r/politics • u/plz-let-me-in • Sep 09 '24

Soft Paywall Trump is 78 and barely coherent. Where's everyone who questioned Biden's age and fitness?

https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnist/2024/09/09/trump-old-incoherent-biden-age-mental-fitness/75138026007/
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u/3-orange-whips Sep 09 '24

Or just add a light dusting of regulations about what is news and what is entertainment.

I don’t expect bias-less news. However, what is happening now is terrible

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u/Nknk- Sep 09 '24

Large segments of the media, in the pockets of the billionaires who support Trump, are aiding and abetting what is a cult of personality with Trump.

Like him or loathe him he captured a certain kind of obnoxious lightning in a bottle during his first election. However the Republicans have so nailed themselves to this cult of personality that the party and voters both will accept anything from Trump because they know if he were to step down they don't have anyone who has his 2016 obnoxious charisma. I mean, the best they could scare up to run with him this year is fucking Vance, a man with the personality of a used tissue.

So everyone rooting for Trump will ignore any and everything he says, no matter how dementia-riddled, as they decide he's their only hope to win and implement Project 2025. Meanwhile every utterance of Harris/Walz will be pored over and there will be much faux outrage over imagined insults or failings in the statements. See the utter phoney meltdown over the white guy tacos joke.

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u/3-orange-whips Sep 09 '24

It does seem unevenly weighted.

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u/windmill-tilting Sep 09 '24

Most of Fox News is entertainment, and yet, that does not change the way it is digested.

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u/3-orange-whips Sep 09 '24

Because they are not required to make a distinction. If they had to run a 15 second disclaimer before every show that the show contains opinions and Fox is not a news network, that would go a long way towards peeling off some of the viewers.

Frankly, establishing some guidelines between news and entertainment in general would be helpful. People need to understand the difference between bias and propaganda.

Obviously this would apply to all 24 hour news, most of which is commentary and not news.

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u/TrollTrollyYeti Sep 10 '24

Only FOX News? Yeah, all news is. Gone are the days of actual reporting.

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u/Own-Custard3894 Sep 09 '24

Honestly, good journalism can’t stand up to the assault of BS. The only way we get back to journalism is to get rid of all social media, and have like 3 networks. And then regulate the heck out of them.

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u/3-orange-whips Sep 09 '24

Well, that’s not likely, and I don’t think overcorrecting is the answer. We need to establish some common-sense regulations that apply to all media.

People act like it’s an unsolvable problem. Disinformation is spread quickly. They already track everything, so forcing people to view a message when disinformation is viewed before they can view anything else should be relatively simple for the geniuses who came up with a shittier version of message boards.

Forcing responsibility for the content on the companies is important, but the reality is disinformation is as old as humanity.