Do you really think we have a deficit of information?

No, just the opposite. We have insane amounts of information. What we have a deficit of is knowledge and wisdom – higher order constructs that are of social and intellectual value. Infomration, as I say, is useless. Info = raw bits, and a bit that is “false” is as much information as a bit that is “true.” Both signal and noise are information.

On TV, I can watch anything from the NFL Network to “The War” on PBS to “The Redskins Report” to home cooking with Martha Stewart. Even though there might be a handful of owners in TV, we have SO many options.

And the fact that your own construction parallels “The War” with Martha Stewart is instructive.

Are you against competition?

This is a fake question. It’s raw ideology masquerading as a real concern.

The TV or radio station that caters to the viewers is going to survive.

And this hinges on an unproven assumption. It only works if I accept that the system we have now – rabid deregulation emerging from a ridiculous belief that the public interest is the same thing as what the public is interested in – is natural, desirable, or somehow is the only alternative.

If you have a niche station that you like but no one else does, sure, it’s quaint, but it’s not profitable.

So what? This statement is only meaningful if I accept that profit is the only possible social value.

Sorry, but assumptions are going to get interrogated here.

But what is “information”? Sure, we have lots more bits and bytes flying around, but a vast majority of what has been created is more properly filed under “noise” than “signal.”

Do you really think we have a deficit of information? On TV, I can watch anything from the NFL Network to “The War” on PBS to “The Redskins Report” to home cooking with Martha Stewart. Even though there might be a handful of owners in TV, we have SO many options.

As for corp resources keeping stations afloat, I guess I’d ask at what price? What is the cultural value of a place staying on the air when what it’s pumping into the airwaves is pure garbage?

Are you against competition? The TV or radio station that caters to the viewers is going to survive. If you have a niche station that you like but no one else does, sure, it’s quaint, but it’s not profitable.

Also, it’s kind of a holdover from school. People equate world affairs with a boring school subject like current events and civics and, now that they’re out of school, they want no part of it.

They save their spare brain time for the complex world of managing their money (if they have some).

“Just be yourself, hon’. Just be yourself.”

I will say one thing about the ubiquitous Britney Spears. She is no doubt spurring thousands and thousands of women to seek other role models and to be anything other than a sexual plaything for the masses and food for the hungry crocodiles.

Celebrity worship was a very real thing and in days of old the celebrity reputation was protected by the managers/studios/groomers. The golden era is now over. We now have down and dirty…and the game being exposed as it really is.

Less people these days look up…

The “fuck this guy” line is a bit of an in-joke with the S&R crew on my part. Believe me, it never crossed my mind either.

The human mind is built to learn and grow. The more information you give to it and engage it with, the more it wants. Challenge people and they will rise to the occasion. We’re creating a society of passive, uncritical, unintellectual, hyper-judgmental zombies, and the choking off of access to independent lines of information is a key aspect of that.

Short answer: no, thank you.

Slightly longer answer: I’ve seen your “richer intellectual fare creates more discriminating information consumers” hypothesis demonstrated time and again in the classroom. “Low-performing” (hate that label) students consistently rise to the challenge of expanding their reading horizons under the following conditions:

1. When they are convinced that the effort is worth their time and energy;
2. When they are given the support needed to tackle a challenging piece of literature;
3. When the piece in question is not “dumbed down” in a misguided effort to make it accessible.

I believe the same could be said of the larger public audience you describe; availability of thoughtful and varied information is not everything, but it is fundamental.

That’s not exactly what I’m saying, although I suppose I’d be content to chart quality vs consolidation and let the graphic at least illustrate the correlation. We have certainly seem dramatic declines in quality as ownership rules have loosened, and when I look back to the arrival of LMAs and how it was predicted quality was going to go to hell I think it’s a point I’d have no trouble defending in a public debate.

You argue that viewers don’t want the kind of content they are getting on TV, but then why would they also be searching for it on the Internet?

Umm, I argued that they don’t like TV where? Not sure what you’re saying here.

Also, I think the Internet has ushered in a golden age of information, and sadly, at the same time, threatened TV and radio. I’ve done some work with NAB, so I’ve seen many stations stay afloat thanks only to corporate resources.

But what is “information”? Sure, we have lots more bits and bytes flying around, but a vast majority of what has been created is more properly filed under “noise” than “signal.” As for corp resources keeping stations afloat, I guess I’d ask at what price? What is the cultural value of a place staying on the air when what it’s pumping into the airwaves is pure garbage?

You argue that viewers don’t want the kind of content they are getting on TV, but then why would they also be searching for it on the Internet?

Also, I think the Internet has ushered in a golden age of information, and sadly, at the same time, threatened TV and radio. I’ve done some work with NAB, so I’ve seen many stations stay afloat thanks only to corporate resources.

From Mimi in NY’s blog . . . .
Dear Potential Employer
Despite having an exceptional degree which may lead many to presume that I am, in fact, quite intelligent, I have managed to spend the last six years doing absolutely sod all with my privileged education. However, I feel that my experiences as a drug-taking chalet cook, a sailing chef, a waitress, a shop assistant at Marks & Spencer’s, a telesales representative, the person looking after your kids on the long summer vacation, a barista, a check-out girl at Tesco’s, a sandwich maker, a bakery assistant, a bar tender, a punt chauffeur on the River Cam, an unemployed, hungry writer and finally, the piece de resistance – A Stripper, do demonstrate a certain flexibility on my part, if not a willingness to completely embrace new experiences and skills.

P.S. If I do get the job, how much vacation time do I get?

Generalissimo Francisco Franco. . . . still dead.

You know, with skills like that, Monsieur Ramsey should be working at McKinsey & Co, Morgan Sachs, Goldman Stanley, you know–the supposed crème de la crème. But he’s doing pretty good as a dopey fuckwit.

Long answer: The reason why the public’s interest is so shallow and vapid is because that’s all they’re given. When someone feeds you nothing but slop for years, of course it’s going to make you sick. Give them something healthier, and they will respond.

The media whores and their corporatist masters want a public that’s dumb, uninformed, inarticulate, and complacent. It is absolutely in their interest to consolidate media and deny local radio, newspapers, television stations, and Internet providers the chance to disseminate information that challenges the common wisdom and forces people to think. Jim is absolutely right–these people don’t view us as human, but as pigs, slaves, docile house pets, designed for nothing more than to breed, buy, and die.

Their efforts to deny us avenues to think for ourselves must be challenged at every turn. Go tell it on the mountain, Sam–the world needs to hear it.

Beautifully put, Sam. I just watched this episode of Moyer’s Journal and he certainly wasn’t being disingenuous when he asked the question about serving the public interest vis a vis serving corporate megalomaniacal interests.

Ramsey is a Judas goat for the creepy types who run massive corporations whose only aim is “more…more…more….for me…me…me….” They see humanity as chattel – to be controlled in any way they see fit.