media
Thoughtlets.XLVII.
Just when news anchors’ hemorrhoid-inducing overuse of mindless phrases such as walk it back and double down starts to wane, another wave of brain-deadening soundbites inevitably waxes. And at its crest is the phrase bad actors. This phrase doesn’t refer… Read More ›
Thoughtlets. XLV. Theodicy revisited.
News media characteristically brings us one story after another about the kinds of things humans to do each other which are broadly characterized as “evil”. And these stories tend to generate accusations of “evil-doers” which are then dispatched with the… Read More ›
Thoughtlets . xxxviii.
Lately I’ve been troubled by laughing-at-stupid-people infotainment, especially in partisan news media, and on both sides of the political spectrum. I’d like to watch a broadcast that doesn’t devolve into some version of nanny-nanny-poo-poo-you-have-stinky-pants. That the frowning anchor wears a suit… Read More ›
A meditation on the character of a political speaker and, by extension, a voter (Oct. 31/20 with Nov. 15/20 addendum)
Loosely put, rhetoric is the art of persuasion. More specifically, on Aristotle’s definition, rhetoric is “the faculty of observing in any given case the available means of persuasion.” We all use rhetoric to convince others of some thing or other,… Read More ›
Thoughtlets .xvii.
Dear Chris Cuomo (CNN), a.k.a. The Great Interrupter, Let your interviewee finish a sentence.
Thoughtlets .xiv.
Dear News-Media folks, It’s hard to take you seriously when you report Tweets. It appears that Tweets are to journalists as seeds are to chickens, fodder for mindless feeding frenzies.
Thoughtlets .xiii.
Dear News-Media folks, You need to lose the following annoying cliches: ‘double down’, ‘walk it back’, and ‘going forward’.
Thoughtlets .viii.
Stand in one room while the television is on in the other. Now see if you can distinguish the voices of Rachel Maddow (MSNBC) and Tucker Carlson (Fox News). I can’t. Notice that it’s not just their voices that are… Read More ›
Saturday Morning Pam-Toons. Truth sets you free?
TRUTH. IT’S TRUE. TELL THE TRUTH. I’M TELLING THE TRUTH. YOU CAN’T HANDLE THE TRUTH. YOU CAN HAVE THE TRUTH WHEN YOU PRY IT OUT OF MY COLD, DEAD HANDS. TRUTH WILL SET YOU FREE. THE TRUTH AS I SEE… Read More ›
