tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4771887482682364543.post2277238378210329296..comments2024-03-21T14:04:11.960-04:00Comments on BeerBrarian: Librarians in the Age of Trump, Media Bias Edition BeerBrarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10969632673190542761noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4771887482682364543.post-91112949068004735152017-12-10T15:49:52.987-05:002017-12-10T15:49:52.987-05:00I'm curious on how your thoughts on this one c...I'm curious on how your thoughts on this one compares to the one put out to this one. Often I've Seen CNN word things so slanted from the truth I just want to smack the TV. <br /><br />http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/check-political-bias-media-site/Jessicahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13900361649424637831noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4771887482682364543.post-56622484554984246062016-12-19T10:46:41.854-05:002016-12-19T10:46:41.854-05:00I had a hard time taking the x-axis seriously when...I had a hard time taking the x-axis seriously when it includes a "basic af" data point. It also fails to acknowledge how "clickbait" works. The Washington Post, for example, has an entire web-based section called PostEverything that was explicitly created to compete with Buzzfeed. Meanwhile, Buzzfeed has assembled one of the more diverse newsrooms in the media and routinely put out actual journalism. The same with Huffington Post. Should those media outlets look like ovals pointing north and south? BeerBrarianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10969632673190542761noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4771887482682364543.post-11227003650640952262016-12-19T10:45:45.466-05:002016-12-19T10:45:45.466-05:00Comment from Andromeda.
"While we're at...Comment from <a href="https://andromedayelton.com/" rel="nofollow">Andromeda</a>. <br /><br />"While we're at it, can we critique the x axis, too? This particular idea of left-vs-right is awfully US-centric, what with our left-wing being often solidly center-right elsewhere. But even more than that, since when does a left-right binary reflect the whole of political thought? You mention Jacobin, which I don't think we could put on this chart because simply pinning it to the left wouldn't actually represent its politics. Similarly Reason couldn't be placed here; people often conflate libertarians and the right but that's not remotely accurate.<br /><br />I think schools of political thought that don't fit on this left-right spectrum often aren't in the Overton window in the US, or they're on the very edges of it, but they often pose interesting and important critiques whether or not one agrees with them."<br />BeerBrarianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10969632673190542761noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4771887482682364543.post-79763469143028702732016-12-16T13:09:12.107-05:002016-12-16T13:09:12.107-05:00I have met many librarians who care not a whit for...I have met many librarians who care not a whit for truth-- seeing it or providing it. As a librarian, I feel no obligation to educate others politically. I do feel an obligation to provide all the info and let others choose for themselves. I also object to most mainstream media. I am looking at Google headlines today and bidding for the privilege of having coffee with Ivanka Trump is apparently more important than Aleppo. The topics of news stories that are waggled under our noses are meant to hypnotize and provide distraction from the real truth of what is going on in our country and worldwide. What is happening? That is up to you to decide...just my 2 cents.Mary Raymehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15725636554981853569noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4771887482682364543.post-8739836754511036242016-12-15T20:51:14.413-05:002016-12-15T20:51:14.413-05:00J., thanks for reading, and for commenting. I susp...J., thanks for reading, and for commenting. I suspect we're going to keep disagreeing, and that's ok. <br /><br />You write "Showing this kind of chart to someone who, for example, spends all of their time in the Fox news bubble, provides a stunning visual to that person showing that they are in fact missing out on a wide range of other resources."<br /><br />You are probably ascribing too much power to the infographic. I doubt it would make a conservative think twice about their bubble, but I bet it makes "us" feel a whole lot better about our "more balanced" news consumption. <br /><br />"The point of this chart is not to say specific conservative or liberal values are equivalent. The point of the chart is to illuminate how there are extremists on two ideological sides. "<br /><br />This is a textbook example of false equivalence. Whether or not the chart intends to promote or imply that view is besides the point. As your comment shows, it does. The infographic literally gives equal space to these competing views. Like a map, it obscures some things and illuminates others. I argue it illuminates how we view the media landscape rather than how that landscape actually looks. <br /><br />I don't think another, updated infographic is the, or even a, solution here. There are no quick fixes. But we do both agree that it has sparked some discussion, and for that I'm grateful. BeerBrarianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10969632673190542761noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4771887482682364543.post-52259246595284750402016-12-15T14:20:40.737-05:002016-12-15T14:20:40.737-05:00This was a well written article with some really g...This was a well written article with some really good points. I happen to disagree with a good portion of it, and I'd like to give you some reasoning for why this is a helpful infographic with the positives far outweighing the negatives.<br /><br />Any chart which attempts to do what this news infographic does is going to have to oversimplify reality - it's the nature of the beast. Showing this kind of chart to someone who, for example, spends all of their time in the Fox news bubble, provides a stunning visual to that person showing that they are in fact missing out on a wide range of other resources. While I wholeheartedly agree that false equivalence is a major problem in our culture, I don't think that's what this infographic is actually trying to imply.<br /><br />In a cultural setting where our politics is literally split in half, any news source infographic is going to reflect that reality. The point of this chart is not to say specific conservative or liberal values are equivalent. The point of the chart is to illuminate how there are extremists on two ideological sides. Perhaps conservatives are more extreme when you look at a particular issue (climate change). Perhaps liberals are more extreme when you look at a different issue. As you pointed out with some of those examples, even "mainstream" sources make serious errors and sometimes fail when it comes to journalistic integrity by a wide margin. <br /><br />For me, that's all the more reason we need infographics like these. They spark the discussions we need to have about our news sources, and achieves it in a very visual, accessible way. I would say to anyone who isn't satisfied with this infographic chart, and I mean this genuinely, if that's the case then create your own. Share it. Argue passionately for a different version that you believe makes more sense, and bolster the discussion that needs to be happening. There is value in something like this, even if imperfect, and my main fear is that we lose sight of that when we try to parse things too much. J. Kirschhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06072758935603124077noreply@blogger.com