Posted on 02/09/2015 5:34:49 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
The news media “absolutely” overstates the risks of terrorism because stories about things like climate change aren’t “sexy” and don’t drive ratings, President Obama said in an interview published Monday.
“What's the famous saying about local newscasts, right? If it bleeds, it leads, right?” Obama told Vox. “You show crime stories and you show fires, because that's what folks watch, and it's all about ratings. And, you know, the problems of terrorism and dysfunction and chaos, along with plane crashes and a few other things, that's the equivalent when it comes to covering international affairs. “
Obama said there was not going to be “a lot of interest” in stories showing positive progress on issues like infant mortality or improving productivity for farmers.
“It's not a sexy story,” Obama said. “And climate change is one that is happening at such a broad scale and at such a complex system, it's a hard story for the media to tell on a day-to-day basis.”
The interview with the web startup, known for its explainer-style journalism, is the latest attempt by the White House to circumvent traditional media. In recent weeks, the president has sat for interviews with prominent YouTube video bloggers, and on Tuesday will be interviewed by BuzzFeed Editor-in-Chief Ben Smith.
Aides have described the effort as an attempt to reach new audiences — and particularly millennials — who might not otherwise be paying attention to the president’s message. That effort has taken on an increasing degree of difficulty in the president’s seventh year in office.
In the interview with Vox, Obama said that the risk of the “balkanization” of the media is that it allowed people to focus only on stories that reaffirmed their existing world views.
“I’m not the first to observe this, but you've got the Fox News/Rush Limbaugh folks and then you've got the MSNBC folks and the — I don't know where Vox falls into that, but you guys are, I guess, for the brainiac-nerd types,” Obama said. “But the point is that technology which brings the world to us also allows us to narrow our point of view.”
Obama pitched his interview with YouTube as an opportunity to reach “viewers who don't want to be put in some particular camp. “
At the same time, Obama said there were “structural” efforts that could be made to decrease polarization and help improve efficiency in Washington. The president called, as he has before, for changes to the Constitution that would allow more intense regulation of campaign spending, and well as changes on the state level to reduce gerrymandering.
But Obama also said that despite those challenges, the nation had been “pretty polarized” in the past, as well.
“I think there just wasn't polling around,” Obama said. “As I recall, there was a whole civil war — that was a good example of polarization that took place.”
“And climate change is one that is happening at such a broad scale and at such a complex system, it’s a hard story for the media to tell...” said the man incapable of understanding how a room thermostat works.
Two weeks ago, under the headline "How we are being tricked by flawed data on global warming”, I wrote about Paul Homewood, who, on his Notalotofpeopleknowthat blog, had checked the published temperature graphs for three weather stations in Paraguay against the temperatures that had originally been recorded. In each instance, the actual trend of 60 years of data had been dramatically reversed, so that a cooling trend was changed to one that showed a marked warming.
This was only the latest of many examples of a practice long recognised by expert observers around the world – one that raises an ever larger question mark over the entire official surface-temperature record..........."
I despise everything about this man CW.
Øbozo has said a lot of disingenuous crap and some just plain stupid crap, but this stretches the limit. His claim simply does not compute, but it does offer another avenue for him to scapegoat his failures.
After the prayer breakfast fiasco, the blogger interviews, and now this, one wonders about the president’s grip on reality.
We’re all too stupid in his view. This drips with condensation - he has to explain it to us - slow and clearly, so we can understand - grasp a layman’s understanding of what he “knows” is important.
Insulting.
Divisive.
Arrogant.
Incompetent.
“....one wonders about the president’s grip on reality.”
This is a very important point and concern.
“I think there just wasn’t polling around,” Obama said. “As I recall, there was a whole civil war — that was a good example of polarization that took place.”
Obama’s use of off-hand malicious little digs is what passes for progressive thought. It is a base, nasty little poisonous puff of air that doesn’t leave itself open for debate or discussion.
My favorite quote from The Magic Mountain, Thomas Mann
“Sarcastic? You mean malicious. Yes, I am a little malicious,” Settembrini said. “My great worry is that I have been condemned to waste my malice on such miserable objects. I hope you have nothing against malice, my good engineer. In my eyes it is the brightest sword reason has against the powers of ugliness and darkness. Malice, sir is the spirit of criticism, and criticism marks the origins of progress and enlightenment.”
And unfortunate. To quote Trey Gowdy, “have you met Joe Biden?”
I hear that 0bama is building a mineret at the White House.
Ironically if the world were really warming, it could be easily stopped by putting an additive in jet fuel.
Increased taxes won’t stop climate changes.
He forgot slavery and oppression...the foundations./s
What kind of audience does he reach with this crap?
Actually...the shmuck has made a very good point.! But I don't think it "goes over" quite the way he intended...
Technology brings information which allows us to gain knowledge about what is true or false about any given subject...yes?
So...does it "narrow our point of view"... Absolutely.!! When we gain knowledge we no longer except his massive BS as fact...
My "point of view" has narrow considerable since the obumer has appeared on the scene...
I do see and understand that perspective ;’)
For me, I read cross-spectrum. You know how every once in awhile someone will post an article to FR and someone else will comment, “Why post that crap here?!”? The answer is because it is valuable to know what your enemy is thinking (and more-so to know what they are doing!).
You (editorial you) can’t do that if you adhere to the self-censoring echo-chamber that Øbozo suggests “we all” do.
There are times that i am ready for the good folks of this nation to do a cleansing.
There are times when, it just ain’t time yet, too.
Since Boehner, Biden, and Pelosi are older than me, it would be in my interest, to see them ‘check out’, first.
As far as president jarrett and her hand up his back puppet soetero, I do wish the Praetorian Guards would get on with it!!
What is he talking about? The media cover “climate change” all the time.
The man’s IQ is probably barely above average,
but he’s been told all his life how brilliant he is
because he was trained to read a speech well.
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