State-manufactured reality slips in China, to reveal ugly truths :

Xia's journalism lecture included other examples of Xinhua's work, notably coverage of ethnic rioting in the far west of China last summer that left nearly 200 people dead.

Xia explained how Xinhua concealed the true horror of the unrest for fear that it would set off violence beyond Urumqi, the capital of the Xinjiang region. Rioters burned bus passengers alive, he told the class, raped women and decapitated children.

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Michael Crichton on the denigration of society by the mainstream media, back in 1993 :

There has been a great decline in civility in this country. We have lost the perception that reasonable persons of good will may hold opposing views. Simultaneously, we have lost the ability to address reasoned arguments - to forsake ad hominem characterization, and instead address a different person's arguments. Which is a tragedy, because debate is interesting. It's a form of exploration. But personal attack is merely unpleasant and intimidating. Paradoxically, this decline in civility and good humor, which the press appear to believe is necessary to "get the story," reduces the intensity of our national discourse. Watching British parliamentary debates, I notice that the tradition of saying "the right honorable gentleman" or "my distinguished friend" before hurling an insult does something interesting to the entire process. A civil tone permits more bluntness.

And where can you find this kind of debate in today's media? Not in television, nor in newspapers or magazines. You find it on the computer networks, a place where traditional media are distinctly absent.

So I hope that this era of polarized, junk-food journalism will soon come to an end.

Is it coming to an end now, 17 years later? Or is it in fact getting worse, and spreading deeper into society, hosing shit all over intelligence?

The Full Michael Crichton Story Is Here

"Different Scares Go In And Out Of Fashion"

The glossy corporate news media creates a shiny product, loaded with shock tactics, emotional manipulation and fearmongering. Nothing new there. But every new generation has to learn what they are seeing, and being told to believe, really is.

Charlie Brooker shows how to filter the bullshit :




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Reuters : Our Stories Can "Move Markets"

The Reuters news agency fell for a hoax press release about US climate change legislation, you can read the full story by Greg Sergant here, but this quote from a Reuters spokesperson is very interesting :

“Reuters has an obligation to its clients to publish news and information that could move financial markets, and this story had the potential to do that,” (said) Reuters spokesperson Courtney Dolan.

Must have been why they were so quiet about the sub-prime fiasco and the once looming Global Financial Crisis until it was too late.