Am I the only one who cannot watch ANY mainstream news?

[Sanity Claws]

I'm including MSNBC.

Every time I glimpse it, such as at the gym, I just see unveiled propaganda. They keep playing this stuff about Jonathan Gruber's remark. Where was the outrage over the lies for war? Where is the follow up regarding all the lies the Republicans told about the ACA?
The fact that this shite is given any air time is proof that the mainstream is nothing but propaganda.

A part of me gets angry about this because I used to consider listening to the news a part of being a responsible adult. Now I can't stomach what passes for news.

This ties in with my changing views on voting. Our elections are a farce. The only choice we are provided is between bad and worse. Then even if we made the effort and opt for bad instead of worse, we can't even be sure our vote is counted.

I'm glad that this site has started a group for progressives. Perhaps progressives united can take the place that the Democrats USED to occupy before this third way shit.


Rant over. Time to go back to work.

[RedCappedBandit]

1. I don't watch news at all.

I have no interest in having some pretty face tell me what I'm supposed to think about things. I'll come to my own conclusions reading the facts in written from from sources of my choice, tyvm. The news is a fucking joke; like you said I see it on the TV's at the gym and it never fails to be completely absurd garbage.

[canuckledragger]

74. Ditto for myself as well.

Once I started to utilize the internet more and more to research and fact-check for myself, I've stopped watching the TV and reading the paper news altogether.

Anytime I want to I can now check into issues for myself, educate myself on histories, etc. with the likes of wikipedia and other online resources...along with communicating with people right in the thick of things (Like a swedish friend that can debunk any right-wing propaganda they spew about her homeland and other socialist scandinavian countries)

I don't like the lazy approach of being indoctrinated by TV talking heads anymore, especially since after being onsite a few times for events covered by my local news station and seeing how they get numerous details wrong, big and small.

[nichomachus]

77. It's not that they tell you what to think

It's that they tell you what to think about. They set the agenda.

Just look at all the hot air and airtime expended on the "threat" of Ebole, while the GOP stole the election.

The news agenda is just a distraction -- like the magician's "assistant" with her boobs popping out of her bustier to disract you while the magician pulls some sleight of hand.

[RedCappedBandit]

85. It's both, and yes that is a very important point.

That's probably the biggest reason I don't watch the news. They absolutely do set the agenda and they never discuss issues I want to learn more about.

[elzenmahn]

150. ...but when pundit after pundit sings the same song on the same shows...

...over and over again, week after week...

I think that IS telling the people what to think.

[roguevalley]

95. when i went on hiatus from it, i got over being

sick. I come here to find out what's happening and I'm rationing that.

[rhett o rick]

107. I don't watch it except as my spouse watches. It's gibberish. nm

[billhicks76]

131. I Don't Do CNN Website Anymore But Tried And Look What I Found

http://www.cnn.com/2014/11/17/world/zacarias-moussaoui-saudi-arabia/index.html?hpt=hp_t2
He claims Saudi involvement in 911.

and this linked to a month old CNN report :

http://thelead.blogs.cnn.com/2014/09/08/why-hasnt-obama-kept-promise-to-declassify-28-pages-about-911/

Im wondering why Obama promised to do this and then went silent. Anyone know when that promise was made? Please tell me it was after Feb 12, 2009.

Im not making any claims here...just wondering what the facts are if anyone knows.

[CurtEastPoint]

2. I stopped watching that drivel years ago. Even worse than nat'l news is local 'news.'

What dreck.

I prefer to read various sources and get the real stories.

[SomeGuyInEagan]

98. Yep. And I once worked in TV.

The local stuff became unwatchable about 20 years ago, give or take, depending on the market (and I have watched local news in a lot of markets of all sizes, some of the worst being in L.A.).

Just embarrasing.

[a kennedy]

3. Nope since the election, I haven't watch ANY news programs....ANY.

Will watch Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, but that's it. I'm done.

[randome]

14. JS, SC, DU and TPM.

Who needs anything else?
[hr][font color="blue"][center]Precision and concision. That's the game.[/center][/font][hr]

[oldandhappy]

22. ?? Sorry -- what is tpm??

Yea, I was watching Aliens the other night because the 'news' was so ridiculous!

[bravenak]

29. Talking Points Memo.

Josh Marshall. I like it.

[oldandhappy]

34. Thank you!

[Sanity Claws]

30. Talking Points Memo

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/

[oldandhappy]

33. Thanks!!!

[ChisolmTrailDem]

159. What is JS and SC? nt

[Sanity Claws]

166. Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert

[world wide wally]

35. Same story here

[Nuclear Unicorn]

4. Even assuming good motives TV news will never give you a complete story in 30 to 90-second clips.

In purely "logistical" terms a person cannot get a complete story. I can't speak to the propaganda aspect because I do not watch TV news but I don't watch TV news because I want to be able to move beyond what is immediately presented.

[unblock]

6. it's not as if fewer, longer stories is an impossible format

that's basically the format uses for radio, fewer stories but a bit more depth and color in each one.

yeah, wam bam superficiality has its commercial appeal, i get it, but it works only because we've let it work. it didn't used to be like this, the nightly news was always fewer stories and more depth than today, back when there were only the 3 major networks and there was such a thing as journalistic ethics and standards.

now it's just a race to the bottom, the least common denominator.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

12. Fewer stories can also lead to more important stories being spiked.

I like the free-for-all of the internet because various sources compete for readership. They're hungrier than the stultified corporate types ever will be so they have an interest in producing the best product.

[unblock]

16. so many outlets should mean there's a place for many formats

i agree that the free-for-all can lead to many obscure stories getting an outlet somewhere.

but the major media outlets shouldn't be trying to compete with that, nor should they be just reading the ap wire.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

26. Why shouldn't the M$M compete against the internet?

The fact that they have degenerated into ossified institutions that don't want to ruffle the feathers of the corrupt elites so as to maintain their exclusive access is exactly the thing that has the OP so upset (and rightfully so). All any politician has to do is hint that the M$M will lose press credentials and watch how fast the network gets back in line.

It's incestuous.

I want the bastards slitting each other's throats and crawling over each other's carcasses to bring us the deepest darkest stories of the inner "workings" of our "government." Maybe then the "government" will actually start "working." An adversarial press was supposed to be a cornerstone of our republic.

[unblock]

31. they *are* trying to compete against the internet, and trying to leverage their privileged access

the problem is that they're trying to compete in exactly the wrong kind of way. as you describe, it's corrupt, incestuous, ossified, etc.

we just differ in how we want them to compete. i think that many small websites, free-lance reporters, bloggers, etc., are best suited to doing the scrappy, front lines breaking news as well as the long-term deep analysis; the major outlets are best suited to sifting through all that mess and bringing the best stories out and explaining them to the masses.

in other words, i think they should be using their media and audience differences to work with and complement the work of the rest of the internet.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

36. I hear you. Do you think the M$M having their own internet presence segues into what we describe?

[unblock]

55. i could, down the road. right now, their websites are defensive, just trying not to lose eyeballs.

mostly their online presence is just a way to reach people who prefer to get their new online, but still want to stick to a so-called "trusted" news source, and get news in a similar style. there is the occasional interactive graphic that allows for more detail, on air they could only give at most a flavor of this.

the corruption and the still biases shine through, though.

one is left to ponder what edward r. murrow might have done in the internet era. probably would have been cast aside and been an obscure blogger with a small but loyal following, easily dismissed as cultish and fanatical, uh, i mean elitist and purist.

[fredamae]

5. The less you watch it

the more obvious it becomes.

Yes, I too include MSNBC.
It's not always the hosts (todd/scarborough/mrs greenspan)---its the script and content restrictions the rest of the "more credible ones" are bound to by the "big daddies" Comcast/GE that I reject.
If they don't stop blaming Everyone else for falling ratings (including their former audience), take a look in the mirror and accept that they've brought this on themselves...they will continue to devolve along with their propaganda.

MSM is nothing but a tool for the 1% to get where they seem to be successfully headed.

[KansDem]

7. Include me...

I stopped watching/listening/reading mainstream "news" years ago.

Where was the outrage over the lies for war?

I thought the same thing. Funny, isn't it? Bush and Cheney lied us into war but no outrage from CorpMedia. Hundreds of thousands dead and two trillion added to the debt and crickets from the media.

And speaking of 9/11, why did Bush permit the exodus of Saudi Royal Family members in the U.S. on 9/12 before they could be questioned by the FBI? I'd like to know, but so far none of our "crack reporters" have asked him.

[NRaleighLiberal]

8. Nope. We stopped about 7 years ago. Never looked back!

[47of74]

68. All I watch from them is weather

[unblock]

9. i stopped watching tv news ages ago.

local news was always sensationalistic drivel, i stopped watching that as a teenager.

national network news i stopped watching when cnn (and nightline) came out, they were so much better than the networks (and so much better then than today).

cnn i stopped watching when they changed their format, the screen got all busy and the stories got shorter and more trivial.


really ever since du came out, lbn has been my primary news aggregator, and i'm far better informed now than i ever was watching tv.

and my blood pressure is lower

[earthside]

10. Danger of becoming a mirror of the Fox viewer?

It is tempting to seek out only the 'news' and the interpretation of the 'news' that comports with one's already held ideology or view of the world.

This is occasionally true even for liberals and/or progressives who know the value of different points of view, of genuine debate, argument and discussion.

It takes an effort to resist that temptation ... especially as one grows old and more cranky.

So, I make myself watch some 'mainstream news' because I think it is important to know how most of the folks in the U.S. are receiving their 'news'.

Of course, I'm unique, I suppose -- I make myself listen to the arrogant jerks on 'Red Eye Radio' every now and then so that I know what kind of arguments the reactionary right is making. I even listen to 'Focus on the Family' on the radio for ten or twenty minutes a couple of times a week -- so when I call them smug, self-centered, and over-bearing, I know what I am talking about.

My experience is that there can be knee-jerk left-wingers, just as there are an overabundance of knee-jerk right-wingers. What makes liberals and/or progressives qualitatively different most of the time from the reactionaries is that we do try and listen to both sides and make considered judgements.

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

101. That's why I tend to watch CNN instead of MSNBC

And I'll just go ahead and admit it: I do enjoy watching Anderson Cooper depending on the story he is covering. I know I'm probably committing a mortal sin by admitting that. LOL I refuse to get my blood pressure up, though, so I don't watch the news for hours on end. Just a bit here and there.

[sendero]

13. Same here..

.... the MSM depends entirely on the active ignorance of the public. They can barely get 2 sentences out without telling a functional lie.

NPR is only a little bit better.

[world wide wally]

40. I'm not so sure about that, but they are sneakier to suck good people like yourself in

[2banon]

149. Referring to NPR? I agree. It's been that way for years and years, even so, I had my radio set on

local NPR stations. turning it on for certain programs like Fresh Air and Forum with Michael Krasney, but the All things Considered and Morning Edition is just a more polite version of Fox afaic.

[RKP5637]

15. Much of it's garbage and its primary purpose is to generate revenue. They really

Last edited Mon Nov 17, 2014, 02:15 PM - Edit history (1)

often don't give a damn about the validity of what they report as long as it creates revenue. For Fox, it's right wing oriented. For MSNBC, it's somewhat left but the bottom line purpose is the same for Fox and MSNBC, generate revenue.

And journalism is lacking, some of the anchors sound illiterate. And for investigative reporting, it's nil. And if there is, it's often severely skewed so they do not disturb the sponsors and/or their management.

So, bottom line, much of it's garbage. Tabloid news for profit.

[Proud Public Servant]

17. I feel brain cells dying

every time I try. I get news exclusively on-line now.

[logosoco]

18. I stopped a long time ago. I feel like I am much more connected with the internet.

But sometimes when I talk to people, I feel a little odd, not out of the loop, but just aware I am in a different loop. It feels bigger and stronger (and yes, even faster). I keep thinking others will catch up and open their eyes, but maybe it is easier to just get part of the news.

During the elections it was funny to hear about everyone complaining about the ads, because I was not exposed to them (except in the mail, and that went straight to the recycle bin).

Somehow I have some hope that the younger generation won't think of the "tv news" the way I grew up. And that they will be exposed to the news on the web.

[jillan]

19. What is driving me crazy is how Obama is poisoning the well BUT attacking Obamacare, threatening

Impeachment ISN'T?!!

I have been listening to a lot more music lately.
I'll tune in Chris Hayes, Rachel and Lawrence, Al Jazeera but that's about it.

[Doctor_J]

20. I think Hugh Downs was the host the last time I watched MTP

Dems who watch must be little maso IMNSHO

[Zorra]

21. TV is the most effective, destructive weapon that the 1% owns. nt

[Arugula Latte]

23. I can't handle it. And I'm also at the point where I can barely handle

even shows like the Colbert Report and the Daily Show, because they unmask the truth, and the truth is so depressing.

I prefer to get my news in small doses through the filter of the Internet, where I can have more click control.

[m-lekktor]

24. I haven't had a tv for about 5 years so i don't watch it obviously.

when i visit family and there is a tv in the room I stay in i don't even bother to turn it on! i used to keep it on MSNBC for background noise before i got rid of tv now i could care if i ever watched that station or any news station again!

[TBF]

25. I look at LBN here - and also have

some online sources I read every day - the Guardian or NYT just to see what issues are trending and Al Jazeera to get a more independent perspective. The media in the US is controlled by a handful of billionaires. Blogs and sources from other countries come across as more honest than our current MSM.

[KingCharlemagne]

38. I've found that Reuters also is not dreadful and gives its audience credit for

intelligence, unlike US print and broadcast media.

[Brainstormy]

27. I can watch Rachel and Chris on MSNBC

that's it.

[liberal N proud]

28. I refuse to watch televised news.

[Johonny]

32. Since I stopped watching it I'm amazed how much more I know about things

because I don't waste time on stuff that isn't news but that TV news won't stop talking about. The 24 news networks have become essentially useless at doing the one thing they exist to do (or at least pretend they exist to do.)

[unrepentant progress]

37. No. Not for a long, long time, and I include all broadcast news and infotainment in that category.

To my mind, NPR produces the best straight news reporting we have in this country. Note that I distinguish their news reporting from their news analysis. Unfortunately, they bundle the two products together, and the result is unlistenable because, for instance, you'll have a report about poverty followed up by a right wing flack telling you why everything you've just heard isn't really a problem, or how it can easily be solved by cutting taxes for the rich. And then there's the fact that they're constantly dumbing down their news product.

[colsohlibgal]

39. I Watch Very Little Of It

I mostly watch and listen to Free Speech TV and people like Thom Hartmann and Mike Papantonio.

Network news has gone straight downhill. The Sunday morning "Meet The Press" type shows are unwatchable, about 3 conservatives for every liberal at best and all the irritating false equivalencies - one side says the earth is oval, one says it's flat, let's leave it there - really?

[KingCharlemagne]

41. As a very wise man once said, "If you are not careful,

the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.”

~Malcolm X

********************

Malcolm said this in a time before TV had taken over from the print media, but I'm sure he'd approve of substituting "MSM" for "newspapers"

[Odin2005]

64. Replace "newspapers" with "Reddit" and it describes my Millennial Generation perfectly.

[world wide wally]

42. Thing is, it's not just television. Just because you don't watch tv doesn't mean you're not

being fed the same bullshit on a different plate. Radio, newspapers, magazines all have the same chef.

[deutsey]

43. I watch the first 10 minutes of CBS This Morning

mainly as a visual cue for when I need to leave in order to get my kids to school on time.

Sometimes, though, even that's too much to stomach, like when they were really pounding the war drums against ISIS.

[frazzled]

44. First, MSNBC and all the cable outlets are not NEWS shows

They are political chitchat. I have not watched any of it for years now. It's entertainment for partisan junkies. Not that I'm not a partisan junkie, but I can think for myself, tyvm.

I read the New York Times (dead tree version delivered to my house) every morning, and I read the local paper. Well, I flip through it. I read a few websites on the Internet. That's enough.

Occasionally I tune into the Nightly News on PBS (though only halfway through it because I'm never available when it starts). It at least approaches news reporting, not just political commentary. You might find out what is going on in the rest of the world, and even on the scientific, artistic, and business fronts.

[PatSeg]

45. I've been a news and political junkie for years

The final straw for me was non-stop ISIS and Ebola. I did watch a little bit of election coverage, but that was all I could stomach. I watch The Daily Show and John Oliver on HBO. I can't even stomach Bill Maher anymore and that used to be one of my favorites.

Oh well, what difference does it make? We are all going to die from Ebola if ISIS doesn't get us first!!!!

[kimbutgar]

46. No, I stopped watching Msnbc on election day when it looked like they were cheering for republicans

To win.

I used to start with Ed and stay until the end of Rachel. ( i still dvr Ed)

Now I can't stomach it anymore. Saturday my husband turned on up with steve kornacke and they were talking about what the Koch congress can do to win in 2016. If I need to hear this I could turn to fox or CNN. I now realize that our Democratic party is now the republican party of the 1980's. And MSnbc parrots republican party talking points circa 1985. Until msnbc stops with republican cheerleading I will not return to being a viewer.

The only place I turn to for news is free speech tv. Thom Hartmann is a truth teller. I watch a little local news until they turn to national issues and turn off then.

[PasadenaTrudy]

47. I don't watch any news at all now

And I'm better informed than most people I know..

[JonLP24]

48. There is an information war going on

We aren't receiving all of the available reported facts. The facts being cherry-picked. As to why is obvious but the fact remains they are being cherry picked.

[SamKnause]

49. I do NOT watch any mainstream news.

After the courts decided that the news does not have to be truthful or factual it would be a waste of my time.

[UglyGreed]

50. I choose to

Last edited Tue Nov 18, 2014, 10:10 AM - Edit history (1)

read online from both left wing and right wing news sites, you need to know what the other side is doing.

[muntrv]

51. I still watch "Chris Hayes" but that's the only time I watch the news.

[mopinko]

52. nope. i do like rachel, chris hayes and lawrence o'donnel, but

i find it hard to watch all three of them in a row.
all the things happening in the world and an all news station runs the same story on every show.
and tweety? his only value is that he is the purest incarnation of the mighty wurlitzer. unvarnished swill of the day. the pure shiny shiny.
sometimes it helps to know where the crazy is coming from. but i yell at the teevee that whole time.

[Harriety]

53. Haven't watched it for awhile

and I know more now than I did when I watched it. That's a pretty sad state of affairs. It really should be called opinions and entertainment not "the news".

[Emelina]

54. Interesting left-right agreement here.

The right hates the media for shooting down traditional values and the left hates it for promoting pro-war, pro-consumerism propaganda.

Seems they both hate the corporate media with equal intensity but for different reasons.

[Phlem]

56. I don't.

It's pre-packaged swill and the worst part is non reporting of significant news. 99% of news outlets on the teevee are owned by Corporations my friend.

[riqster]

57. "Mainstream News" is kinda like a purple unicorn.

There might be some out there, but it's unlikely we'll ever see it.
All we get in the real world are propaganda and infotainment.

[True Blue Door]

58. Agree completely with your judgment of the news media. Naked GOP cancervative propaganda.

It's been that way since the 2000 election.

[L0oniX]

59. It's becoming a mentally unhealthy endeavor...

time is better spent out on the water or in the woods or mountains or riding a bike path ...or sitting while looking at a flower. I've been thinking of just signing off of everything for a while to get a break from the insanity of it all. I'm getting real quick with the mute button.

[Odin2005]

60. The only TV news I watch is local.

I get the rest from Minnesota Public Radio, the BBC, and Al-Jazeera.

[Jack Rabbit]

61. No, you're not

I killed my television fifteen years ago.

[KauaiK]

62. Nope...me too as well as my progressive friends

NO newspapers, TV, internet mainstream news, nada, nothing zip. It's all BS propaganda crap.

[left-of-center2012]

63. Sunday morning news shows are worse

The guests don't answer questions asked off them but spout whatever propaganda they want, without challenge.
On MEET the PRESS the question asked three times in a row as "Will Congress shut down the government over immigration?"
The GOP response given three times was "No ~ President Obama should not shut down the government."

[Comrade Grumpy]

65. I've watched the evening network news all my life. Still do. But...

...I consider it mainly an exercise in seeing what is the official line or consensus reality.

I currently watch CBS Evening News, BBC World News, PBS Newshour, and sometimes Al Jazeera and RT. (I've got France 24 News on the cable, too, but haven't gotten around to it. Sometimes, I watch Univision or other Spanish language news, too.)

I usually record the news programs, then watch them with handy fast forward. There's a lot of stuff I don't bother with, like all those features about dying World War II vets or other jingoistic stuff.

And I usually have CNN on mute during the day, so I can see what the freak-out du jour is.

I also read lots of stuff.

[47of74]

66. Yeah, I stopped watching the horses--t

I stopped watching and reading all the horseshit. Especially with all the gloating they're doing now after the election.

[jalan48]

67. Totally Agree

If you don't watch television for an extended period then turn it on, the propaganda is blatant.

[Art_from_Ark]

105. Yup

I live overseas, and whenever I go back to the States for a visit, the propaganda on mainstream national news media is jaw-dropping. Interestingly, the local news program isn't quite so bad.

[zeemike]

69. I went cold turkey off of TV years ago.

Best decision I have made...The internet provides what I want to see not what they want me to see.

[AlbertCat]

70. No news is good news

I will watch it if someone as it on.... but it can drive a person crazy.

I really hate "News of the Future" which they spend way too much time on. "Will Hillary run in 2035? Let's speculate for the next 20 minutes 'till commercial!"

Another thing I really don't get what I call the "Did nothing happen on the continent of Africa today? report". We get hours of "people who help" or silly fads or movie news.... but there will be whole months were apparently nothing at all of interest when on in Africa, or South America or Asia.....

If I had a news show, I'd do 5 segments.... one for each continent. They need not all be the same length, but since we live on the planet these days, and not just in America, I think even one story from them there foreign continents might be not only interesting and informative, but a reminder of that things are gong on in the world, and some of them aren't even about us! And we can cut down a bit on those "human interest" segments and infomercials for new films and drugs and "new of the future".

[santamargarita]

71. I haven't watched the fascist media in 16 years...

and consider myself better informed than most with the truth.

[FailureToCommunicate]

72. Agree on the "news" But disagree on futility of voting. A choice between "bad and worse" is still

a choice. And we should always "make the effort" because someday choice may be gone altogether.

[DFW]

73. I get most of my TV news from the ARD and ZDF

CNN International is on cable here, but I rarely watch it, since my wife prefers to watch the news in her native language, and it doesn't make any difference to me any more whether it's in German or English.

[mwooldri]

134. Similar thing here - but I don't speak German.

So I'm watching BBC News Channel (UK version, not BBC World News) Sky News and some CNN International programming though not the programs that also air on CNN USA. Occasionally I might get some Al-Jazeera English (not AJ America).

To get this, I have a Roku and access some "private" channels. I don't have cable TV service (but I have their Internet since AT&T are complete pants). I do have an outdoor antenna for local TV and we get our local TV news this way.

[DFW]

167. I live in Germany and am married to a German

I'd have to be some kind of idiot if I DIDN'T speak German--different set of circumstances.

[mehrrh]

75. the media is abysmal

You are not alone.
I can't tolerate much of the news any more -- it's all too sensational, too repetitive, and bereft of good information.
Local news is just killings and fires and robberies. National news is just he said/she said with no substance or fact checking.

[Carolina]

87. I am going to borrow

your description: it's all too sensational, too repetitive, and bereft of good information

When locals, including some friends, ask if I saw something on the news, I have often dismissively said that I don't watch the news because it's all bad. To the few who push for further explanation, I answer that it's all propaganda or violence to scare people, and leave it at that. Living in a red state where way to many get their info from the MSM, it's just too exhausting to explain my real reasons.

But your summary is perfect... concise yet precise. Thanks

[Oilwellian]

76. We stopped watching ALL of it about 4 years ago

It's a great way to keep your blood pressure down.

[Carolina]

89. Funny you should say that

I was at the MD's office a week ago trying my damnedest to tune out the FOX noise in the waiting room. Once in the examining room the nurse commented on my higher than usual BP when she took my vital signs. I let her know that having the news on TV in the waiting room was not good for anyone's BP BUT having FOX on could contribute to a stroke!

[Art_from_Ark]

127. Whatever happened to elevator music in waiting rooms?

I think if I were in a doctor's waiting room and they were playing Fox Noise, it would drive me nuts if I didn't have my iPod with me.

[byronius]

78. Me either. Not since the Fairness Doctrine died.

News hasn't been news since.

I read Democratic Underground, TPM, Kos, and C&L. Good enough. I do miss getting local news. I should read the Enterprise; it's a solid newspaper. Just got out of the habit after the 2000 Overthrow.

[totodeinhere]

79. This site is called "Democratic Underground," not "Progressive Underground."

I can't speak for the admins of course, but I would hope that this site is open to all Democrats, not just certain Democrats.

[Art_from_Ark]

128. This site was originally designed for progressives

When Skinner appeared on C-SPAN to promote this site back in the early days, he specifically mentioned that he was looking for members on the left side of the US political spectrum.

[JDPriestly]

80. K&R.

We watch Last Week Today and Jon Stewart on Hulu every once in a while. And I watch the short clips from the news on DU. That's pretty much it.

There is so much propaganda that I might as well be watching RT night and day. (I do think Thom Hartmann on RT is a reliable source.) It is sickening.

I hope to read James Risen's new book. I think finally we have a truth-teller there.

[Township75]

81. It's all awful and msnbc might be the worst

I look for news not a party pep rally which is what they are....pretty much a mirror of Fox News. All these stations sell personalities like Rachel or Hannity not news.

I mostly rely on the web, bbc for world news and a few financial channels for business news. B

[Cleita]

83. So truth, like on Rachel vs. mostly lies like on Fox is the same to you?

Odd.

[Cleita]

82. I do watch Rachel however, besides the Internet, I sometimes watch

Al Jazeera and France 24 to get breaking news. The only time I read print is when there is a local paper lying around the coffee shop that someone else bought.

[Trajan]

84. Election year 2000... The end of my relationship with the MSM

The internet made cable news superfluous ... unnecessary ...

[Carolina]

90. Theft 2000

did it for me as well in the sense that I scaled back on 'news' or political talk show viewing considerably. But I did not stop entirely until the 2002 propaganda buildup to Iraq II. That was the last straw. And I haven't missed it one bit. Online sources are better; plus I can cut past the drivel, the latest celebrity trash

My only exposure to TV news now is in public venues: waiting rooms at MD offices, etc., even the dealership when I take my car for servicing... The MSM is even worse now, which not only reinforces my decision to tune it out and turn it off, but helps explain why so many Americans are completely uninformed!

[Prophet 451]

86. I only watch a little of your news

I can't watch domestic (I'm British) news because it so often sets off a self-harming spiral and, of your news, the only thing I reliably watch is Maddow.

[hunter]

88. Nope. Television is useless for news.

Our television is a device for watching movies.

I don't see any television commercials except for occasional trailers on a rental DVDs, or commercials posted here on DU because they're a topic for discussion for some political reason.

Nor do I have Adobe Flash installed on my computer, which gets rid of most moving picture internet advertising.

[Populist_Prole]

91. I can't stand it either, and I'm hating it worse as time goes on

As others have said upthread, it's so much more apparent when you stop watching but are exposed to it from time to time.

It's such banal spoon-fed tripe. I hate everything about it; from the superficiality of talking about garbage that really isn't news, to the audio/visual assault of the blabbering cadence that rattles my head.

[cprise]

114. Exactly - Its how the 1% establishment 'Talks Trash'

about most everyone else.

[Warpy]

93. I stopped watching in 2004 because I just couldn't take being lied to a minute more

For years, it had been pure habit, flip on the news, eat supper. It was surprisingly easy to break because The Simpsons reruns were on at the same time and that show told me a lot more about what was going on in the world than the overstuffed bleaters on network news ever did except as an afterthought on CBS in their last 5 minutes, once in a blue moon.

[noiretextatique]

94. NO eom

[Blecht]

96. I raise my hand

I held my nose and watched a little on election night through my local newspaper's web site, but I felt like throwing up in less than 5 minutes.

I completely gave up on "news" after 9/11/2001, although I was already heading toward my breaking point in the mid- to late-1990s.

[rurallib]

97. Can't watch it and can't listen on the radio - can only stomach NPR news a bit

but turn off most of their shows.

MSNBC? I can watch it a bit

[llmart]

99. No.

n/t

[Historic NY]

100. Nope, I don't watch any of the news channels.

[onecaliberal]

102. I don't watch any of it either

Since November 3. It's only been 2 weeks but I don't miss it. I have always had to read to verify what the corporate news was saying anyway.
I am not missing a thing.

[bigwillq]

103. I haven't watched Cable News in years.

I do like my local news, and I occasionally watch one of the network nightly news programs if I am home.

[appalachiablue]

104. Ed Schultz, populist- like going to S. Dakota to talk to Native Americans

about Keystone is good for MSNBC. He should be on later at 7 or 8, not 5. Maddow's excell., but the predictable mostly solo topic format for the hour is losing me. Chris H. isn't what expected. Catch MHP occasionally Sats. am. No mainstream or local News (six commercials every five mins. is insanity inducing).

So for most TV NEWS it's a bit of MSNBC, lots of FSTV- Hartmann, Pap, super. Some BBC, RT, AL Jazeera. Try to read The Guardian, Der Spiegel, BBC, NYT online. WaPo has really declined. Now Bezos owned.

I'm pretty new to DU after following for a couple yrs. And,
*I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW HOW PEOPLE FIRST LEARNED ABOUT DU? AND WHEN?*
Wish I'd heard of it a lot earlier. TH got me to DU, and Kos, AlterNet, Move to Amend, Think Progress, more.

[treestar]

106. No.

I haven't watched it in years. Can't deal with the tone they use and their obvious biases.

[BlueStater]

108. No, you are not.

I haven't watched any mainstream news since the election. Seeing the talking heads on TV treat the whole thing like a fucking football game was the last straw for me. I can't even stand Rachel Maddow anymore.

[PumpkinAle]

109. I've even given up listening to NPR

......... it makes me sick listening to what passes for the news.

And, yes it is a little hard for me, because I used to be a news-junky, but I like my news factual, honest and true and that hasn't been the case for quite a while now.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

110. you're not the only one.

I don't watch any mainstream media pretty much at all.

It's poisonous.

http://m.

I am gross and perverted
Im obsessed n deranged
I have existed for years
But very little had changed
I am the tool of the government
And industry too
For I am destined to rule
And regulate you

I may be vile and pernicious
But you can't look away
I make you think Im delicious
With the stuff that I say
I am the best you can get
Have you guessed me yet?
I am the slime oozin out
From your tv set

You will obey me while I lead you
And eat the garbage that I feed you
Until the day that we don't need you
Don't got for help...no one will heed you
Your mind is totally controlled
It has been stuffed into my mold
And you will do as you are told
Until the rights to you are sold

That's right, folks..
Don't touch that dial

Well, I am the slime from your video
Oozin along on your livinroom floor

I am the slime from your video
Cant stop the slime, people, lookit me go

[nikto]

111. Far from perfect, but better than most of the rest...

[nilesobek]

112. John Oliver cracks me up.

Its a lot better to stream that when the lead MSM story is, "Did Kim Kardashian surgically alter her ass?"

[Autumn]

113. I don't watch any of that stuff. local news for the weather only.

[zentrum]

115. Neither can I n/t

Will listen to the BBC up to a certain point but the minute they won't be probing, I turn it off.

Really valuing Bill Moyers on "Moyers and Company" (NPR stations) and watching Amy Goodman. That's pretty much all I can bear.

[roody]

116. No. It is bs.

[diane in sf]

117. No, TV news is almost total horse shit.

[Cha]

118. No, and you're catching up to where I was in November 2002. I had Enough Then. Imagine all

Last edited Tue Nov 18, 2014, 05:40 AM - Edit history (2)

the tv tubes I've saved on Not Breaking if I had been anymore of a Masochist.

That's why I got a computer in 2002.. so I could get online/DU to talk about the shite the US corporatemediawhore$$$$$ were covering up.

It's only gotten Exponentially Worse.. You want to have "Santiy" doncha Claws?

[proReality]

119. I can't watch, won't watch.

DemocracyNow! and Bill Moyers are the only two programs I watch.

[LittleGirl]

158. same here eom

[DeSwiss]

120. Quit teevee in 2001.

- K&R

[sabrina 1]

121. After you stop watching it for a while, and then catch glimpses of it in someone else's house, or

some public place, you really see it for what it is. The same old, jaded, but SAFE FOR CORPORATIONS Talking Heads droning on with over the same old trivia, TRYING to sound 'relevant' and 'intelligent', but when you compare what passes for journalists on our media, to real journalists, it is simply pathetic.

BOYCOTT THEM. Their ratings are already laughable, no one trusts, left, right, the rest of the world.

It IS propaganda, which is why it sounds that way.

If I didn't see updates HERE on what they are babbling about, I would not know they existed. I don't have the time to waste.

[Populist_Prole]

129. You're so right

And your title and first paragraph resonate the most. All the more since some of my aging friends have moved sharply rightward; all due to MSM. It should also be noted that these same people are very very defensive about their trust of the MSM: They really really believe they are properly informed AND think that anyone who disagrees with them is nuts.

I'm losing friends over this...and I don't give a shit.

[blkmusclmachine]

122. 14 Defining Characteristics Of Fascism (http://rense.com/general37/char.htm)

Controlled Mass Media

Obsession with National Security

Corporate Power is Protected

Labor Power is Suppressed

Rampant Cronyism and Corruption

Fraudulent Elections

Rampant Sexism

Religion and Government are Intertwined

Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause

Supremacy of the Military

more...


http://rense.com/general37/char.htm

[C Moon]

123. You're not. I haven't read the newspaper since the last election (except the sports page).

...and I'll never watch the first half-hour of the local news, because I've found that's when they bombast the Democrats and glorify the rich fuckers (sorry for the language).

[imthevicar]

124. MSM

is a double face-palm and a head shake! And I'm shocked to the ammount of people who believe it, especially here!

[Spider Jerusalem]

125. Nope

American TV news is painfully stupid, sensationalistic, and narrowly parochial (comment I saw on Twitter from a Brit stuck in an airport hotel and watching CNN, MSNBC, Fox et al: "Things I've learnt from watching American television news: there is only one country in the world and it's completely bloody mad&quot . TV news tends to be presented as entertainment as much as information. If I watch the news, which is rarely, it's the BBC. I get most of my news from reading; the NYT, Washington Post, Guardian, Telegraph, Salon, the Atlantic, the Nation, Mother Jones, the New Statesman, and various other online news sources.

[Live and Learn]

126. Same here. I avoid it like the plague. nt

[Cha]

132. It is a Plague!

[Enthusiast]

130. Kicked and recommended!

I refuse to watch one minute of network news. What is the point? It is all propaganda.

I do watch Rachel Maddow, occasionally Chris Hayes, Rev Al and Big Ed.

[democrank]

133. Quality tv news is hard to come by, but not impossible.

I haven`t been to Fox "News" in about a decade and rarely go to MSNBC or CNN since I look for serious reporting on national and internatonal news. For me, Al Jazeera is a place to go for in-depth news. Their segments are longer than average, the interview questions are serious and probing and they have foreign news bureaus in so many places. There are amazing national stories.
If you have Direct TV, go to channel 347. Dish Network has it on channel 215.

http://america.aljazeera.com/


Occasionally, I watch the CBS morning news for the first half hour or so. It`s usually serious and straightforward with a minimal amount of Hollywood gossip and other time-wasters we`ve become accustomed to.

[neeksgeek]

135. No

Local news sometimes because my wife watches but I can rarely stay in the room for long. I refuse to be motivated by fear. As for the national news, I can't even stand NPR or PBS for long. Watching Nova - once my main source of science information - now means first seeing an ad for the David Kock Foundation (did I spell that wrong? My bad). No, I get my news from progressive Internet sites and find that most Americans around me are completely unaware of so much. Also it seems many of them are terrified of various bogeymen.

[mariawr]

136. Absolutely. The propaganda is so thick you can cut it with a butter knife. eom

[ybbor]

137. I haven't watched MSNBC since KO left

Get all my news from here and C&L, or Thom Hartman.

[turbinetree]

138. Ring of Fire

Listen to Ring of Fire, Thom Hartmann, Stephanie Miller, Aria Ravenholf (sp) on the Agenda, Rachel Maddow, Laurence O'Donnell, Chris Hayes

[still_one]

139. I have stopped watching it all, including MSNBC and Bloomberg since the election. My information

comes from reading and the internet.

I am sick and tired of the constant manipulation the MSM constantly does, and a lot of the time making themselves part of the story by slanting an opinion.

In reality television news died after the 2000 election, but it was well on its way before that

[olddots]

140. you miss nothing when you miss the" News "

Its like cocaine

[Locrian]

141. there is no such thing as mainstream "news"

Propaganda, "entertainment" (if you like to watch monkeys throwing shit). That's it.

People who watch it for news are usually those that don't do the "internets". Some watch it to "keep and eye on the mainstream" but I find that is a mistake as it allows them to control the direction of debate etc.

[maindawg]

142. I dont even have a tv

Why would I ?

[sinkingfeeling]

143. No, and I can hardly stand to watch local news anymore. One of my stations

has to run a story about Walmart every single day and they only report on how Walmart's stock does not on the whole market! It slants so far to the right that during the election I used the mute button on them.

[mnhtnbb]

144. We stopped watching the news a long time ago.

And I agree, that I used to consider it important--as an adult participating in a democracy--
to stay informed.

I can't even stomach reading the print news anymore. We get two papers--the local Raleigh
paper and the NY Times-- delivered daily. My husband still reads them. I have given up
in the last 6 months. Now, I just get my news on-line.

[ramapo]

145. Gave it up years ago

Mainstream news is a waste of time. It is disgusting in nearly all aspects. I'd rather destroy my TV than watch that crap, MSNBC included.

[Todays_Illusion]

146. I stopped watching long ago and that includes NPR, now the voice of the Koch and PBS Corporate Conse

...corporate conservative.


NPR so bad that even Ira Glass does the libertarian slant on his stories, and that attack on the fed, pure libertarian.

[City Lights]

147. I typically only watch local news.

I do tune in to cable nooze if there is a huge national or world story breaking.

[2banon]

148. Disconnected from Cable/Sat several years ago for budget reasons, but stopped watching cable news

before then.

No you're not alone, but sometimes it seems that I am. But I know better, there are few of us here.

[ginnyinWI]

152. life is better when you cut the cable!

I am glad to no longer be jerked around by cable news. And yes, some of the networks are the same: ABC is trying to be CNN, and NBC has its own tricks and gimmics. CBS is probably the most content -rich of the big three. But PBS is still the best if you want news without the hype.

[2banon]

160. PBS is just as duplicitous as the rest, just "more polite".

it apparently so much more important to appear as "polite" with nearly every single "interview" of a politician or PR spokesperson on whatever the focus of the story is. What ever industry is being reported on for instance, their set up is with a spokesperson to speak on behalf of that industry and the lies and misrepresentations are never ever challenged with facts of the matter. Soft ball questions, hard lies, are allowed to hang there.

As just ONE recent example , last week the issue of the day was Net Neutrality. I think it was Judy Woodward conducting an interview with some industry clown lobbyist opposing Net Neutrality, straight up lying about every single aspect of service in Europe. I have friends and acquaintances from the Netherlands, British Isles, France and various other European regions who are appalled at the slow, expensive, problematic service available here in the United States. That guy was allowed to LIE about service in Europe, said it was too strictly regulated, not enough competition, and poor access, with out a single utterance from Judy as to the facts in that regard and which is well known to anyone who has traveled anywhere in Europe.

Mouth dropping but standard fare of the Judy and Gwenn show served up to us each week night.

I do appreciate the analysis regarding Supreme Court decisions. I will listen to those and give high marks for, which is a rare relief in so far as I'm concerned.

They also seem to be ecstatic that the Republicans are back in power, which is not surprising (given the Conservative make up of the executives and Board of Directors these days) and they can't help but show it.

[ginnyinWI]

161. I should have said, it's mostly BBC I watch

BBC World News America and then there is another BBC World News later in the evening (live in Britain, a.m.)

I also try to always catch PBS Newshour Weekend Edition with Rari S. who is much more interesting than Gwen and Judy--runs interesting "signature" features.

I do see the corporatist slant on the weekday Newshour and don't watch it very much.

I guess my main news source is NPR which I have on during the day, plus the internet of course.

[2banon]

164. Yes, the Weekend edition of PBS News is so much better than the usual drek during the week.

all said, it's really pathetic we no longer have a modicum of intelligent news reporting on tv or radio that isn't front loaded propagandist of one sort or another. I also have to work at deciphering "left" journalists for the same reasons.

[PatrynXX]

151. haven't watched it since MSNBC got rid of Keith

it then became fully balanced to the right

most of my news is either on the newspaper or online where I can READ it. and I don't prefer the videos that come online either

[WorseBeforeBetter]

153. Frontline, BBC America and the PBS News Hour...

are pretty much all I watch. Although I do occasionally turn into my local news and it's just so ridiculously bad.

[AlinPA]

154. I can't watch that vomit. The"reporters" are actors and actresses with facial expressions and

gestures that are hard to watch. Cable news is pure garbage. CBNS, NBC and ABC are nearly as bad.

[librechik]

155. yup, me too

Nowadays I listen to Thom Hartmann, Stephanie Miller etc--It's like Radio Free America, my lifeline to the truth.

Mainstream news is a big slap in my face, especially since that business is what I am retired from. Fifteen years in daily broadcast news--the lies and suppression were a shocking daily experience, the whole time.

After listening/watching/monitoring/fact-checking mainstream news at least 8 hours a day for all those years, I really can't watch it anymore without getting vertigo. I know too much. PTSD.

[raouldukelives]

156. No, it is the reason I first started coming here. In search of reality based news. nt

[nruthie]

157. Ditto, my blood pressure can't take it.

[SomethingFishy]

162. BBC for me...

The USA has no "news".

It's infotainment. A joke. It's frightening how woefully uninformed we are.

[appalachiablue]

163. BILL MOYERS I forgot. Outstanding, every program high quality, reliably on topic and tight.

He stayed the last 3 years as people wanted but said he'll leave in Jan. What a tremendous resource he's been, sorry to see him go but he deserves it. A true man of the people. There are few left of his caliber and duration in news and investigative reporting. Another is Hedrich Smith who for years worked with PBS programming and editing, and wrote major works like the excellent "Who Stole the American Dream?" 2012.

[J_J_]

165. nt

[Stellar]

168. I haven't watched any mainstream news in two weeks. I touch bases here, periodically.

I only watch my home town news. And what little of that that I do watch only gives me very little world news.