Re: [MLUG - DISCUSSION] [POLITICS] what next?

[Vern Green <EMAIL:PROTECTED>]

> People in the 50-60 year-old range are self-absorbed

Well, lets follow the track. First, 50-60 year olds fall into a
category called the baby-boomers. These baby-boomers have been
characterized by more than just a few people as self-centered,
self-seeking, self interested, self-absorbed, and self indulgent. Paul
Begala held that claim when he was adviser to Bill Clinton. Just do a
little research you can find books on the topic.
>
> Self-absorption causes people to fail to research their news sources

What exactly is self-absorption? Isn't it a description of a person
who is absorbed in their own interests and thoughts? It would be easy,
although perhaps a little dangerous, to say that a self-absorbed
person would be more inclined to seek out news that supports their
claim over many others.

I am not saying that other demographic groups do not have the
propensity towards self-absorption, but there has been a lot of
information published about the phenomena in the baby-boomer
generation.
>
> People in the 50-60 year-old range watch more network news than do other
> age groups

I will have to dig up the data on this, I heard the ratings being read
on NPR once, I think it was NPR, but I cannot find the data now. The
only data I can find right now is the 25-54 ratings for cable news.
Nothing on the networks, but I will find it at some point.

>
> When Walter Cronkite was a news anchorman, journalists had more integrity
> than they have today
>
> What comes out of "the major news titles" today is "shill"
>
>
> But this is all just bullshit that you made up because it helps to defend
> your earlier inane arguments.

Yeah, well Walter Cronkite happens to agree with me to an extent
anyway. He recognizes that a lot of the news presented today is to
garner ratings. So is it bullshit? Well maybe, but there are again
many affluent people who would not disagree with me.

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/0417cronkite17.html
>
>
> > Of course, the first thing you jump on is the word groups like I am
> > referring to some secret organization that is out there influencing the
> > world. Demographic groups Mike, that is what all of the TV news channels
> > play to. From the ads they put on during the broadcast to the stories
> > and the slant they use to tell them.
>
> How could anyone have known that you were thinking of demographic groups?
>
You're right my bad!, I will attempt to be more clear in the future.
>
> > If my group is liberal democrats in their 50 - 60s that think the Iraq
> > war is a bad idea, do I really want to put on a story that might upset
> > them and have them go look somewhere else for their news. I cannot
> > afford to keep the news on TV if I do not have advertisers. So I pitch
> > to the crowd that I know is tuning in so to keep them tuning in week
> > after week. It is too bad really, but after all it is all business!
>
> That kind of concern is not one that I have heard voiced about the major
> news media, but it is easy to see why that kind of thinking would affect
> Fox News.
>
You have never heard the network news talk about sustaining or trying
to get back their ratings? What do you think it is all about if you
have? If you haven't heard of such a thing, then again, perhaps you
need to expand you information intake. The link I posted above talks
about it. So much of today is about ratings and business in
journalism.

> If you get your news from a variety of sources and you look in a variety
> of places for opinions and editorials, you will get a good idea of how
> things work.  Most news sources try to be "fair."  They aren't catering to
> some small group of viewers who prefer some bias to reality.  If that is
> what you think, show me the data on both demographics and news content for
> a variety of news sources.  I think you made the whole thing up.

I will see if I can find the demographic data for you.


--
Thanks
F Vernon Green

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