MSNBC: Particle Beam Weapons Almost Ready for Battle

[forge]

And it amazes me that the "powers that be" and media seem to have done such a good job of polarising people - so it's actually satisfactory for some people to make an argument by dismissing anyone who doesnt agree with the current US administration that way.

It shouldn't amaze anyone that the media promotes simplifications and shallow attitudes. It is, after all, in their best interests to

a) keep people watching abbhorable quality news

and

b) keep people ignorant

All "that's ridiculous" calls aside, those two motives are what are in their best interests. If you really want me to explain WHY these two things are in the media conglomerates interests, then again, I'm not sure why you're taking part in this debate. If you actually want to discuss and learn (and help me learn ), that's fine, but if people are going to question and ridicule axioms that are blatantly obvious, then I don't see the point. I don't want to add this disclaimer to every post, but some people don't seem to get the message, so I figure that repeating it every post might help keep the thread civilised.

sorry forgie, you lost me on that one - what are you talking about?

[forgie]

Haha sorry I was getting a bit wound up there... I think I saw 1 minute too much Channel 7 news, and I snapped. What I was saying was the if the media pushed real news and presented things in non-simplified terms, people wouldn't watch it. People hate reality (except for reality TV). They want to see excitement in the news, something engaging. The actually important stuff doesn't get much of a mention on commercial news channels. We are lucky in Australia because we've got ABC and SBS to provide us with something that isn't sensationalised.

In general, if the average joe was smarter and more cynical towards the media, they wouldn't watch as much commercial TV, which would obviously lead to less profits. If he is kept naive and non-cynical, he will continue to watch TV news thinking that it is a real, fair representation of the world.

Sorry, I know I'm not expressing myself well at all here, but I hope you get the gist of what I'm saying. I think I need something to eat....

[forge]

Haha sorry I was getting a bit wound up there... I think I saw 1 minute too much Channel 7 news, and I snapped. What I was saying was the if the media pushed real news and presented things in non-simplified terms, people wouldn't watch it. People hate reality (except for reality TV). They want to see excitement in the news, something engaging. The actually important stuff doesn't get much of a mention on commercial news channels. We are lucky in Australia because we've got ABC and SBS to provide us with something that isn't sensationalised.

In general, if the average joe was smarter and more cynical towards the media, they wouldn't watch as much commercial TV, which would obviously lead to less profits. If he is kept naive and non-cynical, he will continue to watch TV news thinking that it is a real, fair representation of the world.

Sorry, I know I'm not expressing myself well at all here, but I hope you get the gist of what I'm saying. I think I need something to eat....

Ok then, who is this average Joe and where can we find him? I think we should get him!

[forgie]

I say we have a new show on channel 9 hosted by Eddie Maguire: "Who wants to be an average joe?"

Then we can hand him over to John Howard for "Average Joe" mental analysis, to ensure that Johnny knows exactly how to win the next election by pushing just the right combination of mental buttons....

(for those who aren't Australian, John Howard is our Prime Minister, and Eddie Maguire is a major TV host/owner of everything)

[forgie]

Oh yeah, and Average Joes could be lurking anywhere you go, at any time of the day. Average Joe is EVERYWHERE! Be alert, not alarmed.

For more information on Average Joe, please call the Australian government's "Average Joe Hotline", and help keep Australia mediocre!