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To: Cboldt
Yah, I've toyed with MRC, and other like minded sites, but no one seems to have a day by day, week by week, summary of what was (and was NOT) discussed. This is where I think the real argument lies.

Regardless of us calling them the "dinosaur media" they are still "in charge" of deciding what gets on the news and what gets ignored.  Until we seize that power from them we are meaningless. 

I think a daily thread, with weekly summary, could be a really powerful force for shaping what is and is not considered "newsworthy" today.  I'm having a hard time finding an existing "hook" to begin such a thread from.  I think we're (I'm?) going to have to create it myself.

W.C. Fields once said, "there comes a time in a man's life when he has to seize the bull by the tail and face the situation."

I'm afraid I'm working up to seizing a bull's tail.  Wanna join me?

 

662 posted on 03/05/2006 4:35:22 PM PST by Phsstpok (There are lies, damned lies, statistics and presentation graphics, in descending order of truth)
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To: Phsstpok
Regardless of us calling them the "dinosaur media" they are still "in charge" of deciding what gets on the news and what gets ignored.

Yep. FR pretty much "reacts" to the stories selected.

Until we seize that power from them we are meaningless.

I think that objective reaction and fleshing out of stories is invaluable, and powerful. I think that for the most part, "what gets on the news" represents a fairly reasonable judgement. That is, I think that reacting to what is "the story of the day" covers most (but not all) of the important issues.

In my opinion, where the media really comes short is in educating the reader as to how things work, in putting the story into an accurate context. Some FR threads do a good job of that.

I think a daily thread, with weekly summary, could be a really powerful force for shaping what is and is not considered "newsworthy" today.

That power to shape won't come out of a FR discussion. It depends on having broadcast and print rights, as well as editorial power of what will be aired and what won't. But as a matter of keeping a personal eye on the ball, I think your idea is great.

W.C. Fields once said, "there comes a time in a man's life when he has to seize the bull by the tail and face the situation."
I'm afraid I'm working up to seizing a bull's tail. Wanna join me?

I think I work better in a "story analysis" mode - ever the critic. My motivation is more to make sense of the story, to get the factual basis for the report, and in most cases, to understand "how things really work." It's an effort with an entirely personal motivation.

As often as not, I'm set off by an assertion of or question by a FReeper:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1516559/posts?page=37#37
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1494693/posts?page=16#16
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1516791/posts?page=322#322 & preceding post 308
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1224594/posts?page=24#24

At any rate, I don't do very well with assigned work, so y'all have to be content with whatever contributions I feel like making (probably grateful that I don't make more!)

671 posted on 03/05/2006 5:43:33 PM PST by Cboldt
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