“Content mills” and “Content Generation” services are becoming the backbone of web “journalism”. 57% of newsroom jobs at newspapers went away from 2008 onwards. What does those people do now? They write stories about that one weird trick that explains why this airport did something to someone… in other words, fluffy filler click-bait articles.
Every language has terminology and idioms that may have originated long ago, in the context of derogatory comments or associated with an era when such language may have been viewed as derogatory. There is a list, online, over almost 3,000 words or phrases in the English language, that are considered offensive, or considered offensive in some contexts.
We are all going to die, Really Soon Now. Your dose of The Daily Doomer.
A competent reporter would ask why one buoy (but not the adjoining buoys) registered high sea temperatures, which then dropped by 9 degrees within hours, and by 17 degrees within 2 days. But “competent” and “reporter” rarely belong in the same sentence. Sigh.
Every few months, the media tell us that – horrors! – 61% (or whatever) of Americans live paycheck to paycheck. Left out of the breathless reporting is that this is pretty much where it always is, except during recessions when it goes up higher.
One of the long ago greats in journalism, the late Jim McKay.
When the air temperature is hot, but not unusually hot, switch to reporting on the summertime ground surface temperature (80C/180F) – it’s a bigger and scarier number than the air temperature so go for it! But it, alas, it is actually a normal summertime land surface temperature and has been for years and years. But the Doomers at parody news site The Guardian know that their readers don’t know that.
Rather than stick with facts, logic and reasoned arguments, the media has gone full yellow journalism, using exaggeration and hyperbole to sell eyeballs to advertisers. They’ve dived so far into nonsense territory as to render their climate reporting pointless, resulting in their message being tuned out.
National Geographic magazine lays off all remaining staffers. Will now hire freelancers on contract basis.
Women account for 55% of newsroom jobs, while men account for 45%. Since 2 out of 3 journalism grads are now women, this will over time shift further towards news positions staffed primarily by women, the opposite of 40 years ago.