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Questions getting dumber on radio four

garyi

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With a combination of the crono virus and flooding I note the questions of people on the morning news are getting dumber and dumber and repeated daily.

'So how does it feel being locked up in a room for 4 weeks?'

'So how does it feel watching the water slowly rising in your house?'

'So how does it feel being beat round the head with a hammer?'

I wouldn't mind but they just keep doing it.

Sign.
 
Same on BBC TV News. It's depressing. :mad:

I just wish that someone would answer, "That's a bloody stupid question!", but then they wouldn't broadcast it I suppose.
 
I have come to the conclusion, in recent years, that the vast majority of professional journalists are a) lazy and b) stupid.

I base this on what I read and see in the media, about subjects where I do know a fair bit. In almost all cases, what I read and see grossly misrepresents the actual situation, and that's usually, I suspect, because the journalist lacks the ability to think critically about what they are being told, is too lazy to engage the brain, so just trots out a steaming pile of misconceptions and misunderstood rubbish, or regurgitates the line they were provided with.

I also used to work with somebody who then went on to journalism school and now works as a journo and is doing quite well, by all accounts. Lovely guy, but thick as pigshit.
 
I have come to the conclusion, in recent years, that the vast majority of professional journalists are a) lazy and b) stupid.
Your local newspaper probably organises ‘open days’ every now and then, I suggest you go there once and have a look. Better still, if you have an acquaintance working there, ask him to show you the place on a normal working day. Even better, look at the place during the weeks before an election, especially on Election Day. Then look at the Bachelors and Masters most of the guys have, and compare that to the figures that are written on their paycheck. After all that you return to this thread and read again what you’ve written.

Of course, I admit that my GF is a journo, and proud to be part of this microscosm. But I see her daily life, and to all people who think it is a dream job: No, it isn't.
 
With a combination of the crono virus and flooding I note the questions of people on the morning news are getting dumber and dumber and repeated daily.

'So how does it feel being locked up in a room for 4 weeks?'

'So how does it feel watching the water slowly rising in your house?'

'So how does it feel being beat round the head with a hammer?'

I wouldn't mind but they just keep doing it.

Sign.
I think it’s emotional pornography dressed up as reporting. “C’mon luv, your living room’s under three feet of sewage- not going to cry for the camera?”. It’s utterly exploitative. I’m waiting for the first poor sod who has the presence of mind to reply “ how would you actually feel if it was you?”.

Has Boris announced he’s bunging a bob yet or is he still dreaming about Bridges to Ireland while the paups are under water on what should be dry land?
 
Your local newspaper probably organises ‘open days’ every now and then, I suggest you go there once and have a look. Better still, if you have an acquaintance working there, ask him to show you the place on a normal working day. Even better, look at the place during the weeks before an election, especially on Election Day. Then look at the Bachelors and Masters most of the guys have, and compare that to the figures that are written on their paycheck. After all that you return to this thread and read again what you’ve written.

I’d hope that, with a masters degree, I might be able to distil the essence of something unfamiliar sufficiently well to be able to explain it without getting it wholly wrong, or otherwise misleading my readership. Regrettably it seems to be beyond most of those whose output I see, in areas where I have relevant professional knowledge. I have to assume the same happens in areas where I lack the expertise to know for myself.


So perhaps their masters degrees are in colouring-in, or something. It’d explain why they are poorly paid, despite the qualifications, anyway.
 
Your local newspaper probably organises ‘open days’ every now and then, I suggest you go there once and have a look. Better still, if you have an acquaintance working there, ask him to show you the place on a normal working day. Even better, look at the place during the weeks before an election, especially on Election Day. Then look at the Bachelors and Masters most of the guys have, and compare that to the figures that are written on their paycheck. After all that you return to this thread and read again what you’ve written.

Of course, I admit that my GF is a journo, and proud to be part of this microscosm. But I see her daily life, and to all people who think it is a dream job: No, it isn't.

The problem is that for large areas of the UK 'local' journalism has essentially ceased to exist. Instance: a couple of years ago we had a storm and *three* individual homes were stuck by lightning and seriously damaged with Fire Brigade needing to attend. Not a word about it in the 'local' newspaper. Which is actually just a 'wrap' with the first and last few pages 'local' and the a duplicate of a wider area publication for the region.

No journalists on the ground or anywhere near. Result is mainly press releases presented as 'stories'.

I'd thought that "how do you feel..." crap had been exposed some years ago and might stop. But nope, it just creeps back in.
 
At least with the lightning everyone in town probably knew anyway as it would have been hard not to notice the ultra loud bangs and blinding flashes! But another instance was during the 4G clearance of the top of the UHF TV band. I contacted the local paper to let them know that a few hundred homes near a base station in town would lose their TV reception soon because the 4G signals would swamp their TV sets. To deal with around the UK this a body had been set up that offerred free filters or other fixes to affected viewers. i.e. they were deligated to pay and sort it out for you. You just contacted them. Told the paper this and gave the details. Nothing was published. As a result I suspect Sky sold a few dishes. Heaven knows how often that happened elsewhere as it was in the interet of the telcos not to publicise it... and planned even then to come back for 5G.
 
I still think journalism is a great profession. Ultimately to succeed, it has to both cater for its readers/listeners, and pander to its 'political or commercial masters - whilst filling column inches or slot minutes, sometimes from the hip, and often under pressure.

As with any profession, their are gooduns and wronguns - or is that just ones we like and ones we dont like.

Although, I have to say, I am struggling to think of a current journo whose column I look forward to reading with a coffee.

Are bloggers journos?
 
Facts have been replaced with opinion and comment.

I try to balance it up by reading The Guardian and Daily Mail as well as viewing BBC/Channel 4 news. Recently, the agenda of the editors/owners appear more obvious. I am trying to wean myself and my very political wife away from 'the news' and listen to more music, but it is a hard slog.

OP. yes, the questions are getting dumber/more loaded to get the desired reply, in my opinion
 
They're also too keen to get people bursting into tears, instead of moving on when a question clearly upsets someone they linger on it hoping to get some tragic moments for the camera.
 
Most "journalists" are not "journalists", they are reporters. Reporters are paid to report the facts of a situation without personal comment unless specifically asked, journalists are there to comment and reflect on a given situation from a position of some expert knowledge. Dan Rather and Henry Winter are good examples of actual real journalists within their respective fields.

One of the biggest issues is the quite deliberate blurring of lines between columnists and journalists. Columnists are biased personal opinions and not to be confused with a proper journalist. Reporters adopting the mantel of "journalist" are usually merely nothing more than snobs and not to be trusted one iota.
 
They're also too keen to get people bursting into tears, instead of moving on when a question clearly upsets someone they linger on it hoping to get some tragic moments for the camera.

this.
Most of them are bastards.
 
most of them, did you see that talentless, and thick as shit louise minchin, interviewing billie eilish, it was like my grandma asking me about the band RUSH, out of her shallow depth, every question was about the 007 single, because that's all she knows, shameful, again bbc iv'e shit um
 
I'm presuming Greystokes 1, 2 and 3 never got past the prototype stage. At this rate, maybe by the time we're in double figures, the model might fancy its chances at a Turing Test?
 
TV news, there's one of Louise Minchin's partners who never seems to grasp interviewees responses; asks the same question over and over when to any Grade 3 o level idiot the answer was clear.
 


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