Blog viewers, radio listeners and tabloid readers follow mediums without a desire for the truth. Instead they thrive off the entertainment level provided by each of these separate mediums and care very little about the legitimacy of the content. Most of the time what is said or written in the media is mere speculation or opinion.
I think the reason the validity of the input from these sources are rarely questioned is because they usually do not cover matter that the overall majority considers important. When I read a tabloid, I care very little about the issues or gossips that are raised in the magazine. If the publisher is able to shed a bit of humor or entertainment on an existing celebrity scandal or political policy even if the information regarding the story isn’t completely valid, then in my mind the magazine has served its purpose. I read blogs and tabloids not to acquire an abundance of knowledge or absolute truths but instead to kill some free time in my day and hopefully bring a smile to my face.
Andrew, I'm glad you're getting the entertainment value you want from your media and while I think you may be speaking for a majority, I also think you might be making a fallacy of composition - assuming that your worldview applies to everyone else. You can check out MediaMatters.org or any number of fact-checking websites to see that "the validity of the input from these sources" are indeed questioned (depending, of course, on the source - the higher the visibility, the more critiques).
ReplyDeleteYour post is about blogs, radio and tabloids - does the same experience and logic follow through to television, magazines and books for you?
Andrew I completely agree this. I will read the occasional tabloid just to relax when I have some free time. I think that is the case for the majority of tabloid and blog readers. No matter how ridiculous the stories may get, we just like to read it as an escape from reality. I think that no matter how ridiculous tabloids may get, people will never stop reading them becuase they are a great way to sit back and relax when you need it.
ReplyDeleteThis is a good point and another good example of this is why a made up rumor about somebody can spread so quickly. People don't care too much about whether or not the rumor is true. It is simply entertaining for people to be a part of the scandal.
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