WLKY's problem but this time it's sports

I wrote a piece recently about WLKY's crime addiction. Surprise, they have more than one problem. However, this one is arguably worse. Every day, they have a 3-5 minute sports segment at the end of the show. This is a largely boring and irrelevant part of the show. These segments do a poor job of making the interesting important- or really interesting. These stories do little more than say 'someone new was hired' or 'UK to play School X' They have so little information, and so few connections to wider issues, that they honestly make me want to turn the news off- not that I can. I have to watch it for these. But regardless, These segments are boring and so sparsely detailed that they aren't helpful.

Perfectly Poor Populism Problems

In class we talked about many two-piece contrasts in journalism. One such was the difference between populism- news tailored to the largest, most profitable audience- and elitism- news made by people who only want to see change made, not make money. Now, the problem in modern America is not that there are no Elitist news sources, but rather that populist news dominates our news cycles. A large problem with populist news is that they play to their audience, modifying stories or creating conspiracy theories to defend their beliefs. Yet populism dominates the news today, because they appeal to a large audience. This system of news is ineffective, because our news channels are looking to profit, and not benefit the people of the nation.

Print's Impression

Over the last weeks, we've talked about the onset of various forms of mass media. The first on our list was the book, turned into a mass medium by the invention of the printing press, and it's simplified, more concise design brought about by Gutenberg. Yet the printing press had much more lasting impressions than those it left on papers. The press became a much more fascinating and liberating invention the more I learned about it's consequences. It's cheap, bulk production process allowed dissenters, both religious and political, to spread their ideas much more safely. It's widely considered a near direct cause of the Protestant Reformation, and it allowed scientific and political ideas to spread as well, all with a speed and potency never before seen. You could argue that we'd be decades behind on science, without Protestantism as a distinct branch of Christianity, and still in an age of monarchies without one German man deciding to print bibles for the poor.

WLKY's crime addiction

A week and a half ago, on Thursday, WLKY aired their daily 6:00 news- or so it would seem.  The first quarter of the show was completely taken up by crime stories. Here's the issue with this- they were largely irrelevant. Not only this, but it feels like they provided little to no useful information to the watcher. Looking back at my notes, I cannot remember any of these specific stories, even though each was given about a minute's runtime. These stories were boring, and WLKY chose to air them without context or related data, making their impact miniscule. This does not abide by the yardstick of relevance, because so much time was taken up by stories that affected so few people, without any connection to a trend or important issue. The stories were bland and easily forgettable. Now that is a crime for you.

Movies' Modern Relevance- Rather, why they still have it.

We discussed recently in class the topic of movie theaters, and why they have stayed successful in America. One point that was brought up stuck with me, that being the pressure by society to see movies  as soon as possible. Most of the movie experience could be had in similar capacity with a dvd at home, Yet we still flock to theaters when the next Avengers or Star Wars comes out. This is because movies have endeavored to give us experiences that cannot be seen on tv. As a result, when we go to see them, we're often blown away by their quality and scale. We want to talk about them, but others don't want to have the movies spoiled. It plays on excitement and fear of ruining the story, which is why it's so effective at getting us into theaters time and again.

None of any Facts

While checking up on Satchel's charges into the project, I found a critique of a WDRB news story.
http://satchelsjcblog.blogspot.com/2018/10/all-facts.html
I think his points here are very valid- save his second paragraph opener. "Not only is this a meaningless, fear-mongering story..." is simply untrue. You argument point that there isn't enough information is valid and well put together, but works against you here. You show no evidence that this story tries to incite fear, and while extremely incomplete, this story is not meaningless. Even if this turned out to be a false alarm, it's helpful to know why police are blockading your apartment. There is meaning here, even if it is small and very localized. However, I agree that this story was in no condition to air. It is so incomplete that it is barely helpful to anyone watching the show.

A Serious Interlude- Hate Crimes, Ultranationalism, Gun Violence, and more.

The media has dubbed the last three days 72 Hours of Hell. During this time, we've seen 13 package bombs sent to various Democratic politicians, figureheads, and CNN. We've seen a hate crime- racially charged- occur within ten blocks of my house. We've seen a man walk into a place of worship in Pennsylvania and open fire. When we discussed these issues in class today, it certainly got me thinking. So I suppose I'll run down the list. I think all three of these attacks were hate crimes. There is no question to me that the synagogue attack and Kroger shooting were. I believe the bombs sent to  CNN and Democrats are also a hate crime. It shows such hatred of another's ideas that you are willing to kill them for their thoughts. After all, aren't politics and religion both ideas? These tie in to my next point of Ultranationalism. This ideology of violence is worryingly growing. Polarization of American politics is causing a sense of combat for power rather than cooperation for the good of the country.  Ultranationalism is dangerous to democracy. Defended and encouraged by a president who has condoned violence in the past, extremists are more willing to strike out. This point is tied to the next- Gun Violence. The man who attacked Kroger abused his wife, threatened to kill his family, had his guns taken multiple times, and yet was still given back his weapons. The man who attacked the Pittsburgh synagogue used the 1488 nationalist- white supremacist symbol and tweeted about HIAS- a Hebrew immigration foundation- bringing in 'invaders' , saying "I'm going in." The bomber had threatened to bomb a company before. Where do we draw the line on access to weapons? The point that regulating guns would be difficult is valid, but not insurmountable. It's clear to me that the synagogue shooter was dangerous and the Kroger shooter was at risk of snapping any second. We cannot have such a deep party divide if America is to survive.

IDOL-ized

Whilst perusing the archives of the J1 blogs, I happened upon this article by Desiree- http://lokiwasright.blogspot.com/2018/10/local-news-what-should-be-prioritized.html
I found it to be short but sweet. Desiree makes a legitimate argument, this being that celebrity tv (In this case, American Idol.) should not be placed more prominently than news stories affecting many across the nation. What stands in the way of political dominance if we allow news outlets to feed us entertainment instead of important, pertinent news about laws and freedoms of people nationwide? If we Idolize entertainment but stray from news, the consequences would be horrendous.

Update From the Warfront

Taking a brief break from my daily routine of slaying murderous greenskins to give an update on my progress. After the ambush in the woods, Corrowell fell. We raided the city by night, and then fought back the Ogre King's invasion force from the city of Peter's Keep. The generals let it go to their heads. We were ambushed again at the city gates, and lost several vehicles and thirty men. After some detours to deal with rogue goblins and lost Darkmen, we made our assault on the Greenskins' capital, Gubba's Town. We debuted Barracuda armor and Hammerhead mechs in combat this month. I need to get some sleep before we fight further into the city. Soldier out.

Response to Response to Trump: America's Last President?

Recently I happened upon a piece by Satchel on his blog here: http://satchelsjcblog.blogspot.com/2018/09/response-to-trump-americas-last.html
I agreed with most of the points Satchel made here. He was concise and backed himself up with evidence at most turns. There is however one small problem I noticed. That is this: Satchel repeatedly shows ridiculous quotes from the president, yet doesn't go on to discuss a clear problem with them beyond simply their message. This is the issue that the president is repeatedly lying to and deceiving the public- and getting away near scot free. However, overall Satchel did a grand job of debating points made in the article he critiqued, showing examples and text evidence to support his points.

Loki Was Good J+C

Recently, whilst browsing the J1 class' blogs, I stumbled upon a piece pertaining to mass communication by Desiree here: http://lokiwasright.blogspot.com/2018/09/mass-communication.html
I enjoyed perusing it. The article is not only informative, but, critically for my standards, entertaining. It debunks a myth about mass versus group communication, (This being that the number of the audience specifically matters in these comparisons.) It does this entertainingly by including intended revelations throughout the writing.

Bias in media

We spoke about bias in journalism recently in class. It got me thinking about bias in major media networks today. When I say bias i don't mean cut and dry stuff like conspiracies versus reality or police versus criminals. I mean organizations that cater to a small subset of the American people, and will do whatever it takes to keep them happy. Bias in journalism has become a problem in part because greed has eclipsed practicality of the news for these stations. Only by holding the public first can you avoid bias towards one group over another unfairly. Several prominent stations now report whatever will keep their audience happy as opposed to helpful or even realistic information to earn more money.

Charlie Brown and the Football- this is for j+c

We talked briefly in class about rumors being reported like fact in modern media. It called me back to this video by Vox: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qlf6VjRIHMw&list=PLJ8cMiYb3G5cghzLdchzalWpQJnhRYZgO&index=4 It is a common problem in modern media that news stations report rumors spouted by politicians without doing any/sufficient research to verify their statements are true. This misleads people, but also gives a false positive for the information reported on. We can't ignore outlandish statements made by politicians, but careful checks are necessary so as not to mislead the public. When rumors and claims are put out as fact, we are more likely to treat them as true even when they are proved false.

Jacksonville- and America's ongoing gun issue

When I first heard of the shooting at the Jacksonville Madden Tournament, I was appalled. But that feeling faded quickly, and was replaced with indifference, which in turn caused anger. You see, I was a victim of a dangerous phenomena- acclimatization to mass shootings. This is a serious problem in America today. It seems that every time we have a shooting, It takes up media space for a week, there's a push for reform, and then it all falls to pieces. I'm passionate about this topic because there are so many cases at this point where stricter mental health laws for gun purchase and lower caliber weapons available to the public could have saved lives by preventing shootings altogether, or lessening the death count. Something needs to change. The media needs to put pressure on politicians to do better for our people.

JCPS state takeover

When I first heard of the legal debate about a state takeover of JCPS, I was legitimately shocked. I  imagined a crackdown on freedom of opinion for students and a general fear that the state would, in some unforeseen way, screw up the environment I came to Manual for. Now that a deal has been reached and I’ve calmed down, I’m less worried. But questions still remain. JCPS agreed to a partial takeover. What does that mean for budget? Students? Staff? What’s in store for us? Will this help JCPS prosper, or bring an unforeseen ruin?

MSNBC-and modern news’- continuing problem.

Today I was checking on earthen affairs and found this segment from MSNBC’s the Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell: http://www.msnbc.com/the-last-word/watch/call-trump-s-trade-deal-anything-but-nafta-1307785283796?v=railb . This segment is titled “What’s in Pres. Trump’s preliminary agreement with Mexico?” Here’s the problem with this. Watching it was boring, and sleep-inducing. O’Donnell does a poor job of making the important interesting, with his consulting expert and himself actually belittling the trade deal changes. In addition, this segment has an important topic in foreign relations and the automotive industry, but O’Donnell fails to truly show or tell how this will have an impact on people’s lives. We don’t get solid answers to the questions like: how could this affect the economy of the U.S.? This segment also exhibits the common journalistic flaw of the modern age- politics over practicality. Probably at least a quarter of this time is devoted to talking about the president’s views and wants here, and O’Donnell comes back to it at least twice after the segment is into the meat of the story. The president’s views are important, but in this case the focus should be on relations with Mexico and Canada, and effects on the economies involved in this deal. You get barely any substantial information about what is actually in this deal or how it will affect us, even though it is the titular question here. It’s a confusing, rushed, and largely unhelpful piece. That is unacceptable. With a little more time and effort put in to the preliminary research for this topic, it could have been an engaging, useful piece about potential economic change and international relations, yet it feels like you’re little the wiser for watching it about either topic. Change needs to be made.

An Introduction

Hello There! I am Justin, and this blog will be my perspective on various current events. The title derives from a character in a story I'm making. The book is a mix of Warhammer 40k, LOTR and Warhammer, thrown into a melting pot with tactics and combat. Saying that, the posts may be in character, but will always reflect modern news and my opinion on them. Thanks for reading. I'll see you around!