Tonight we rant against the modern sensational media, with examples of the damage it has done recently, and how we feel about the direction this is all heading in the end.

We’ll also share anecdotes about media blunders and failures of the past (that we are doomed to see repeat), and maybe give you a few tips on spotting these attention-grabs before they’re allowed to sway your opinion.

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Tonight’s Show Notes & Download Below:

TODAY:

Media Coverage is primarily circulating around the death of Ted Stevens (made famous on the internet for his “series of tubes” speech), rather than the major economic news coming from the Federal Reserve that might finally put the US economy on the right track toward recovery in the housing market.

Why?

1. Ted Stevens had a long life filled with turmoil, political backstabbing, taking huge amounts of money from special interests, etc.  It’s DRAMA.  It’s NEWS.
2. Ted Stevens lost his re-election in 2008, after being charged with 9 felonies regarding hiding monetary gifts from special interests.  He should no longer be a major public figure – his story is over.
3. Economic news is depressing, and this move by the Federal Reserve has had only negative impacts on the immediate economy, dropping the value of the US Dollar and having no tangible results to the end consumer.

LAST WEEK:

Google and Verizon meet to talk about Net Neutrality.  Early ‘leaks’ and ‘reports’ indicate that this could be to END Net Neutrality.  The New York Times runs an article speaking out in an alarmist fashion that Google & Verizon are finalizing a deal to introduce ‘pay tiers’ into existing internet service, resulting in premium packages for big sites like YouTube and Amazon that would throttle bandwidth for sites unable to contract these premium rates.  Ultimately this would crush competition on the internet, as the small sites would have their ability to compete crippled by network traffic throttling.

Gizmodo then runs an EVEN MORE alarmist article based on the NYTimes article, making it sound like a call for an internet rebellion.  As more and more information came out throughout the day, they updated the story, but refused to change their militaristic stance against the Google/Verizon talks.

Fast forward to yesterday, when Google & Verizon unveiled the results of these closed-door talks they’d been having, which was a proposal for the FCC staunchly in favor of net neutrality (on most fronts).  How did everyone get the story so wrong, and choose to just roll with it?  

To quote one commentor on Giz:  “If you have to update your news story 10 times, you probably shouldn’t have posted it to begin with.”

OTHER EXAMPLES:

Missing White Woman Syndrome (aka MWWS)

1. 2002:  

1. Laci Peterson
2. Meanwhile, a pregnant black woman named disappeared from Philadelphia at around the same time and attracted no national attention.
3. The has also commented on the phenomenon by saying ""

Flight Attendant loses temper, cusses out passenger on loud speaker, steals a beer, activates emergency slide to exit the vehicle.

While a funny anecdote for “quitting your job” this guy deserves none of the hero status being given to him by news affiliates.  He broke several laws, including Federal regulations, in addition to being a cranky drama queen.  Why are we rewarding him with press coverage and interviews!?

BP Buying Google Search Results?

More Links Here

This is non-news.  BP spent a bundle on advertising — something anyone else can conceivably do — as a response to a major PR blunder.  Why was this spun as a corporate espionage tactic, or Big Brother controlling the flow of information?

eFuse fiasco — the article that started the whole spiel.  A FALSE issue by the way – check out our review of the DroidX for a more accurate representation of the eFuse capabilities and intent.

Wanky Balls Festival

Story:  This news article was entirely taken from a Wikipedia article that was edited in such a way as to give false information.  And not fact-checked.  Resulting in a published article about Wanky Balls.  Media fail.

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