Journalism: An example of excellent journalism

Journalism: An example of excellent journalism

Good journalism is being done. In addition to the embarrassing mistakes noted on this blog, there are also examples of excellent journalism. To provide some balance between the dreadful and the excellent, examples of great journalism will also be shared here.

This blog is primarily about propaganda messaging. Media plays a role in propaganda delivery, some times as propagandist and sometimes as counter propaganda. An example of the latter would be the BBC’s good reporting on the Amazon wild fire situation, noting that both media and social media spin were stretching the truth and leaving out critical context.

Journalism: Follow up on the Des Moines Register fiasco

Journalism: Follow up on the Des Moines Register fiasco

Follow up on the Des Moines Register fiasco of he past week. The reporter, Aaron Calvin, was fired, but blames everyone else, says he is the victim of a right wing conspiracy and his own tweets were all taken out of context. The interview was done by his former employer, Buzzfeed News, which itself has a conflict of interest in reporting this.

Interesting comment on FB about journalists that commonly act like a school yard bully; seems a fair description of what happened here.

Climate communications: Rasmussen poll: 51% Of Young Voters Believe Humanity Could Be Wiped Out Within 10 Years

Climate communications: Rasmussen poll: 51% Of Young Voters Believe Humanity Could Be Wiped Out Within 10 Years

51% of voters under 35 believe human life may be wiped out on earth with in 10 years. This assertion is not supported by any scientific evidence but is a fear created out of thin air by lying, exaggeration, hyperbole by politicians, activists and media propagandists. The result is an induced epidemic of mass anxiety with many now requiring medical care.

Climate communications: the problem with buying cars based on miles-per-gallon

Climate communications: the problem with buying cars based on miles-per-gallon

Nice illustration of how easy we can be fooled by numbers: to save gas, do you upgrade your 36 mpg car to a newer 46 mpg car, or do you upgrade your pickup truck from 15 mpg to 18 mpg? You drive both the same amount per year. Most people will select the 10 mpg fuel improvement – but they’ll save twice as much gas if they updated the pick up truck.

How Negative News Distorts Our Thinking | Psychology Today

How Negative News Distorts Our Thinking | Psychology Today

News focused on the negative, is overly dramatic, leads us to false conclusions about the world and is largely pointless speculation, fear and dlick-bait headlines designed primarily to attract eyeballs to advertisers. News is also largely a waste of our time, says Psychology Today.