STREET CRASH OF 1987 ( AND HE WAS, MORE OR LESS, JUST 20, AT THE TIME)! AS THE ONE OF 2007, 2008 AND BEGINNING OF 2009 WITH "JUST" 1 AND HALF YEAR OF INCREDIBLY WINNING FORETASTE! GENIUS, KING MIDAS, CIVIL HERO MICHELE NISTA (MICHELENISTA6@MAIL.COM PH NR + 44 (0) 7939508007)!AVDANCED IN EXTREMELY PERFECT WAY, THEN, THE MORE OF DOUBLING OF WALL STREET, SINCE 3.2009! HE PROPHESIED ALL THIS ON INTERNET, AGAIN, WITH MONTHS AND MONTHS AND MONTHS IN ADVANCE! ALL AT FANTASTIC LIGHT OF SUNSHINE!!! ALL PROVABLE AND VISIBLE STILL NOW!!! GENIUS, KING MIDAS, CIVIL HERO MICHELE NISTA (MICHELENISTA6@MAIL.COM PH NR + 44 (0) 7939508007)! WAS "ONE OF THE NUMBER ONES" OF ITALIAN STOCK EXCHANGE, IN THE 90S, PRODUCING OVER 10 MILIONS OF EUROS OF COMMISSIONS OF THE 90S ( SO, 15 MILIONS OF NOW), FROM BELOW ZERO: WAS THE ABSOLUTE IDOL OF GOLDMAN SACHS, MERRILL LYNCH, AND NEARLY ANY "FOR GOOD" INVESTMENT BANK IN THE WORLD! THAT'S WHY EVERYONE WAS GIVING HIM AND STILL GIVE HIM THE NICK OF KING MIDAS! INGENIOUS HERO MICHELE NISTA HAS A GREAT HEART TOO, "NOT JUST" A SORT OF INVINCIBLE INTUITION! HE DEDICATES, SINCE HE WAS 17, ALL HIS GIFTS OF HEAVEN HE HAS TO POOREST PEOPLE IN THE WORLD, VOLUNTEERING AND NOT ONLY, FOR MANY ORGANIZATIONS SAVING OR IMPROVING SUFFERING LIVES IN LATIN AMERICA AND AFRICA. HE IS CERTAINLY A CIVIL INCORRUPTIBLE HERO TOO! IN THE LAST 21 YEARS, IN MILAN, WAS THE MOST TENACIOUS MAN HUNTING TO DESTROY THE ASSASSIN DICTATORSHIP OF MAFIOSO, MEGA MAFIA MONEY LAUNDERER, EXTREME NAZIFASCIST, LIAR, MEGA THIEF, CORRUPTING PIG, PRINCIPAL OF HUNDREDS OF MURDERS AND SLAUGHTERS, VERY ASCERTAINED PEDOPHILE SILVIO BERLUSCONI! FOR ALL THIS, THERE WERE FOUR ATTEMPTS OF KILLING HIM, ORDERED BY BASTARD SANGUINARY, AS WELL AS METASTASES OF THE ENTIRE WORLD: SILVIO BERLUSCONI!!! AND HIS FATHER LOST LIFE ON ORDER OF NAZIFASCIST AND COSA NOSTRA'S BRUTAL, VICIOUS, CRUEL, FEROCIOUS PRINCIPAL OF KILLING SILVIO BERLUSCONI ( MAKING SHREWDLY TO PASS, VIA HIS PRIVATE OR PUBLIC NEW "OVRA, GESTAPO AND DINA" AL HIS ABSOLUTE REPELLENT HINDREDS OF HOMICIDES FOR FALSE ACCIDENTS, FALSE SUICIDES, FALSE ILLNESS, ALL THE TIMES)! AS A MATTER OF FACT, GENIUS, KING MIDAS, DEMOCRAT HERO MICHELE NISTA (MICHELENISTA6@MAIL.COM PH NR + 44 (0) 7939508007) " DECIDED TO EMIGRATE" TO LONDON, ON 2003, TO REMAIN ALIVE!! BUT GOD, IF HE'LL CONTINUE TO DESERVE SO, WILL MAKE HIM WIN!!! GROUP OF FRIENDS AND CLIENTS, EXTREMELY GRATEFUL TO THIS KING MIDAS, TO THIS INGENIOUS AND CIVIL HERO OF OUR TIMES (MICHELENISTA6@MAIL.COM PH NR + 44 (0) 7939508007)!
Great stuff buddy.
ReplyDeleteGreat post, I have read this post here I got very useful information. This is a very useful article
All Video Downloader
click here vgera
ReplyDeleteThe biggest revolution is that you can watch your favourite shows anywhere and anytime with your preferred device, let it be a computer, TV or mobile phone.
Found your post interesting to read. I cant wait to see your post soon. Good Luck for the upcoming update.This article is really very interesting and effective.
ReplyDeleteTake your hands on minecraft redeem code free 2019
Enjoyed reading the article above, really explains everything in detail, the article is very interesting and effective. Thank you and good luck for the upcoming articles. Free Steam Wallet Codes & Steam Gift Card Generator
ReplyDeleteคล็อปป์ย้ำอยู่เสมอเวลาว่าแนวทางย้ายกลุ่มของพวกเขาถูกระบุโดยผลพวงทางด้านการเงินของวิกฤตวัวโรที่นาเชื้อไวรัสแล้วก็ก่อนหน้าที่ผ่านมาทำให้คู่ปรับของเชลซีมีการใช้จ่าย สล็อต ในขณะนี้ชาวเยอรมันได้กำจัดสิงห์บลูส์อีกรอบโดยชี้แนะให้สมาคมที่เป็นเจ้าของโดย "ผู้กุมอำนาจ" แล้วก็ "ประเทศ" ดังเช่นว่าแมนเชสเตอร์สิตี้ที่ได้รับการช่วยส่งเสริม สล็อต จากอาบูดาบีมีคลายความกังวลใจเกี่ยวกับผลพวงในอนาคตของการแพร่ระบาด “ พวกเราอยู่ในโลกที่มีความไม่เที่ยงมากเดี๋ยวนี้” คล็อปป์กล่าวกับ BBC Radio 5 Live "สำหรับบางสมาคมดูท่าจะมีความจำเป็นน้อยกว่าในความไม่เที่ยงในอนาคต – เป็นของประเทศต่างๆที่มีผู้กุมอำนาจเป็นเจ้าของโน่นเป็นเรื่องจริง สล็อต
ReplyDeleteมันง่ายดายที่จะกระทำเทียบพวกนั้น' หัวหน้าทีมบลูส์กล่าวเสริม “ฉันทราบดีว่าเขาหิวที่จะทำแต้มรวมทั้ง pussy888 ทำแอสซิสต์ด้วยเหตุนั้นฉันก็เลยได้คุยกับเขาแล้ว แม้กระนั้นฉันรู้สึกว่าสไตล์ของพวกเราแตกต่างมากมาย 'ไคน่าจะเริ่มในดินแดนหน้าได้มากกว่าที่ผมเริ่มมาผมถูกใจ pussy888 ที่จะมาจากตำแหน่งมิดฟิลด์ลึกๆแล้วก็การเล่นที่ดีเยี่ยมของไคในตอนสองสามฤดูก่อนหน้านี้ที่ผ่านมาเวลาที่เขาบุกไปที่เลเวอร์คูบวงสรวงได้นิดหน่อย หน้าที่ระดับสูงเลข 10 หรือพื้นที่ที่กว้างขึ้นนิดนึงหรือมากยิ่งกว่าในพื้นที่แนวรุกของสาย
ReplyDeleteอะไหล่รถยนต์ออนไลน์ อะไหล่รถยนต์ครบวงจร ปั๊มติ๊ก คอยล์จุดระเบิด อะไหล่รถยนต์
ReplyDelete777ww Casino สล็อต และคาสิโนมาแรง 2021 อันดับ1เว็บตรง เป็นที่นิยมเป็นอย่างมากในปี2021 สล็อตพีจีเล่นฟรีถอนได้ สมัครใหม่รับเครดิตฟรี100 สล็อตแตกบ่อย
ReplyDeletetexas slot เกมสล็อตออนไลน์แบบเกมที่ล้ำยุค ควบคุมไว้ ทั้งยังคาสิโน สล็อต และก็เป็นที่ ยอมรับต่อนักเล่นการพนัน มากมายๆ ที่จะเข้ามาพนัน กับตัวพนันที่ร่วมสนุกสนานสำหรับเพื่อการเล่น
ReplyDeleteสมัคร pgslot ยอดเยี่ยมเกมออนไลน์ สล็อตบนโทรศัพท์เคลื่อนที่ แบบใหม่ปัจจุบัน ของโลก สมัครเล่น pg slot วันนี้รับโบนัส แรกเข้า 100% โดยทันที โบนัส 50% สำหรับสมาชิกใหม่
ReplyDeleteทางเข้าpg soft slots games มีเกมให้สำหรับทุกคน PG SLOT แล้วก็ทุกๆรสนิยม คณะทำงานของพวกเราได้ปรับปรุงฟีพบร์มากหลายแบบเพื่อตอบรับกับเกมเมอร์ทุกแบบเพื่อทุกคุณได้รับประสบการณ์ที่ดี
ReplyDelete