I haven’t been keeping up with the news lately. I think I’ve been a lot happier, but I’m beginning to feel out of touch. So, I’m starting to pay attention again.

I forget where I first heard it put like this: The media have a sensational bias.

For some reason, my first reaction to such a statement is always: How do we fix it? I suppose that’s a good instinct, but too often it can’t—or even shouldn’t—be fixed. In many cases the real question should be: How do we deal with it? At the very least, we have to figure out how to deal with it until it gets fixed.

I tend to doubt the sensational bias can be fixed, & I’m honestly not sure that it should be. At least not entirely. Remembering my glimpse of a Japanese news program helps me to feel like the US media isn’t a lost cause yet. The only way I’ve found of dealing with it so far, though, is to try to avoid the worse offenders. Although, I guess The Daily Show & Best Week Ever somehow manage to help by doing the shtick better than the “serious” outlets themselves. Maybe it’s just that they acknowledge it.

last updated 1 year ago #