Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News Editorials & Other Articles General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

General Discussion

Showing Original Post only (View all)
 

TheNutcracker

(2,104 posts)
Fri Jun 6, 2014, 10:59 AM Jun 2014

Death Throes: The Mainstream Media Is Hanging By A Thread [View all]

Tuesday, June 3, 2014
Death Throes: The Mainstream Media Is Hanging By A Thread

Dees Illustration
Joshua Krause
Activist Post

As the May ratings for the 4 major news networks come in, it’s never been more apparent that the mainstream media is in its death throes. According to a recent article from Politico, Fox News is faced with its lowest numbers in over a decade. While the networks continue to maintain enough viewers to stay afloat, they have absolutely failed to attain the younger demographic. Another key factor coming from May ratings is just how old Fox News viewers are. Take for example, Bill O’Reilly’s show…O’Reilly had his lowest month since 2001 in the key demo, with 308,000 viewers. Yes, O’Reilly is still the No. 1 program in cable news in both total and demo viewers, averaging 2,136,000 total viewers in May. But the majority of those viewers are over the age of 55. In fact, the median age for O’Reilly is now just over 72 years old. The average Fox News viewer overall is 68.8, while the average ages of MSNBC and CNN viewers were 62.5 and 62.8, respectively. Simply put, the largest news networks are hemorrhaging viewers, and most of what’s left are now senior citizens. If any institution is going to survive, it of course needs younger adherents. And this is not an abnormal year.

Breitbart reported an almost identical story two years ago for the month of May. This is a clear and long-term trend of decline. And it isn’t just television news of course. Print media is likely on its way out as well, with only about a quarter of the population saying they have confidence in newspapers. 152 newspapers were shutdown in 2011 alone. Though I couldn’t find any more recent data, I suspect last year wasn’t much better.

Honestly, it’s an exciting trend to me. The mainstream media has failed to inform us on so many levels. You can pick any day or week of the year, and observe the most trending news items littering our television screens. What you’ll find is a news media that desperately holds onto any celebrity gossip for days on end, and lies through its teeth at every opportunity. Look at what they did this week. They failed to report on the possibly earth-shaking events that could unfold from a yearly meeting of the most powerful and influential people on earth. If they can’t do that, then what are they good for? The lies are the most telling of all. For most of my life, I was told that the media is only concerned about ratings. “If it bleeds it leads” or something to that effect. I was led to believe that a news organization would do anything for ratings, but perhaps that isn’t exactly so. If all they cared about was being seen and heard, why are their ratings in the toilet?

If you’re reading this right now, you probably already know. There’s a good chance you’ve at least partially abandoned television and print media. You know deep down that it can’t be trusted. You know it’s not just about ratings. If numbers were all that a multi-billion dollar industry needed to survive, they could do it. It’s not that hard. Just tell the truth. The world is a baffling and complicated place, teeming with mystery and beauty. We’re on a rock hurdling through space with billions of people living on its surface, and not one of them is identical to another. The world is an unlimited tap of incredible technological advances, political intrigue, wild natural phenomena, and an endless parade creative and courageous people. The truth of our world is filled with awe and wonder. They could get all the ratings they could possibly dream of, if they just told the truth. And, yet, from the school textbooks of our formative years, to the talking heads of our adult lives, every source of mainstream information appears to be a sanitized version of the truth, or even an outright lie.

“When I was at CNN a decade ago, it was glistening,” Now, he said, “it looks like Hitler’s bunker….torn-up carpet, feces all over the wall and on the floor in the bathroom. It’s rotting. Folks, I’ve been in those exact rooms,” he added. “It literally looked like a gas station bathroom in the worst part of town. It was rotting and those people were in hell. It’s a skeleton of what it was, it’s a globalist operation and they’re nothing.”
For their sake, I hope he’s exaggerating. As for me, I have a pretty bad case of schadenfreude. This tired old media, this purveyor of a false reality, is a dead man walking.

more at link
http://www.activistpost.com/2014/06/death-throes-mainstream-media-is.html

Joshua Krause is a reporter, writer and researcher at The Daily Sheeple,where this first appeared. He was born and raised in the Bay Area and is a freelance writer and author. You can follow Joshua’s reports at Facebook or on his personal Twitter. Joshua’s website is Strange Danger

87 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Ha ha kick so the real nooze becomes known, they are losing! TheNutcracker Jun 2014 #1
bullshit info-tainment... echo chamber nonsense... political flacks... tk2kewl Jun 2014 #2
"journalism" indeed. The quotation marks are well placed. AlinPA Jun 2014 #26
Exactly......it is a shame titanicdave Jun 2014 #31
I get my info from 840high Jun 2014 #44
This says it all: blue neen Jun 2014 #3
not their game tk2kewl Jun 2014 #15
They wish to be mouthpieces for the corporate establishment. Let corporations maintain them. Katashi_itto Jun 2014 #4
My brother calls it "Angertainment" TheNutcracker Jun 2014 #5
Boom - in a nutshell hatrack Jun 2014 #83
Thanks! By the end of the day they'll know they're dead! HA! TheNutcracker Jun 2014 #6
I know we have OUR shows too! But that is not news. It's "angertainment" TheNutcracker Jun 2014 #7
Bullshit from a guy trying to sell you gold and silver muriel_volestrangler Jun 2014 #8
He may have an agenda -- but can you deny his basic points? starroute Jun 2014 #14
But look at what he wants to replace it with muriel_volestrangler Jun 2014 #18
Then the problem is why we leave it to jerks like this to spread the bad news starroute Jun 2014 #21
^^this^^ zeemike Jun 2014 #53
Agreed 100%. But I see the same forces that own MSM owning CTers like Jones. See my reply to muriel. freshwest Jun 2014 #80
CNN isn't looking for overseas bureaus, and neither are ABC, NBC, CBS - folded the tent years ago hatrack Jun 2014 #85
Agree, he's spot on here! TheNutcracker Jun 2014 #59
He cites a finding by Breitbart. Enthusiast Jun 2014 #77
Now now muriel_volestrangler you big old MSM apologist... tenderfoot Jun 2014 #42
You beat me to it. A sampling from the front page of The Daily Sheeple: freshwest Jun 2014 #79
The oligarchs will simply move their propaganda machines to those venues that rhett o rick Jun 2014 #9
If you're an obscenely rich fascist, what do you do first? Warpy Jun 2014 #10
And let's not forget Rupert Murdock....and the phone tapping etc. TheNutcracker Jun 2014 #60
Great article until he cites Alex Jones as an example of journalistic integrity. tenderfoot Jun 2014 #11
Good catch - I hadn't notice the OP carefully edited out that name from their excerpt muriel_volestrangler Jun 2014 #19
the article cites Brietbart as well... tenderfoot Jun 2014 #27
Looks like TheNutcracker has an agenda too... Blus4u Jun 2014 #34
Post removed Post removed Jun 2014 #62
You're defending Rense, Before It's News, Infowars, and Lew Rockwell? muriel_volestrangler Jun 2014 #64
I think he's here to simply bust nuts. tenderfoot Jun 2014 #68
And now he's flagged for review. greatauntoftriplets Jun 2014 #78
Name some truths from Brietbart and Alex Jones. tenderfoot Jun 2014 #69
He appears to have left the thread. Try this: freshwest Jun 2014 #81
I cracked a nut once! snooper2 Jun 2014 #73
no way!! wtf, I'm taking back my rec. n/t Whisp Jun 2014 #22
MSM is not MSM 90-percent Jun 2014 #12
We won't have Colbert much longer, though. Arugula Latte Jun 2014 #23
Colberts replacement? 90-percent Jun 2014 #29
I don't know about the replacement. Arugula Latte Jun 2014 #30
And this guy is the replacement? MineralMan Jun 2014 #13
I know what would boost their ratings: ChisolmTrailDem Jun 2014 #16
Indeed, as a fellow whistleblower said, 'Life's too short to lie in court.' freshwest Jun 2014 #82
Alex jones is not who I think off as a good newsman nadinbrzezinski Jun 2014 #17
He lost me at Bill O'Reilly. Skidmore Jun 2014 #72
"Truth" is exactly why they're failing, they're incapable of it Corruption Inc Jun 2014 #20
Back in 2002 libodem Jun 2014 #24
people realised fox is just an arm of the republican party. Medias much better outside the USA. Sunlei Jun 2014 #25
"feces all over the wall and on the floor in the bathroom" in CNN offices? enough Jun 2014 #28
its from flinging sh-t... Historic NY Jun 2014 #32
I think the feces are in front of the camera. Fuddnik Jun 2014 #47
The only times we watch TV news is when there is a local concern..which most often turns out to be a Tikki Jun 2014 #33
The "winning formula" for the media was based on Monica, Monica, Monica.... Spitfire of ATJ Jun 2014 #35
It took 9/11 to knock Gary Condit off Faux Nooz. Fuddnik Jun 2014 #49
Barbara Olsen made a career over that nonsense.... Spitfire of ATJ Jun 2014 #56
Judging from the recs - it's pretty obvious that people didn't read the full article. tenderfoot Jun 2014 #36
Champion of the MSM are ya? DeSwiss Jun 2014 #38
This message was self-deleted by its author tenderfoot Jun 2014 #39
K&R! DeSwiss Jun 2014 #37
People's BS detectors are now fine-tuned Tsiyu Jun 2014 #40
Companies like General Electric bought a network for propaganda purposes and leverage on Dustlawyer Jun 2014 #41
there's one group of people left who still watch a lot of TV, whether it be news or entertainment... paulkienitz Jun 2014 #43
Only thing we ever watch is Cosmos, Basketball, Colbert and Jon Stewart. abelenkpe Jun 2014 #45
"The Mainstream Media Is Hanging By A Thread" Jenoch Jun 2014 #46
And uses Alex Jones and Brietbart as example of intergrity. tenderfoot Jun 2014 #48
Well, NealK Jun 2014 #75
READ BEFORE YOU REC - This article cites Brietbart and Alex Jones as Journalistic Integrity. tenderfoot Jun 2014 #50
Well, Breitbart and Jones are true to their sources... winter is coming Jun 2014 #54
So what of his opinion of Breitbart and Alex! He's spot on here with our MSM TheNutcracker Jun 2014 #63
There are better commentaries about the failings of the MSM from reputable sources... tenderfoot Jun 2014 #65
MSM=The Industrial Bullshit Complex n/t fredamae Jun 2014 #51
Now where's my scissors... Blue Owl Jun 2014 #52
Just like Wylie Coyote ran off a cliff HoosierCowboy Jun 2014 #55
Many people have experienced being present at news events and seeing the press's slant later. Zen Democrat Jun 2014 #57
You do realize "Daily Sheeple" is a racist conspiracy theory site right? alp227 Jun 2014 #58
You MSM apologist! tenderfoot Jun 2014 #61
Post removed Post removed Jun 2014 #66
Then that must mean you're an apologist for Alex Jones and Brietbart. tenderfoot Jun 2014 #67
Nothing I posted has anything to do with anything but the post on MSM. You distract with the writers TheNutcracker Jun 2014 #70
You're posting links to sketchy sources and getting called out for it. tenderfoot Jun 2014 #71
And flagged for review now alp227 Jun 2014 #76
Your article is putting Breitbart and Alex Jones forward as good examples of journalism muriel_volestrangler Jun 2014 #74
Yes, my search there quickly devolved into a sewer of racist crap. Your Skeptoid piece is good. TY freshwest Jun 2014 #84
Television Not a Fan Jun 2014 #86
FInally!?!! I Wish.. along with every other person who is sick to death of the BULLSHIT. Cha Jun 2014 #87
Latest Discussions»General Discussion»Death Throes: The Mainstr...