If that’s the case, then my general answer would be that the US is not as bad as social media and other media conglomerates make things out to be. One reason being is the media figured out a while back that tactics such as fear-mongering gained more people’s attention. Therefore people were more likely to read their newspapers and see their advertisements, etc. (i.e. clickbait)
Now that I have been, mostly, limiting my self to the Associated Press and National Public Radio I don’t feel things such as impending doom.
I made a similar move a few years ago - none of the for-profit newspapers, and like you said, a stronger preference for national broadcasters who don’t have to worry about revenue directly from the populace (even if they are funded by public taxes), and a lesser dependence on advertising. I’m not even from the US and signed up for the NPR newsletters because they were so good and interesting!
I can’t help but feel you’re correct that clickbait is leading to a decline in the quality of things-that-I-read. In my opinion, it’s the manifestation of capitalism in communication and socialization and feels like such a terrible problem. Money may make the world go round – but it is clear that it doesn’t always do it in a sustainable way. I do what I can (with contributions to the DeArrow extension for YouTube for example) to stay focused on mitigating it, but I feel like I’ll have to do more in the future.
If that’s the case, then my general answer would be that the US is not as bad as social media and other media conglomerates make things out to be. One reason being is the media figured out a while back that tactics such as fear-mongering gained more people’s attention. Therefore people were more likely to read their newspapers and see their advertisements, etc. (i.e. clickbait)
Now that I have been, mostly, limiting my self to the Associated Press and National Public Radio I don’t feel things such as impending doom.
I made a similar move a few years ago - none of the for-profit newspapers, and like you said, a stronger preference for national broadcasters who don’t have to worry about revenue directly from the populace (even if they are funded by public taxes), and a lesser dependence on advertising. I’m not even from the US and signed up for the NPR newsletters because they were so good and interesting!
I can’t help but feel you’re correct that clickbait is leading to a decline in the quality of things-that-I-read. In my opinion, it’s the manifestation of capitalism in communication and socialization and feels like such a terrible problem. Money may make the world go round – but it is clear that it doesn’t always do it in a sustainable way. I do what I can (with contributions to the DeArrow extension for YouTube for example) to stay focused on mitigating it, but I feel like I’ll have to do more in the future.
Statistics do say that it is safer now than ever before, but viscerally it doesn’t feel that way, which is by it so… unpleasant.