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  #1  
08-24-2010, 11:56 PM
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kpmedia kpmedia is offline
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Today I received this gem in email, and feel compelled to share it, as well as respond here in the forum. It reminds me of the sad state of information for which our society currently exists, where "popularity" is a measure of something, and science and fact is so easily overlooked. And of course, that's how we end up with so many myths being perpetuated online -- something this forum (and much of the site) was created to fight off.

Quote:
Constructive criticism:
Your boogey man comment was clever, but may I suggest that it might serve you well if you leave out the political references when answering a technical question! Your passing comment about Fox news made me question your open mindedness and thus the validity of the rest of your comments. More people watch Fox than the other cable networks combined, including people like me who do not walk in lock step with either party. I would guess that you made your opinion from the filters of MSNBC rather than watching yourself. What purpose does it serve you to degrade so many potential readers who are not interested in your political opinion but have technical questions such as whether to keep their video tapes after backing them up to DVD? /69.242.147.124
It's a reference to this page: http://www.digitalFAQ.com/guides/media/longevity.htm
and this specific quote:

Quote:
About four years ago, several fluff articles about "dying media" were published online and sometimes even repeated in print. Those articles were little more than opinion pieces that lacked perspective on the overall technology of optical media, as well as ignored decades of empirical evidence. None of them (as seen by this author) are backed by formal studies from neutral sources. A lot of them read like scare-tactic Fox News broadcasts, or bedtime stories about the boogeyman.
Now let me pick apart this email and reveal it for what it is...

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boogey man comment was clever
Yes, thank you. When it comes to information, words are our most powerful tools.

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political references
Huh? Political references?
The fact that Fox News has a crappy "scare tactics" reporting style is related to politics how, exactly?

I have no admiration or respect for a so-called "news" outlet that acts more like the marketing wing of its own corporate body than the field I chose to get into 15 years ago. They seek ratings and monetary gain, and the dissemination of news (if you can even call it that) takes a backseat to those ulterior motives. That goes not just for the cable version, but all the local market Fox outlets, too. Yes, those are all "Fox News" by their own branding. In Dallas, it's "Fox 4 News". In Nashville, it's "Your Local Fox News".

Many of their stories are questions. For example, "Do you wear contacts? Learn what common mistakes almost made this woman go blind! Learn what you should know at 10." That's an actual story that ran in the Nashville market a few months ago.

I wear contacts. Oh my God, could I be doing something that might make me go blind? I was expecting them to say something about sleeping in contacts, using a solution that might not be good for your eyes, etc.

As it turns out, the woman was doing anything but common. To put it bluntly, she was a total idiot.
- She bought contacts without a prescription, to change her eye color.
- She bought them from some shady "convenience store" in the bad part of town.
- The box has no writing, and was obviously some sort of fake.
- She "cleaned" them in water instead of solution.
- She knew nothing of contacts, have read no documentation and having consulted with no doctor.

Just how was that a "common" mistake? It wasn't. And it reminded me why I need to never watch Fox News. I want a refund on my time.

They do the same things with politics, yes. The "death panels" baloney, for example. What a croc. But still, that was just terrible reporting at its core, not politics. Had anybody actually read the legislation, they would have seen no such "death panel" was ever mentioned directly, or via euphemism.

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More people watch Fox than the other cable networks combined
I don't care. Popularity is not an indicator of quality, simply one of marketing and demographic habits. Those numbers can be fudged too -- all statistics can be, in the right (wrong?!) hands.

When it comes to local markets, I would suggest this is not true in many areas -- CBS, ABC, and NBC affiliates can and do draw more watchers. Some markets don't even have Fox affiliates.

And I'm not sure other cable news networks are much better. It's like comparing a dog turd to a cat turds -- both are turds.

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people like me who do not walk in lock step with either party
Given this comment, and your zeal to chastise me for insulting Fox News, as well as insist it's politically motivated, I would suggest you're either lying or a closet conservative/Republican. And I can't stand people who are so blinded by their own politics (or religion, for that matter) that it seems to cloud their judgments. To them, everything is about politics or religion. You tried to turn a blank DVD help guide into some sort of nefarious anti-conservative rhetoric when no such intention existed. You simply read that into it because you choose to see politics. That's all on you.

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potential readers who are not interested in your political opinion
And again, there was no political opinion. It was an opinion about the quality of a news provider. Or rather, the complete and total lack thereof.

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degrade so many potential readers
In all the years that this guide has been on this site, you're the only person that's complained. Probably because you're the only person who decided to inject political references where none actually exist.

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but have technical questions such as whether to keep their video tapes after backing them up to DVD
And you're still very welcome to post those questions here.

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Last edited by kpmedia; 08-25-2010 at 12:16 AM.
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  #2  
10-12-2010, 12:22 PM
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Oh goody! More fan mail from another blind follower of Fox News:

Quote:
Started reading your article on the longevity of dvds/vhs/media, etc. updated on April 2008. And almost right away you take a cheap shot at Fox News. Well, guess what? At that point your article looses all credibility and is worthless. I will let people know how bad your service is. It must just kill you that Fox News dominates the cable news. Too bad for you as their ratings show, the MAJORITY of Americans like Fox News. Deal with it and keep your snide remarks off of your articles. You will not get any business from me and I will make sure other people also know about this. I will go somewhere else for video conversion! /72.18.125.186
Now let me pick apart this email and reveal it for what it is...

Quote:
At that point your article looses all credibility and is worthless.
This is a typical world view of Fox News zealots. Anything that points out flaws with Fox, or disagrees with Fox, is suddenly "worthless". While I'd prefer to keep this politics-free, it's hard to do, because extremist zealotry is a hallmark of far right-wing conservatism. It's the old "with us or against us" routine, which is often further distorted by conspiracy theory when you've decided somebody is "against" you.

Quote:
It must just kill you that Fox News dominates the cable news
As will be explained further down the page, Fox isn't "killing" anything. You've sadly been sucked into more of their propaganda. Beyond that, most cable "news" is an orgy of non-news content, with heavily biased commentary and opinionated drivel. And that extends to everybody, not just Fox.

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the MAJORITY of Americans like Fox News
No, they do not. While Fox may have "high ratings" right now, that's because it's really the only ultra-conservative "news" (propaganda) source on video broadcast (cable, satellite, aerial TV). Remember that the country is currently fractured into an approximate 60/40 split, with 60 being centrist or liberal, and the 40 being conservative. When 40% of the population has only one network, and the other 60% has a half dozen or more choices, it's only logical that the ratings break down as they do.

Compared to all other available networks (CNN, NBC, ABC, CBS, BBC, PBS, etc etc), Fox is just a minority of the overall consumption of news (or rather, part of the cable network infotainment industry). CNN, MSNBC, et al, may have lower ratings, but their combined viewership still exceeds Fox. Even if you want to argue that MSNBC is left-wing propaganda and should be excluded (and sometimes I'm inclined to allow for that, as I don't like propaganda of any kind), the pie chart changes very little -- Fox is still one of many, and not a majority in any way.

Beyond that, the very nature of ratings gathering is irrationally inaccurate. I don't even have time to go into that can of worms. The sample sizes that are used to calculate ratings these days are so unscientific that they are almost a joke. Yes, sadly, it's still how many decisions on canceling shows or ad prices are set.

You can read more about that here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nielsen...atings_systems

Those who actually work in media are well aware of this mess, and is why the whole "highest rated, most watched" rhetoric being espoused by Fox is nothing more than more of their own half-truth propaganda. The online equivalent is Alexa, which is biased and insufficiently small in its own ways, although it is at least many times larger than the Neilsen system.

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I will let people know how bad your service is.
So even though you've never used our service, or seem to have any other valid and germane evidence against it, you somehow find yourself qualified to judge it to be bad? It sounds like you want to engage in propaganda, too. FUD type propaganda, to be specific.

Quote:
You will not get any business from me and I will make sure other people also know about this. I will go somewhere else for video conversion!
Given the entry source to this site was an article about media longevity, the likelihood that you came here looking for media services is nil. Beyond that, zealots tend to make for terrible customers anyway, often being rude, cheap and impatient. We've not missed out on anything.

Quote:
Deal with it and keep your snide remarks off of your articles.
You're not the editor, so this isn't your decision to make. And there was nothing "snide" about the comment made in the article.


Again...
... the original phrase in the longevity article was a statement to the scare tactics implemented by Fox News, and those boogeyman articles about CDs/DVDs "dying" (one of which was written just a week ago). Popularity, especially when ascertained/counted by problematic means, is not a condition that matters -- it's still just a bunch of scare tactics. Tactics that we find to be highly unethical, as well as a disservice to the public. That's not the pillar of journalism. At least it's not supposed to be.

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  #3  
10-15-2010, 01:16 AM
Winsordawson Winsordawson is offline
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I have enjoyed your dissections. Hopefully there are more to come.
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The following users thank Winsordawson for this useful post: kpmedia (10-16-2010)
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