Matt Taibbi: Stop Whining About 'False Balance'

[babylonsister]

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/features/stop-whining-about-false-balance-w440228
Stop Whining About 'False Balance'

Everyone wants to blame reporters for the rise of Donald Trump. How about the media consumer?
By Matt Taibbi
17 hours ago

snip//

It's getting ridiculous. Two quick thoughts:

1) The people complaining about "false balance" usually seem confident in having discovered the truth of things for themselves, despite the media's supposed incompetence. They're quite sure of whom to vote for and why. Their complaints are really about the impact that "false balance" coverage might have on other, lesser humans, with weaker minds than theirs. Which is not just snobbish, but laughably snobbish. So, shut up.

2) One of the main reasons the news media has been dumbed down over the years is because audiences have consistently rejected smart, responsible journalism in favor of clickbait stupidities like "Five Things You Didn't Know About John McCain's Penis" and "Woman Strips Naked in Front of Police Officers. You Won't Believe What Happened Next." The Bachelor and Toddlers and Tiaras crush Frontline. And people wonder why Donald Trump gets a lot of coverage?

No doubt about it, the country is in a brutal spot right now. We are less than two months from the possibility of one of the dumbest people on the planet winning the White House. And it seems that all anyone's talked about this week, whether around the water cooler or on TV news, Twitter or Facebook, is the lung capacity of Hillary Clinton.

That sucks. But it's not all the media's fault. This is classic horse-race stuff, and if you're getting it, it's at least in part because you spent decades asking for it.

The campaign has devolved over time into an entertainment program, a degrading and vicious show where the contestants win the nuclear launch codes instead of a date with a millionaire.

snip//

I'm as worried as anyone else about the possibility of Trump getting elected. But if it happens, it's not going to be because The New York Times allowed a few reporters to investigate the Clinton Foundation. It'll be because we're a nation of idiots, who vote the same way we choose channels: without thinking.

[duncang]

1. I call bull shit on this

If the media and evidently the rollingstone magazine thinks that is all the people want. Just go all in on changing your magazine to another national enquirer.

How about this for head lines.

"Trump tweets shout outs to KKK members."

" New Trump campaign advisor said reptilian aliens are taking over the world. And Trump approves."

"Trumps son posts picture of him and his father with white supremacist logo."


If that is truly what you think the American public wants go for it. But at least try checking something out.
You and the rest of the medias stupidity to even do a few google searches is ridiculous. Admit it you have become lazy. You no longer have the will or the IQ to actually do reporting or commentary. You and others like you in the media have found that imaginary scapegoat to shed your incompetence on. You chose to play this game. Do not blame your failings on the American people.

[BobbyDrake]

6. Agreed. Taibbi's rant is clearly an excuse to absolve himself and his fellow almost-journos

from their own actions. Sure, maybe SOME Americans act that way, but not all. And if that behavior is so bad, why are so many "journalists" letting it happen, or worse, going along with it? People read what the media reports, not the other way around. I don't get to tell anyone on TV or online what to report to me.

If the media produces clickbait, it's because they wanted clicks, not because Americans have a preference for it.

[Hortensis]

27. Agree. Voter stupidity does not negate media corruption.

Trump-the-candidate is above all a media creation. For profit and personal advancement.

"Members of the Society of Professional Journalists believe that public enlightenment is the forerunner of justice and the foundation of democracy. Ethical journalism strives to ensure the free exchange of information that is accurate, fair and thorough."

[molova]

2. Taibbi misrepresent complaints about the media

It's not that " because The New York Times allowed a few reporters to investigate the Clinton Foundation," as Taibbi said.
Taibbi did not analyze media coverage of the Trump foundation, such as the AP's lie that "more than half of her donors" had been invited to the State Department to speak to her.
Taibbi did not note the lie. He pretended it's about about "a few reporters" ..."investigating" the Clinton Foundation.

It's about the Press absolutely ignoring Trump's "50 percent" comments. Taibbi didn't mention that..conveniently.

Taibbi is a Hillary hater. You should know that.

[whathehell]

3. Tahiti is a Hillary hater?

Very disappointing, if true..I honestly had not heard that...Do you have any links?

[Kentonio]

4. Matt hits the nail on the head once again.

The most honest, intelligent media voice out there today imho.

[underpants]

14. Taibbi is great

[JRLeft]

26. He's right this country loves the Kardashian family.

Tabloid trash reigns supreme.

[whathehell]

29. CBS Chair: "It may not be good for America, but it's damn good for CBS."

Les Moonves on Trump Over Coverage.

When major media has NO values beyond money, everything goes to hell.

[Kentonio]

33. Exactly.

We live in an age where a celebrity breakup gets a thousand times more attention than a huge scientific advance, or a major political change. I doubt if 1 in 100,000 people have ever looked at the substance of a new bill that will effect the lives of everybody, yet the team composition of a major sports team is known by millions. We get the media (like the politicians) we deserve.

[JRLeft]

38. Agreed if real journalism was profitable it would be well funded.

It is more fun to no about a public figure's hot wife or daughter and dick pics, than to learn about substantive policy.

[liberal N proud]

5. Really? The media consumer?

The consumer of media is what they are because of what the media spoon feeds them.

[BobbyDrake]

7. Exactly. As a media consumer, if your options are clickbait or nothing, that's not much of a choice.

And it's not as if the media is blameless, because they want the clicks more than they want respect as journalists, clearly.

[whathehell]

28. Thank you.

The media gets no pass. n/t

[Blue_Adept]

8. oh fuck this

because sometimes you like escapism? you can't watch both? I'm sure a very huge percentage of my entertainment consumption would be considered "dumbed down."

But sometimes you like your trash. And one persons trash is another persons treasure.

We can't all be watching Masterpiece Theater.

Or, you know, you CAN watch it and you CAN watch generic sitcoms, trashy movies, etc.

I hate the holier than thou view of entertainment that some have. It's like they want us to be serious fucksticks all the time.

[frazzled]

20. Agreed

Clearly, Matt Taibbi knows nothing about popular culture, either high or low. And he never read Susan Sontag's seminal writings on camp. I actually do watch Masterpiece Classic, but I go slumming in a few reality-show cesspools, if nothing more than to make fun of it. High and low are the two poles of intellectual curiosity. It's middle-brow that deserves our scorn. You can read the New York Review of Books and still tune in to Andy Cohen sarcastically selling housewife drek.

As long as we understand what we are watching for what it is—serious literary or filmic endeavors vs. guilty pleasures and slumming-it-trash—we can enjoy and appreciate both. Only morons don't get that. And I've always considered MT a moron.

[Fast Walker 52]

9. he's partly right but the big problem is the media as a whole is unable to call out GOP bigotry

and other obnoxious behaviors. They just can't bring themselves to say that one of our major parties has gone completely insane and is a collection of horrible bigots.

[spooky3]

18. Sam Bee does a GREAT job in agreeing with you (video)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/12512423714

I personally think both the general public and the media have to share some responsibility. But because it's the media's JOB to tell the truth, and because it's possible to tell the truth in an interesting way, I think the media especially deserve criticism here.

[Fast Walker 52]

21. yes, that was a great segment

[spooky3]

19. Please see the Sam Bee video I linked above. She agrees.

[SticksnStones]

11. Hey Matt, when was the last time you presented anything positive

about Hillary Clinton (or Barack Obama for that matter) to your readers?

Because from a simple google of your columns in the past 8 months...nothing I could find. Nothing I'll link to here as it's all negative Hillary and Obama critiques. ( But y'all know how to use the google if interested in his catalogue of impeccable journalism. )

Oh but it's not your job to write about positive policy positions. It's your job to stir the outrage, right? In the name of freedom and such. I'd counter that you're just as interested in the clicks and the continued adulation from your fan base....it sells subscriptions, doesn't it?

Part of the problem or part of the solution, Matt. Or you can sit on the sideline and claim none of this circus is your doing.

[Kentonio]

17. It's Matt's job to point out the ridiculousness of the current political and media systems.

He's far more positive about the Democrats than he is the Republicans, because obviously the Republicans have gone batshit crazy, but its certainly not his responsibility to be a cheerleader for people he doesn't agree with. Our money based political system is badly and dangerously broken, and he's one of the few people bold enough to say so.

[uponit7771]

12. No, stop placing the onus of lazy punk ass'd reporting on the viewers who have to have something

... to consume

[Raven123]

13. Maybe a little positive investigative journalism would help

How about a few articles centered on the good that people/organizations do? I realize the need to investigate the nefarious, the dishonest and the failed efforts, but I infrequently see these articles balanced with alternative approaches/locutions to the issues raised.

I also get frustrated by the multitude of journalists who simply quote each other's work.

[dawg]

15. Matt Taibbi is one of those guys who is ostensibly on my side, but ...

still somehow manages to be wrong about just about everything he ever writes about.

[Cosmocat]

16. Well, no shit, but that still is no excuse for the media

I have been saying this since this country saw fit to elect Bush II in the first place.

The PRIMARY issue is that we are stupid as fuck, and that stupid is only getting more virulent over time.

BUT, that is no excuse of the media being what it is - at best enablers by ignoring and excusing every rat hole republican's drive us into and most often being active participants in it.

[wiggs]

39. That's right. It doesn't have to be either / or. Media clearly is party to blame. They

choose what to talk about, who gets to talk about it, how long they talk about it, how often it comes up, and what response to the discussion gets airtime. They clearly don't just REFLECT what public thinks and wants to hear about...they help shape it. They are part of the story.

Which is why giant, huge corporations (including the largest defense contractor) want to own media.

[AgadorSparticus]

22. Taibbi is so FOS! I bet he thinks rape victims has it coming to them too.

[melman]

25. I'll bet he doesn't

wtf kind of thing is that to say?

[AgadorSparticus]

35. Clearly, you didn't understand my post. It is a victim blaming mentality.

News consumers don't have a CHOICE on what we get. And that is clearly a problem with the media in this country. We are very much victims in this. The media has a responsibly to report the news and it is instead pushing is own agenda.

[JCanete]

23. You can't tell a nation of idiots to just stop being idiots. Its pretty simplistic to pin all of our

ailments on a stupid electorate. Our whole culture has fostered that electorate, and that is mostly a top down phenomenon. Sure, to some degree its what the people want, but where was the effort to make the people want something more substantial? From financial and political institutions, it has been far more profitable and powerful to pander and manipulate than to get people to stretch themselves. An informed and educated populace isn't as susceptible to marketing and isn't so easily placated, or stirred into a frenzy over bullshit.

[whathehell]

30. Take your lazy, elitist broadbrush and shove it..

You and yours may be "idiots", me and mine, not so much.

The problem with this country isn't "idiocy", it's greed and oligarchy run wild.

[JCanete]

42. Dude! If you plan on calling somebody else lazy, maybe at least take the time to read his post,

you know, so that you don't look like a hypocrite. I basically said what you said in the content of my post.. "idiot's" was Taibbi's characterization, and I was attacking the logic of blaming people who he considers idiots for the current state of the media.

[D23MIURG23]

24. This reminds me of Exxon complaining that they have to use single hull oil freighters...

because the double hull kind that would have prevented the Exxon Valdez disaster would have cost more money.

How dare anyone suggest that the way of maximum profit might not always be the best way forward! "Corporate persons" have no responsibility to anyone, besides their shareholders!

[baldguy]

31. No, Matt. The main reason the news media has been dumbed down

is because it's been sold to the highest bidder. The pursuit of profit has taken over and defeated the pursuit of the truth. People consume their news without thinking because the news does nothing to cause them to think. And the NYT is one of the worst offenders, unapologetically participating in the 30-yr long Clinton witch hunt.

[Kentonio]

34. How would selling it to the highest bidder change the landscape..

Unless this was the kind of news that people actually wanted to purchase? If the people wanted serious news, but the major new services were delivering trash, then the major news services would lose customers, and the minor ones would take over their place. People WANT the crap they are being served.

[baldguy]

37. So, the CBS Evening News is less "news" than The Apprentice is b/c fewer people watch it?

Sorry, that's bullshit. One is news, the other is not.

The news media have a higher purpose & responsibility than merely gaining ratings & making a profit. It's to inform the public of the facts & the truths which effect their daily lives. An informed populace is essential to freedom & democracy.

Unfortunately the news media have been allowed abandon that purpose and have abdicated that responsibility.

This hasn't occurred by happenstance. The RW has had a well-funded campaign in place for going on 40 yrs to eliminate serious news from the marketplace, replacing it with trash. Getting rid of the Fairness Doctrine & allowing media consolidation keeps the GOP afloat. It's intentional.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

32. Tv reporters have been played by trump repeatedly

The reporting from print has been much better

[One of the 99]

36. Taibbi just wants to preserve is right to lie.

Which he has done on several occasions.

[smorkingapple]

40. Truth is in the middle. Media is horrible but we ask for this stuff then complain when we get it

[lame54]

41. Sounds like that asshole from wall street...

who blamed the home buyers for the financial meltdown