Dan Rather: A friendly reminder to some of my colleague in the press:

[kpete]

A friendly reminder to some of my colleagues in the press: when doing stories on "average voters,” let's seek to have that phrase accurately represent the increasingly urban and diverse reality of the America of 2019 and not only the people you find in country diners.

Link to tweet

[JoeOtterbein]

1. I live in deep red PA and have never been asked anything about my views.

Of course, I almost always cook and eat at home. It's much cheaper and much better!

[xmas74]

6. I was at a diner just a few months ago in Iowa

And there were reporters in there asking questions. The only ones I saw them talk to had Trump gear.

[Garrett78]

2. Exhibit A of how awful most US media is:

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=12785470

False equivalencies, false narratives, misleading headlines, equal time for liars and those who engage in tactics such as projection and the Gish gallop, treating fact-based statements and lies that contradict those statements as equally valid opinions, and so on. US media is an embarrassment.

And I'm not even talking about Fox, which isn't even worthy of bandwidth. I'm talking about NBC, NPR, etc.

[Beartracks]

3. The false notion that fairness means ignorance is just as good as knowledge.

Paraphrased a bit from the following excellent observation of Isaac Asimov:

“There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.'”

― Issac Asimov

==============

[Garrett78]

4. Great quote, because it's true, sadly.

[State the Obvious]

10. "How long, O simple ones...

How long O simple ones, will you love being simple?
How long will mockers delight in their mocking?
How long will fools hate knowledge?
How long?

Proverbs 1:22 (RSV)

[Hortensis]

13. It's gotten worse, amazingly, with the internet and knowledge

that would have made Isaac Newton sob with amazement and joy literally at hand.

Right here on DU rejection of and disrespect for knowledge and expertise are normal. Whole threads passionately spouting ignorance as wisdom are the usual. The cult of ignorance and the frightening extreme vulnerability to manipulation it creates is at its worst on the right, but it's not just a RW thing.

Well, things always have to get bad before they force their own changes. My worry is how long to change and recover: Immediately or several decades while my grandchildren grow old and die in a fallen America that we leave them?

[Aussie105]

5. the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge

How many intellectuals does it take to change a dead light bulb?

Three. One to hold the ladder, one to look up on the internet how to do it, and a third to climb up the ladder to change it.

How many dumb people does it take to change a dead light bulb?

None. They like living in the dark.

But I agree with Dan, country diner patrons do NOT represent the "average voters". But they will give you some really good (dumb) sound bites!

[PSPS]

7. Lazy journalism

What Rather says is true. A lazy reporter will want to minimize the amount of time they get out of their car, so they pick a diner, file a report, and it's "30."

I remember when, in the immediate aftermath of the loss of the fairness doctrine, limbaugh started his radio wurlitzer. The networks would do almost the same thing. They would go to some little town, tune in the (usually one) local radio station, listen to limbaugh for a while, and file a report about "what the average person HERE thinks" based solely on what he heard on limbaugh's SYNDICATED radio show which, at the time (and maybe true today,) had mostly paid "callers" on the air to gin up the manufactured outrage.

[uponit7771]

9. +1

[DanieRains]

8. I Live In Seattle - No One Ever Asks Us About Voting For Trump

WE ARE NOT F-KING IDIOTS.

[SCVDem]

11. Simply put?

Iowa does not represent the majority of Americans.

But, I thank them for keeping them out of California.

I don't need six months of bullshit.

[mfcorey1]

12. It pisses me off when I constantly hear them talking about the college educated

electorate and the other people. Those who contribute to society and are well versed in what is happening politically are also listening and feel ostracized. Sometimes the media is just clueless and on purpose. We have to remember that they are in constant rating wars.

[Hassler]

14. Journalism loves its narratives and observes Cokie's Law. Facts get in the way.

[spanone]

15. Thank you Dan, NO SHIT.

[intheflow]

16. While we're at it, how about we hold the first primaries in more diverse states than IA and NH?

I mean, I know there are POC in those states, but maybe add Georgia or California. I'm tired of us acting like we actually care about POC while rigging the electoral system to elevate primarily rural, white states to decide who can best represent our whole country.

[milestogo]

17. Not too many vegetarians eating in most of those local diners.

I'm just sayin'.