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Showerthoughts_Mod t1_j6hizxt wrote

This is a friendly reminder to read our rules.

Remember, /r/Showerthoughts is for showerthoughts, not "thoughts had in the shower!"

(For an explanation of what a "showerthought" is, please read this page.)

Rule-breaking posts may result in bans.

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ElectricMooseMeat t1_j6hj5kv wrote

Or worse, make you anxious and depressed via vicarious trauma endlessly having bad news and fear pumped into your mind about things you cant control or do anything about.

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Ragged_Town_ t1_j6hj6b7 wrote

Well, that's one way to look at it! But if you want to stay informed and be part of the conversation, then maybe you should try Rytr. Our AI-driven news stories provide solutions and insights to the problem reported - plus, it's a much more pleasant experience than just getting angry all the time. It's like having your own personal news reporter who is always there for you!

−3

mariogolf t1_j6hkbtu wrote

I watch the news. I dont expect them to offer solutions, why would you?

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greenvillain t1_j6hmnz4 wrote

It's the new business model for journalism. If you don't pay for news with a subscription, the only way they can survive is by relying on advertisers, and advertisers just want to see high click rates.

If you don't pay for news, you have no one to blame but yourself.

−3

idontrespectyou345 t1_j6hn2tl wrote

Not sure what you're on about, the news is pretty big business. Lots of people watch it.

...and they do provide solutions. Thats usually the problem people complain about, because that's both opinion and inherently politically biased being that anything worth reporting on is a complex issue without easy solutions.

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Jampine t1_j6hpout wrote

Replying to greenvillain (#1,609,774)

Lot of people are barely scraping by, so not many are willing to shell out for a subscription to tell them shit is indeed, fucked.

Remind me of the comic with the newsboy selling "How to avoid the alt right pipeline", for a $10 a month. When asked if there's anything they can read that doesn't require a subscription, he directs them to another newsboy giving away free copies of "How to join the alt right pipeline".

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Sombient t1_j6hs3qz wrote

Why do you expect the mass media to provide solutions to the issues they are reporting on? Their job is to report.

Unfortunately you probably need to rely on your elected representatives to solve problems in your area so your mileage may vary on that.

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shadowlarx t1_j6hshgl wrote

In the infancy of mass communications, the Columbus and Magellan of broadcast journalism, William Paley and David Sarnoff, went down to Washington to cut a deal with Congress. Congress would allow the fledgling networks free use of taxpayer-owned airwaves in exchange for one public service. That public service would be one hour of air time set aside every night for informational broadcasting, or what we now call the evening news. Congress, unable to anticipate the enormous capacity television would have to deliver consumers to advertisers, failed to include in its deal the one requirement that would have changed our national discourse immeasurably for the better. Congress forgot to add that under no circumstances could there be paid advertising during informational broadcasting. They forgot to say that taxpayers will give you the airwaves for free and for 23 hours a day you should make a profit, but for one hour a night you work for us. And now those network newscasts, anchored through history by honest-to-God newsmen with names like Murrow and Reasoner and Huntley and Brinkley and Buckley and Cronkite and Rather and Russert-- Now they have to compete with the likes of me. A cable anchor who's in the exact same business as the producers of Jersey Shore.

-Will McAvoy (Jeff Daniels); The Newsroom, Season 1 Episode 3 “The 112th Congress”

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berniman t1_j6huc39 wrote

Replying to Ragged_Town_ (#1,609,116)

Informed of only what they want you to know. It’s an infinite sales pitch picked by a board. And that includes both sides.

Tell me one good, non controversial story they lead with…

Want to be informed in the US? You can watch C-Span and form your own opinion.

If not, I recommend not to watch for a week, and see how your daily live improves.

−1

paulin_da_boca t1_j6hxesg wrote

i don't know what world you live in where the news ever had the job of providing solution to problems

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Catdaddy74 t1_j6hxxbl wrote

I never watch, read nor listen to news anymore. Everything is going to happen whether I know about it or not and knowing about the horrors doesn’t do anything but upset me. Personally, ignorance is bliss.

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superkuper t1_j6hyil1 wrote

I don’t want to get “solutions” from the news.

I don’t read traditional news media BECAUSE they offer their opinions on the solutions.

What I want them to do is objectively and apolitically report the facts.

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Sentsuizan t1_j6hyjet wrote

No, I don't think it's about them not providing solutions. It's more that news is not fair and unbiased anymore.

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MiseryLovesShotguns t1_j6i011r wrote

I agree with the second part but I know plenty of mindless people who still watch that shit

0

WhenImposterIsSus42 t1_j6i0ewm wrote

Nobody expects news to give you solutions? They're made so you would find out about important information

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salesmunn t1_j6i0z8u wrote

The problem is you watch the news for solutions. Its supposed to provide you with what has happened and you're supposed to be able to form your own solutions.

It doesn't even do that, which is why no one is paying attention.

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SpamMyDuck t1_j6i2erm wrote

>because they never provide any solutions to the problem

OP needs to scrub more and think less while in the shower.

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Lord-of-Leviathans t1_j6i3a00 wrote

News isn’t supposed to provide solutions. It’s supposed to provide information as unbiased as possible

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PeterNippelstein t1_j6i3foa wrote

Idk ever since Russia invaded I've been watching it every day. Something like that I feel obligated to stay informed.

0

sammo21 t1_j6i46zq wrote

What? lol...

because they never provide any solutions to the problem reported"

This was never the purpose of the news and the news never did this. The problem with the news now is people use it as a form of entertainment and not as...you know...the news. They want to find things to get angry about. They want to see what their chosen echo chamber has for them at that moment.

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EquoChamber t1_j6i4szv wrote

Replying to Catdaddy74 (#1,612,309)

I always wondered how uninformed apolitical people justify their apathy and ignorance. Must be nice for life to be going so smoothly that the outside world is of such little importance.

1

psuedonymously t1_j6i727k wrote

Yes, what happened to the old days when the news media would provide solutions to wars and natural disasters?

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marsumane t1_j6i79lh wrote

I dont believe they need to provide solutions. I believe that they need to be funded without specific interest groups manipulating the message

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conquer4 t1_j6i7u49 wrote

Replying to shadowlarx (#1,611,087)

Except, airwaves are pretty much dead as a delivery format. And the writing was clearly on the wall back then (its one of the reasons they got rid of analog broadcasting years before that). It's through cable, and internet/cell, which is privately owned and invalidated the complete reasoning behind his argument.

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raff7 t1_j6i9ry9 wrote

Who the hell expects news to provide solutions? They are just there to inform you… it’s just not their job to think of a solution

Terrible shower thought, 2/10

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zombienekers t1_j6ia2ub wrote

I only watch NOS, which is the national Dutch broadcasting service. They're as unbiased and impartial as you could hope for.

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Flowofinfo t1_j6iar2i wrote

This is incorrect for so many different reasons. Either this person is trolling or ferociously stupid

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cantbelieveit1963 t1_j6ibnhs wrote

In the days of Cronkite, the news reporters would report the news without comment.

Commentaries were clearly labeled.

Today, the commentary is mixed in with the news.

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masterchain99 t1_j6iefqp wrote

I'm glad a subject about the news got brought up.

I'm in the hospital because my dad has a blood clot in his leg. I went out to the waiting area and they have fox news on it. It's not even news...

It's just cherry picking what democrats are doing and how democrats are bad. Democrats this democrats that.

Shit was very annoying and didn't feel like I was getting any actual useful information

I've heard how bad fox news is but fuck seeing it in person is like a mindfuck because there's people that actually follow that shit religiously.

1

notorious98 t1_j6iezsd wrote

The news isn't there to present solutions. That's what our Congress is supposed to be doing.

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TannerJ703 t1_j6if32j wrote

They also prioritize being the first one to get a story out rather than waiting for it to develop and show the whole story

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Martyr-Saint t1_j6iisga wrote

Replying to Lord-of-Leviathans (#1,613,546)

Ok but erm what if suppose the truth said that eating [non descript food item] was undeniably bad for you but then the [non descript food item] company gave me several million dollars….

Surely it’s ok to lie then right?

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Salarian_American t1_j6ijxtv wrote

I don't think the purpose of the news was ever to provide solutions.

The point of the news was to tell you what's happening.

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Hawkstar5088 t1_j6ik358 wrote

Replying to Martyr-Saint (#1,617,019)

Not really how that works. Media is only sustained by public opinion, and that public opinion wants news to seem unbiased at all costs, which leads to "both-sides-journalism", where [non descript food item] is reported to potentially be harmful, but the defense from from the company is aired just as much in an attempt to seem unbiased. It's like the old ipod shuffle problem, it becomes more biased in an attempt to seem unbiased

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JRsFancy t1_j6ins6m wrote

I stopped watching all news on CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, MSNBC, and Fox about 3-4 years ago. Life is better without it.

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Kedosto t1_j6ipbwk wrote

Media companies aren’t responsible for providing solutions. We, the people, are responsible for providing solutions to our problems by way of our elected officials.

1

SoontobeSam t1_j6irou0 wrote

Replying to superkuper (#1,612,457)

News doesn't offer solutions, opinions, takes, or sides, it offers facts, events, and background and puts it to the viewer to form their own solutions, opinions, takes and sides.

The vast majority of "News" today is entertainment with a side of current events and fear mongering.

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Vesania6 t1_j6itvs0 wrote

I don't watch the news anymore because they are all biased as hell by whoever gives them money and they are feeding people with fear all the time. If a bad news didn't happen locally they go around the world to find something.

1

EasternShade t1_j6iva01 wrote

News should not propose solutions. News is meant to inform. Something happened? The news tells you what happened, and maybe some context of why it matters.

Solutions should come from community leaders, ballot initiatives, elected officials, proposed legislation, et al. Some rando is trying to do, or succeeded in doing, something to solve a problem? That's what you hear about on the news, and maybe some context on strengths, criticisms, and people's responses.

The clickbait and for profit shit is a problem with the news. The lack of solutions is something to criticize politicians, lobbyists, industry leaders, and others for.

1

BellyScratchFTW t1_j6ivdju wrote

You say "no one watches the news anymore" and I assume you're talking about news on a television. Then you say "clicks and likes" and I'm just confused.

Having said that, to my knowledge, "the news" was never in the business of providing solutions. A reporter reports. A journalist writes. An anchor anchors. They are not supposed to be activists, though some modern ones lean that direction.

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TheInvisibleWun t1_j6ixc7j wrote

When did the news provide solutions? 55 y o. and never seen that.

1

digitdaemon t1_j6ixpp6 wrote

Replying to SoontobeSam (#1,619,012)

I am okay with a little bit of speculation based on how similar previous events played out, or how a population might react based on culture/political leaning. But they need to stay away from how they want things to play out.

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illcrx t1_j6iy1af wrote

How does this get through in shower thoughts? They gatekeep the crap out of me and this is clearly an opinion

1

lj062 t1_j6iyv3z wrote

I watch the news daily. Not all the political shit but news none the less. It's all about watching the right content. My mom has a habit of trying to tell me every horrible thing she sees on the news and I've had to tell her on multiple occasions I don't want to hear it cause it's depressing as hell and I purposely avoid that content.

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Isteppedinpoopy t1_j6izgg5 wrote

That was never the job of the news. The problem is the so called news orgs that DO present a solution. That’s propaganda.

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natus92 t1_j6izv5y wrote

I watch the news everyday, I'm also not american so there really are no likes and clicks involved

1

DizzyAmphibian309 t1_j6j4wbs wrote

Replying to Lord-of-Leviathans (#1,613,546)

News that provides solutions is basically Tucker Carlson's show. The news is mostly fabricated and the solutions presented are propaganda with the sole intention of deceiving and brainwashing their viewers.

News shows, or ones claiming to be news, shouldn't be allowed to express any opinions at all, let alone present solutions. The fact that they're allowed to is one of the reasons why the US is so divided.

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myalt08831 t1_j6j4x28 wrote

TV News is pretty crap.

Written news has more time to talk about the relevant actors, who's pushing what, and maybe who's working on the problem or who's advocating which action to address the problem.

1

Hawkstar5088 t1_j6j4zji wrote

Replying to ShaderzXC (#1,620,122)

The shuffle problem: the original shuffle was truly random, it played songs in no order whatsoever. But because people find patterns in everything, people complained that it "wasn't random enough", songs from the same album played back to back, genres clumped together, things that happen when random happens again and again, but people thought it was because of patterns. So Apple replaced Shuffle with an algorithm that made it seem "more" random, even though it eliminated all randomness

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miss-matron t1_j6j6zor wrote

It's the NEWS. Not SOLUTIONS. The news these days provides way too many opinions anyway and should provide fewer.

1

SgathTriallair t1_j6j77vo wrote

Replying to superkuper (#1,612,457)

Everything is politics. When something seems "apolitical" it just means that it's biases conform to your own. Even the choice of what objective facts to present and which to not present is a political question. By political I don't mean "Republican or Democrat" but rather anything that deals with human society is political. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with lettuce and tomato in the middle isn't objectively wrong, it just feels weird because all of us have agreed that this isn't how we build those sandwiches.

The problem happens when you see news that presents facts that challenge your biases, such as pro or anti-cop stories. Both of those things happened but only one of them feels political and the other is just news we need to know.

A better option is to look at multiple sources, focus on places that have a reputation for presenting actual facts and not made up ones, and always think about why they are saying the things they are saying.

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GagOnMacaque t1_j6j7tnq wrote

No one watches necause it's centralized bias and fake. Even the financial news is pushing stocks. Forget about memestock analysts are secretly buying pumpanddumpstock.

1

thekyledavid t1_j6j7zte wrote

Did the news ever provide solutions to our problem?

If a problem was so easy that some person with no expertise in the field could solve it on the same day that it becomes a problem, then I’d say that problem is too insignificant to make the news

Real news I supposed to just give you the facts on an issue and let people decide how they want to deal with it. The only news stations who think they “provide solutions” are most likely stations like Fox News that try to shove their opinions down everyone’s throats

1

superkuper t1_j6j8b3c wrote

Replying to SgathTriallair (#1,622,641)

I agree that is how things are, but the mandate of journalists is to be unbiased and apolitical regardless of whether or not they live up to that standard in reality.

Also I don’t fully agree with your premise. There is objective truth, there is moral good, and the truth does not always lie “somewhere in the middle”. The person who makes a peanut butter lettuce and tomato sandwich is objectively wrong.

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chloe1919 t1_j6j9ooq wrote

Do you actually know what news is? It’s not supposed to provide solutions dip shit

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Phuktihsshite t1_j6jajkw wrote

No one watches the news anymore because "the news" no longer just presents the facts. Almost all news programs are just editorialized now.

1

text_fish t1_j6jdl8f wrote

Uh, the news has never been about "finding solutions", nor should it be.

1

Thadigan t1_j6jh15o wrote

People spend more time watching the news now than at any point since the invention of the television.

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SgathTriallair t1_j6jhpkz wrote

Replying to superkuper (#1,622,928)

There are objective truths but it is impossible to know our present them all. When only some information is presented it creates a narrative. We try to make our narratives as course to the truth as possible but the limitations of our physiology makes this impossible to fully achieve.

Objective moral good is a slippery one. One needs to first define good before one can determine what actions and habits lead to that. I support human flourishing but others argue for obedience to god or maximizing non-interference. You can't have an objective conversation until you agree on what The Good consists of.

1

superkuper t1_j6ji562 wrote

Replying to SgathTriallair (#1,625,109)

I’m not disagreeing with that. That’s really the crux of all politics.

The important takeaway is that whoever puts lettuce and tomato together with peanut butter and jelly should be flogged in the streets.

2

Known-Skin3639 t1_j6joqzl wrote

The news can suck it. Never brings good to the screen. Always bad shit. I remember when the news used to report on fun things. Now it’s all depressing.

0

tarheel343 t1_j6joux5 wrote

Replying to Sentsuizan (#1,612,461)

That’s because nobody wants to watch fair and unbiased news, as much as they claim to want it.

PBS Newshour is pretty good. For print media, Reuters and AP are pretty good.

The thing is, all of those news sources are boring. They’re boring because the news is often boring. That’s how it should be. But people would rather watch the thing that makes them angry than watch the thing that makes them bored.

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Saeryf t1_j6jpefc wrote

TIL People think reporting on news should include making solutions.

1

Valuable-Energy5435 t1_j6js5no wrote

News is reporting what happened/is happening. It's not a problem solving show.

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spb1 t1_j6k05fx wrote

No, no-one watches the news any more because they get all their news from social media.

No need to sit down and watch the 9 o'clock news any more - no need even to look at a news website

1

The_Fake_King t1_j6k1bdr wrote

Most of it is like 1/4 truth anyway and 3/4 biased propaganda.

1

Aetheldrake t1_j6k78kd wrote

What's funnier. It's called news but the actual news on television is only ever old news because almost everything that's live is scripted or like 10000% family safe nowadays and anything worth watching isn't allowed live.

1

Evil_Creamsicle t1_j6kbfey wrote

It was never the job of the news to offer solutions. But what they are supposed to do that they don't do anymore is offer truly unbiased facts, and leave the people to form their own opinions.

1

Stunning_Regret6123 t1_j6kdlm9 wrote

Doomscrolling for profit, yo! I think you’re observing something real and figuring it out. But I agree: modern news “outlets” view us as the product they market to corporations, and are one of our biggest problems. Readership isn’t an analog for solid investigation and reporting anymore.

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Djayshell93 t1_j6kjfpu wrote

Aren't you talking about 99.99999999% of the internet? Bitching about shit with no solutions, or even an attempt at finding common ground in comment sections

1

SpoomMcKay t1_j6kklmw wrote

i think OP has watched so little news he doesn’t even know what it is

1

Latter-Possibility t1_j6kyd2w wrote

The actual News take about an hour or so to report everyday. All the shows around that are editorial shows that tell you exactly what the solutions could be depending on your preferential tie color.

1