News Poisoning Our Society?

The next time you watch the news monitor your own emotions and reactions especially to stories that have nothing to do with you and will never affect you...

I've been reading in the forums a lot of mixed opinions on the news coverage of EVs. Some say the coverage has been good; others claims there is a global conspiracy by the oil industry to inject negative news and kill them off. Whatever your leanings, I think news has become another form of entertainment and EVs are not being singled out as some would like to believe.

Why does the Leaf (limited range) or the Volt (catches on fire) get bad press or any press at all? Because of objective reporting? Because there is a political agenda? I think not. Look no further than the almighty dollar. Modern news outlets want to be watched (or read) and get advertising dollars so they sensationalize everything and selectively report news that is popular to their audiences. Competition is fierce due to cable news running 24/7 and the proliferation of "free news" in the form of internet blogs and social media, despite that the latter lacking a vetting process. This competition forces sensationalism. "Mayor accused of sex scandal, see it at 10!" (They conveniently forget to mention that there is no evidence and the accuser has an ax to grind.) EVs are popular news because of high gas prices. I'll bet if gas was $1.21 a gallon we wouldn't hear a thing about EVs. This is not political at all. It's money. And it is true of just about every outlet national or local. Is it right to only report popular, money-making news? Does it reflect a problem with out society that we crave news about Kim Kardashian and her brainless family instead of worthwhile topics? Of course news has always been about "selling newspapers" as the saying goes but there was always a measure of professionalism and responsibility that was ingrained in the industry. I fear they are slowly losing that.

Another question: what is the effect of sensationalized news on society? Take schools for example. People are getting the impression that all hell is breaking loose in schools across the country and the world because we now hear about every incident from everyday bullying to bomb threats to the incident where a homemade lunch was taken away. Why? Because school news is popular, not because it is necessarily newsworthy. When I grew up we had three bomb threats in my school and were evacuated for hours. None of which ever made the local news much less CNN. (We looked for it--remember when getting on TV was like having a hit on YouTube?) Today if a child trips in the hallway it makes prime time and launches a congressional inquiry into school carpet quality because the news generates an outcry that otherwise would not have occurred.

This selective reporting and the gross bias towards negative news is poisoning our society in my opinion. It's establishing what they (the news outlets) choose to report as normal when in fact what is reported is generally abnormal. It is creating anger in people and leading to knee-jerk reactions. It is creating unreasonable fear that "something is going to happen" (being sued, end of the world, etc.) I can barely watch news anymore because it is always: "Lion eats person who jumped into its cage--family upset that no warnings were posted," "prison convict sues victim and wins," "mom drowns children," or (to get back to EVs) "person stranded in electric car." None of these are normal events but seeing the news you'd think that is all that is going on out there. Gone is all positive news like all the good work charities and churches do every day. Gone is the desire to inform the masses and keep the government in check. News still fills these functions but it is a side effect, no longer a reason for being.

So what do you think? Is news still valid in our society or, like the federal government, has it grown in a large and power-hungry monster that no longer resembles its original self and purpose?

Uh huh! :lol:

Well... I could agree with much of what you said. And I imagine many of the anti-EV stories are posted on news sites without a specific agenda. However, the one thing I don't understand is the censorship. Everytime there is a news story (positive of negative) about EV's the comments section is filled with negative, misinformed comments. Whenever I post my comment which is always very polite, but stating correct information about the topic, it is always removed within a minute or two. Or in some cases, never gets posted at all. Which means there is somebody actively screening out comments that are positive.

I've been having the same experience lately. it really is shameless!! One Foxnation page seemed to have some good comments on it and now all it says is "Comments for this page are closed."

adric22 said:

Well... I could agree with much of what you said. And I imagine many of the anti-EV stories are posted on news sites without a specific agenda. However, the one thing I don't understand is the censorship. Everytime there is a news story (positive of negative) about EV's the comments section is filled with negative, misinformed comments. Whenever I post my comment which is always very polite, but stating correct information about the topic, it is always removed within a minute or two. Or in some cases, never gets posted at all. Which means there is somebody actively screening out comments that are positive.

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adric22 said:

Whenever I post my comment which is always very polite, but stating correct information about the topic, it is always removed within a minute or two. Or in some cases, never gets posted at all. Which means there is somebody actively screening out comments that are positive.

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Interesting, I had the same exact experience with Jalopnik when they ran anti-EV stories couple of months ago. Couldn't get any of my commets published. boingboing and Yahoo were the only sites where one could have a meaningful discussion. I saw Paul Scott write comments a number of times on boingboing, which was encouraging. Posting on Yahoo on the other hand, is like being a lone voice in the wilderness.

SierraQ,
you start out with a look at how the media has misreported and done biased stories on EVs, then go on for some length with an analysis of what is wrong with news gathering and media, and how that has crippled our society and

Then, out of nowhere, in the last graf, you pull a tactic from the right-wing, puke machine bag of tricks--with this (I paraphrase):
the US government is a power-hungry monster that has run out of control and off the tracks.


So what do you think? Is news still valid in our society or, like the federal government, has it grown in a large and power-hungry monster that no longer resembles its original self and purpose?

I'd say that you would fit right in at faux news.

Thankyou, the news does not get anything right, ever.. not EVs, not right wing politics, not AGW and I assume they dont get anything on the left wing either.. I KNOW all you guys cant be left wing pinko commie hippies, not matter what Fox says

The scary part is that future history writings will be based on whats on the news today.. best thing to do is to assume everyone has a bias and to subtract it mentally from what they say.

thankyouOB said:

Then, out of nowhere, in the last graf, you pull a tactic from the right-wing, puke machine bag of tricks--with this (I paraphrase):
the US government is a power-hungry monster that has run out of control and off the tracks.

Click to expand...

:lol: Yeah I couldn't resist. I don't mean to politicize but I do personally think the government is just as out of control as news, wall street, oil industry, RNC, DNC, or whatever--pick your favorite. The point is that when these entities were younger they used to have a very basic and arguably more pure or perhaps more focused purpose and now things are different.

As a side note: news and government are connected. In a country like the U.S. I like to think of the news and the government as ideally being services to the people. The danger is when these entities become services to themselves. (A company, as a counterexample, is meant to service itself via profits, self-centered decision making, etc.) I think the government qualifies as serving itself to some degree because congress is now more of a career, and less a public service. But when news starts to act this way (serving themselves by selective reporting) perhaps it is an even greater problem as it could detract from their "duty" to be a government watchdog.

SierraQ,
I have to agree with most everything you said in your original post, and in the previous topic. I find I might be one of the few Leaf owner who is more Republican than Democrat. For the most part, I like Fox news. (not the TV but the website.) I find I get a more "balance" view than the main stream CBS/NBC/ABC news. I also find I like PBS, and BBC news. It is a shame, but news in this country is controled by the almighty dollar. It is more about ratings, than about informing the general population. If a news story will not improve ratings, then its out. What does this say about the adverage person when all we demand from News and TV is sensationalism.

I also agree that the government is getting too big. They and US seem to forget that the government works for US the people. I personally would like to restrict membership in congress and the president to non lawyers. Set up an advisory group made up of lawyers to advise the non lawyer congress men, but they have no direct vote on laws. Further I believe that any pay package for congress must be approved by the general public during the normal two year election cycle. I think we can solve a lot of problems by restricting lawyers. However, I also know I could never get this passed. The lawyers who are congressmen would never allow this to pass.

We have serious problems in this country. From the economy point of view, the Biggest one is too much money leaving this country. When Bush gave everyone 600.00 back from taxes to stimulate the Economy, why didn't it work? Because it left this country, it stimulated the Oil countries via gas purchase, or China via Walmart. Very little of it stay in this country. When SF Calif needed a bridge, they went to China, had it made there, and floated over to the bay. How did that help the US economy? If we want to help the US economy we need to start producing goods in this country and buy "made in America" again. And we need to be "energy independent". Now we want this to be as non poluted as possible but OIL (domestic I hope) will be part of it. I can't prove it but I feel one dollar of every gallon of gas I purchase goes to fun middle east unrest in one way or another.

Now I embraced Solar (I've installed a 10kW PV system in middle GA to the tune of 60K and even with the tax credits it has a 22 year ROI) as well as BEV with the Leaf. Not because of polution or climate change, but because I want to keep my dollars in this country. My PV system is 95% US. All of my solar pannels were made in MA, my Inverters from CO, my tracking module came from MN, the Linear actuators came from OH, and the steel for the tracking array came from Macon GA. The only piece I'm not sure was "made in USA" was the 120VAC to 12VDC power supply. The only ones I could find were on EBAY and there is no country listed. The MY2013 Leaf & batteries will be made in TN so I really want the Leaf to succeed.

Does the Leaf fit my needs? NO. To fit my needs I need an ICE. To be honest, the Leaf was never market as a car that would fit my needs. So I have no problem with it. I am very happy with my purchase, but I am also honest in that it doesn't fit my needs,, yet......

This is a first generation Leaf. For my normal every day needs, it is everything I need. I have more than enough range for 98% of my trips. But those 98% of my trips, only cover 75% of my yearly mileage. I live in a small town in middle GA. If I want to take a flight somewhere, I have to rent a car to take me to the airport as the leaf doesn't have the range. If I want to spend the weekend on the lake, I have to rent a car as the Leaf doesn't have the range. If I want to go to Atlanta for a show and shopping, I have to rent a car as the Leaf doesn't have the range. And with a 3.3 kW charger L2 charging every 60 miles on the interstate does no good at all. (six hrs recharging for every 1.5 hr of driving doesn't get it).

Now, what I see happening for the Leaf is two things. One, better batteries. The next generation battery is now moving from the test phase into production. It will have about 3 times the range at about the same cost, or as Nissan likes to say, the same range at half the cost. But in three to four years you will have the options of a 250 mile range (EPA) at the same price point, or 80 (EPA) at a much cheaper cost. Second: Extended Range trailers. I believe we are less than 3 years away from and external APU generator that can be attached to the Leaf when needed to extend the range. I personally am very interested (and following developments) of Bladon Micro Jets connected with high speed generators. Jaguar introduced a concept car this year using this concept excep the APUs are build into the car vice added only when the extra range is needed.

With both of these advances, you will have a BEV that can serve as a single car household. the APU can run off Natural GAS or LP. In the write up of the Jaguar, the APU turns on when the batteries get to 20% SOC and turn off when the speed drops below 31 (50km/h). They can also be turned on/off manually.

I would like to see this type of serial hybrid used for Class A & C motor homes.

Joseph

SierraQ said:

...Today if a child trips in the hallway it makes prime time and launches a congressional inquiry into school carpet quality...

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They have carpet!?

Back in my day, we didn't have fancy carpeted floors in school. The floors were paved with gravel. And it wasn't that fancy smooth gravel either. It was the sharp volcanic kind. And we didn't have shoes so we had to walk on it barefoot. Our feet had calluses like alligator hide. And we LIKED it! :lol:

Nubo said:

SierraQ said:

...Today if a child trips in the hallway it makes prime time and launches a congressional inquiry into school carpet quality...

Click to expand...

They have carpet!?

Back in my day, we didn't have fancy carpeted floors in school. The floors were paved with gravel. And it wasn't that fancy smooth gravel either. It was the sharp volcanic kind. And we didn't have shoes so we had to walk on it barefoot. Our feet had calluses like alligator hide. And we LIKED it! :lol:

Click to expand...

[/hick voice]
Yeh! They have that Obama carpet, and it cost taxpayers $5billion. Obama forced the schools to buy that carpet... and its flammable! It caught on fire after a teacher left a space-heater on for 3 days, just goes to show how dangerous that carpet really is. Screw those carpet goers!
[/hick voice]

:roll:

Give "Bowling for Columbine" a watch - but focus on the differences between US and Canadian news (what qualifies as news and how it's reported), and the fear level of the respective populations.

The best six month experiment I ever conducted on myself was the six months with no TV and no radio news. I can't recommend that life changing exercise enough.