Is there anything but propaganda on TV any more?

[porphyrian]

In the course of a single commercial break, they've tried to convince me that dogs would rather that their owners don't smoke pot (which is empirically bullshit, as high people give dogs way more attention than sober people generally do) and that I can join the Army for only two years - how many soldiers have been allowed to leave after only two years since Iraq happened, except for those in coffins or in pieces? Now I remember why I turned the fucking thing off.

[TechBear_Seattle]

1. There are sitcoms, "reality" television and sports

Won't those do?

[porphyrian]

11. Not for me, but I like to think. - n/t

[Az]

14. Reality shows are just Corporations trying to reprogram us to think like them

When people are stranded on an island do they really try to vote each other off? Reality shows are based on artificial situations where the contestants are rewarded for turning on each other. This sets them up as asocial amoral individuals. Exactly what a major corporation is and wants us to be.

[porphyrian]

29. Yep. And there's only like two different templates for all of them, with minor variations.

There are the Surviver/Big Brother types and the Top Chef/Designer/Whatever types.

Put crap in your brain. Believe you have chosen it. Repeat.

[Deep13]

2. Of course. There is also vapid crap. nt

[porphyrian]

12. You know it. - n/t

[rox63]

3. There's still Keith Olbermann and Bill Moyers

But much of the rest is total crap.

[porphyrian]

13. I don't like to wade through total crap for a tiny amount of what TV should be. - n/t

[salvorhardin]

4. There's still lots of great programming on television

You just have to look a lot harder to find it. Cable and satellite television have resulted in a explosion of channels and a corresponding fracturing of attention for the old-school "major" networks. And sites like YouTube are even further changing the way people interact and view video.

Because the networks have lost such a large amount of their audience to the cable channels they can not command the eyeballs they used to or the ad revenues and so program on the cheap the lowest common denominator. But if you're willing to look around (and can afford digital cable or satellite) you can find wonderful dramas and comedies, amazing science and history shows (just not on The Learning or History channels ironically) and just about anything else you could be looking for. It's really more about a paradox of choice than deliberate propaganda (Fox News excepted). And as always, Sturgeon's Law applies: "Ninety percent of everything is crud."

FWIW: I haven't owned a television for many, many years now.

[porphyrian]

15. I've only got cable because it's actually cheaper to get internet that way.

And all of the programming that's worth a shit (and most of it that isn't) ends up on DVD eventually anyway, so I usually hold out and rent it.

[Johonny]

20. me too

[stillcool]

5. I'm tuning out

...turning off, and dropping out. The blatant bullshit coming out of government agencies, the political machine, and not only the media but practically all of television programming, is too much. The advertisements alone max out the capacity of the garbage heap in my mind. I've even taken to reading fiction lately...as I'm thinking it's closer to reality. At least I don't have to read between the lines, and constantly interpret the new meanings of old words, that inundate the self-promoting, fact-distorting non-fiction-fiction being put forth by paid to say zombies feeding at the trough.

[porphyrian]

16. I've pretty much done that, with the internet (DU) as my only connection...

...and I don't regret it a bit. I'm way ahead of the curve knowing what's going on in the world, and it's an interactive rather than passive medium, which makes it more personal. It's radicalized me more than I would have become otherwise, but I'm convinced everyone would become more radical if they knew more about, say, the Attorney General saga than the latest celebrity drug binge.

[Tsiyu]

6. If the role of television is informing the public

they don't want us knowing a whole hell of a lot of anything.

I don't have cable. My TV at home is on mostly to keep the dogs company or to watch Martha Stewart. I get NBC, ABC, CBS.

Yesterday running errands I was able to watch some cable and pick the channels myself. My daughter chimed in immediately, warning me to stay off the politics. "You're just going to end up yelling at the TV, Mom," she said. :)

So what? I started with C-Span, expecting some Gonzo coverage, and I got TommyBaby Delay and a couple of other Republipukes whining about how Democrats stole all their candy. bhg starts grumbling....

"Mom!"

So I switched to CNN where some female talking head is fellating....er....interviewing Ari Fleischer, who is whining about his past "tough life" in politics to relate how poor, poor Gonzo and his ilk have it so rough these days..... He and the talking head were just partyin' down! I swear, the talking heads and the Repukes don't even have the sense to pretend to have any professional cells in their beings.

Our Attorney General ---ATTENTION MEDIA- THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA --- has just stepped down leaving the DOJ in a filth-encrusted scandal as steamy and smelly as Ted Nugent's draft physical underpants
and you are partyin' down with the folks who helped install the traitorous freak?

Even my daughter had a smartass comment.

"But did you notice how her lipstick was just the right perky color?"

I love my kids :)

[porphyrian]

17. Heh, heh, smart kids. - n/t

[monmouth]

7. I listen to wonderful music all day, TV comes on when Keith does...

[porphyrian]

18. Music! I keep forgetting how much I need it...

...for some reason, probably because I turned off the radio years ago for the same reason as I've turned off the TV (that, or the drugs). Then, every once in a while, I'll go through my CDs and re-experience the revelation of how important it is to me. I'm such a stupid human.

[harun]

8. If you have a sat dish you can get some goodies

http://www.linktv.org/

http://www.freespeech.org

Nice programs on both. The mainstream news media is nearly unwatchable anymore. MSNBC has some stuff now that I can stomach but my Sat programming just cut it off. I have blocked FOX News since I bought the dish.

[porphyrian]

19. My brother-in-law just got his set up, and I plan on going over to see what they can get.

At this point, I'd even get a kick out of golf in Japanese, at least for a while.

[Javaman]

9. there is the Price is Right with Drew Carey!!! nt

[porphyrian]

21. I stopped watching that show in the Seventies.

And, while Drew Carey can be funny, I'm kind of bored with his one character.

[Javaman]

23. True, he really doesn't have much depth but then again neither does

the price is right.

[porphyrian]

28. Good point. - n/t

[EFerrari]

25. Drew Carey should have stopped in the 70s, too.

lol

[porphyrian]

27. Heh, heh, you're bad...

;)

[oldgrowth]

10. It's all propaganda all but KO and Moyers-And there are Internet TV news, links

Real News Network this is very good
Our mission

The Real News is a non-profit news and documentary network focused on providing independent and uncompromising journalism. Our staff, in collaboration with courageous journalists around the globe, will investigate, report and debate stories on the critical issues of our times.

We are member supported and do not accept advertising, government or corporate funding.

http://www.therealnews.com/
-
GoLeft.tv
You watch on there site or podcast -Itunes
http://www.goleft.tv/
_
VBS is an online broadcast network. We stream original content, free of charge and 24 hours a day. We carry a mix of domestic and international news, pop and underground culture coverage, and the best music in the world
Theres alot of good info shows(Like TOXIC WEST VIRGINIA) but you have to look around the site
http://www.vbs.tv/

[porphyrian]

22. Thanks, I'll check them out. - n/t

[Uncle Joe]

24. I believe the smartest thing Elvis ever did, was shoot televisions.

The dumbest was getting hooked on Big Pharma drugs, which coincidently the same televisions are more than happy to promote ad nauseum during the network "news" hour.

[porphyrian]

26. Good points, both. - n/t