Printable View
I pick up news here and there - MSN or Yahoo pages, sometimes the tv but, like pinkytoe, I'm mostly bored by it all because it is mostly repetitive. Maybe I should be more interested, but there are even enough references in these forums alone of the good, the bad and even the ugly that I feel no desire to go looking for it.
Overall, I agree, and NPR is my go-to, with caveats - but I think one of the huge problems with reporting/news media is the profit factor and the consolidation of media. I don't really know how anyone expects a news media company to produce unbiased information if they aren't willing to PAY for it and also hold them accountable for factual information - me included, btw. of COURSE media is going to go for the click-bait type stuff, that's how they get paid, isn't it? It has to sell to made a profit. I am missing something here? If we live in a profit-based economy where dividends and stock prices are the end-all and be-all of "success", what do we think is going to happen? I am very disenchanted with our particular take on a capitalist system, and I think the "invisible hand" is giving us the middle finger salute, to be honest.Quote:
I've seen charts rating mainstream news as left or right and also for quality reporting. The WSJ seems to rank a little to the right and high quality, but it's expensive. USA today is pretty much generic oatmeal. I read NPR news on line and they rate pretty highly in my book and not exactly free considering they are publicly funded. They try to be unbiased, but still rate to the left. I'm not so sure there is a perfect news source out there.
On another note - Rogar, been thinking of you, hope things are well?
Thanks for remembering and asking! I had reconstructive surgery two days ago after a melanoma removal from my cheek the previous week. It was a three hour surgery and I sort of look like a Frankenstein creation, but it will get better. They pretty much rotated around my whole cheek. All of the biopsies after the melanoma surgery were clear, which was very good news. Thankful for modern medicine.Quote:
Originally Posted by early morning
I asked a few of the hospital staff about work shortages. They said it had come in waves and sometimes doubling up on shifts, but it had not been critical in the surgery areas. I did have quite a bit of trouble jockeying around for appointments due to their full schedules. They said it was a different story in the regular hospital sections with a lot more problems with staffing. I had to have a negative Covid PCR test before each procedure.
That is sad. Glad you are vaccinated.Quote:
Originally Posted by Klunick
Yes, especially the pregnant lady. They had to take the baby before putting her on the ventilator. I can't imagine how the husband will cope with a toddler and newborn if she passes. I have no idea what I would have done if I had been pregnant during all this and deciding whether or not to get vaccinated. I know they say that the vaccine is harmless to pregnant women but after having a medical issue with my youngest at 10 days old, I'm not sure I'd want to risk anything after that.Quote:
Originally Posted by rosarugosa
That is so sad, Klunick. Sending prayers.
Roger, I am glad that your procedure went well. Very sad about the pregnant woman.
Rogar, glad both procedures went so well! Hoping that you heal quickly.
Some people have said news should charge by article. I think that model makes some sense but I don't know much about newspaper economics. The main problem is their real revenue was NEVER subscribers, so it never was about if enough people are subscribing although less are, but the main revenue was always ads. But the ads as the main source of revenue model doesn't work anymore. And to pay not only what the cost used to be, but a price beyond that to make up for all the ad revenue that isn't anymore, is to pay more than people are accustomed to paying or probably want to pay. Although of course newspapers still run some ads, so subscribers aren't carrying the full weight, and that's the current situation, so how do we expect them to be unbiased?
I think charging by article might work because noone wants to subscribe to a whole bunch of newspapers just to read articles because they want to read this article here and that one there, that gets very expensive very fast. But I don't know it could be there is no model that works. But it's not like they are attempting anything new either, so we've tried nothing and it didn't work.
Dr. Gottlieb says half of Americans will have had omicron by this time next month. When 99% of people have had it, do we still need to wear masks to protect those living in caves who might decide to emerge someday? Maybe there is a Rip Van Winkle out there thanks to cryogenics.