Friday, April 22, 2011

Yellowbellied Fearmongerers

For the last couple of weeks I've caught little broadcast news. CNN pissed me off and I have yet to get around to bitching at Comcast (channels above 16 freeze up every few seconds and it's too annoying to watch). So I've caught most news online, but this morning I caught some TV news and noticed one shameful thing: it's all about causing fear.

This isn't new- it's been going on for years, especially since George the 2nd's reign of terror. It's just that when you pull back you see it very clearly. I hate fearmongering. In fact, I hate all broadcast news for the pile of cat shit it's become. Every friggin story is hyped up and designed to get an emotional response. I hope these "reporters" don't call themselves journalists because they aren't. They're shills for their networks and spokesmodels selling fear. That's not journalism.

Sensationalized news used to be called Tabloid Fodder or Yellow Journalism. It was put in its place and everyone understood that you didn't take it seriously. Nowadays it's all there is, and few remember the difference. That's sad and sickening.

Develop an ear for this shit programming; you'll be surprised to see how much of a pandemic it's become. How many stories are reported with a question for a lead line? And when they do get to the story, after hyping it for 40 minutes, is it as scary as the original teaser implied? No. It's much ado about commercial sales. They're desperate for your attention, that's all. They're P.T. Barnums counting on you being a sucker and then working you over. Don't fall for it.

Back to add this. The more things change, the more they stay the same:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQxgxwpUHgg

5 comments:

ComcastCares1 said...

Sorry for the trouble. Feel free to reach out to our team. We are here t help in getting the reception problem corrected.

ComcastMark
Comcast Corp.
National Customer Operations
We_can_help@cable.comcast.com

Austan said...

Despite being freaked over the above comment appearing like Big Brother,I followed up with an email. Got a reply from a CSR, but nothing more after I responded with the particulars she wanted....

Austan said...

It's now Weds the 27th and still nothing from Comcast about fixing my cable problems.

Austan said...

A Comcast CSR called and is sending out a tech on Sunday morning. He was very nice and actually listened to me. Let's see if it gets fixed...

Austan said...

Comcast's repair tech replaced my cable box (which I said was the problem all along, every time a tech came- which was monthly for a while- but was refused until now) and voila no more freezing. I'm pleased the problem is finally fixed, but why'd it have to take 2 years and 5 months before the customer was heard?