#14730
01/08/2001 1:43 AM
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Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409 |
Sagely, Solamete Doug pointed out Oh, and by the way, Max, wouldn't that be an achromatic designation? Oddly enough, I thought of that when at the stage of previewing that post. Then I thought "What say they? Let them say!" Or, more honestly, I just couldn't be bothered clicking the "Back" button simply to add an "a." At least this light-hearted exchange is helping both of us rack up the posts - a true symbiosis, nicht wahr? 
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#14731
01/08/2001 1:46 AM
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 130
member
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member
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 130 |
Said the aphid to the ant, "Nicht huh?"
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#14732
01/08/2001 2:04 AM
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Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409 |
CK - the graffiti in question, which apparently sprouted all over London, said simply, "Clapton is God."
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#14733
01/08/2001 2:40 AM
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,146
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,146 |
Clapton is God Must have happened while I wasn't looking. Anyway, it's a tautology, isn't it? 
The idiot also known as Capfka ...
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#14734
01/08/2001 2:48 AM
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
Said the aphid to the ant
You-all are starting to bug me.
Re: Fr. Steve's boss: I rec'd a book for Christmas, the title of which is, "Cat Spelled Backwards Does Not Spell
God". Completely plot-free, it is an utterly charming book of dogs.
Just thought I'd throw in a paws for thought.
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#14735
01/08/2001 3:25 AM
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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,788
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,788 |
Did you hear about the dyslexic agnostic insomniac who tossed and turned all night wondering if there was a dog?
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#14736
01/08/2001 5:51 AM
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,146
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,146 |
And you'll all remember the Larson cartoon which had a flea wandering through a fur forest holding up a sign saying "The End of the Dog is Nigh"!
The idiot also known as Capfka ...
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#14737
03/05/2001 5:00 PM
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 1,289
veteran
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veteran
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 1,289 |
When I started this thread, I promised (or maybe threatened) to invigilate the airwaves for outrageous usages. Here's a new take on a different problem.
[rant]
I have long been trying to keep myself from screaming when I hear the clearly tautologous expression "revert back", which is, unfortunately, rather common. This morning, listening to the news on National Public Radio, as is my wont, the Washington Post stringer, reporting from Bali, used the expression "return back." Ye Gods! When will people whose profession consists of using the English language learn that you're stepping into linguistic quicksand whenever you combine "re-" and "back"!.
[/rant]
Have you others out there noticed any perverse usages by professional communicators which deserve to be exposed and held up to the ridicule and/or castigation they deserve?
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#14738
03/05/2001 5:57 PM
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Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 116
member
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member
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 116 |
In reply to:
Peter Jennings is my favourite for repeatedly explaining the obvious.
Hey, you leave my Petey outta this! Remember, he's A Canuck, so he has to say things repeatedly so that his Southern neighbours can get it! (much like I'll get it for that crack).
And here it is - Though I'm originally from the Lower 48 (and even the Southern part of that), I never did NOT understand Mr. Jenning's English... what I don't understand is his total lack of knowledge on so very many issues and his complete one-sidedness on certain matters... most notably, the situation in this tiny little country in which I live! Of course, I suppose his bias could have something to do with a certain 'woman' with whom he was known to have dinner and otherwise... I suppose I'm still naive but I always thought that a 'news reader' was supposed to be neutral and just READ the news!
Shoshannah
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#14739
03/05/2001 6:04 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
How many TV anchors write all their own stuff?
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#14740
03/05/2001 6:06 PM
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Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 116
member
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member
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 116 |
In reply to:
When will people whose profession consists of using the English language learn that you're stepping into linguistic quicksand whenever you combine "re-" and "back"!
I'd say that was deja vu all over again... wouldn't you?
Shoshannah
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#14741
03/05/2001 6:11 PM
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Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 116
member
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member
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 116 |
In reply to:
How many TV anchors write all their own stuff?
Hi Bill - but it's not WHAT they say as much as HOW they say it (facial expressions, tone of voice and such) - and how it's edited - so if the 'anchor' (Peter, Dan, and ... who IS on NBC these days?) is also the chief editor (as is usually true on the network shows), then, in fact, they DO 'write' or at least rewrite and make it their own!
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#14742
03/05/2001 6:33 PM
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 1,289
veteran
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veteran
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 1,289 |
news anchors
Personally, I find Jennings to be the best of the lot and probably the most knowledgable. As to the others, I doubt that they know much of anything. What they do is read what is put in front of them, and it's a performance more than anything else. Still, I expect them to use correct English even if their writers don't know what is correct.
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#14743
03/05/2001 7:15 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,773
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,773 |
Common in judicial opinions, and resistant to efforts to stamp it out, is the phrase "remand back." Argh.
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#14744
03/05/2001 7:18 PM
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Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 116
member
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member
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 116 |
In reply to:
news anchors
Personally, I find Jennings to be the best of the lot and probably the most knowledgable. As to the others, I doubt thatthey know much of anything. What they do is read what is put in front of them, and it's a performance more than anything else. Still, I expect them to use correct English even if their writers don't know what is correct.
I, on the other hand, am less concerned about their use of the English language as I am about the CONTENT of their reports. MOST, if not ALL of Mr. Jennings reports concerning Israel are either totally misinformed or are outright LIES! (see my comment in a previous post in this thread concerning his 'friend' with whom he has had a well-known ongoing relationship...)
There is simply no question of the media bias AGAINST Israel in favor of the 'palestinians'... the only real concern, then, is how many people actually believe them, and I'm afraid that way too many people in this superficial world run by a totally biased media do! 
As I live in Jerusalem, Israel, I happen to know what is really happening here! Unfortunately, not enough people care what I have to say as I look out my living room window or walk down the street or ride the city or intra-city buses (you know, the ones the Arabs like to blow up occasionally?) or go to Mahane Yehuda (the open air market) to shop (remember - they like to target that area as well) or have to don a bulletproof vest for the 10-minute ride in a car just to visit friends!
For a closer look at the situation vis-a-vis 'journalists' (so-called, usually by themselves) and what they report from here, take a look at this piece from today's WorldNetDaily web site: http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=21936
And if you are REALLY interested in the TRUTH of the situation, not in what your friend Peter Jennings has to say, drop me a note at wonderworks@iname.com and I'll add you to my distribution list - you'll get some very interesting reading material from time to time!
Shoshannah
Can you tell that this topic makes me HOT ????
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#14745
03/05/2001 10:37 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 328
enthusiast
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enthusiast
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 328 |
This isn't from a professional news person, but it still makes me want to tear my hair out. (Figuratively speaking, of course.) There's a commercial on a local radio station which advertises a treatment "guaranteed to regrow new hair!" Argh!
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#14746
03/05/2001 11:55 PM
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Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 116
member
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member
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 116 |
In reply to:
This isn't from a professional news person, but it still makes me want to tear my hair out. (Figuratively speaking, of course.) There's a commercial on a local radio station which advertises a treatment "guaranteed to regrow new hair!" Argh!
Okay, here we go, stating the obvious, thou one of the long golden mane (only guessing, of course, from your board name), please do NOT tear it out, for then you may have to resort to said treatment and when it does decide to REGROW (speaking from some minor experience...), it just might do so in a NEW and totally different colour! Argh right back at ya!
Shoshannah
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#14747
03/06/2001 10:46 AM
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981 |
One of my hopes for the future of the Internet is that we will all be able read news from other countries in "their own write" without the intrusive comments of TV anchor-units, regardless of the quality of their English.
[rant][Actually on my last trip to the USA (and the UK is not much better), I saw very little news reporting from the rest of the world. All that they seemed to want to show was footage of people with rulers measuring inches of snow in lots of different places (I now know how to make a snow angel!). I'd never known that weather reporting could go ...on and on and on ... for sooooo long.]
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#14748
03/06/2001 12:08 PM
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Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 116
member
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member
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 116 |
In reply to:
One of my hopes for the future of the Internet is that we will all be able read news from other countries in "their own write" without the intrusive comments of TV anchor-units, regardless of the quality of their English.
Jo - actually, you can basically do that NOW - I frequent the Jordan Times (daily English language newspaper at http://www.jordantimes.com) web site and others from the region to see what exactly they are saying (primarily about Israel, of course, but it's always interesting to get their 'spin' on the world at large).
Also - most TV stations and many radio as well - try going to http://www.jpostradio.com for instance - around the world seem to have their own sites - best way to find them is to simply do a search (I use http://www.Go2Net.com) on the country name - except once I typed in "Turkey" and I got pages and pages of URLs with recipes on how to roast the Thanksgiving bird with all the trimmings!) or just try typing in www.tv.gov.__(and the two-letter country code) or sometimes without the .gov part... I just experiment with potential addresses to see what pops up!
Have fun - oh, it would help if we (and our computers) actually could READ some of those other languages as many are now in their own  rather than in English, but the ones I gave links for above are all in English and sometimes the "English" they use is very interesting!
- I'll use this as my 'summer smile emoticon' since the sun is quite bright now and I need my shades!
Shoshannah
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#14749
03/06/2001 12:21 PM
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981 |
> Jo - actually, you can basically do that NOW
I agree, perhaps I should have said that more people will choose to do it.
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#14750
03/06/2001 1:17 PM
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,004
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,004 |
Shoshannah, you said: There is simply no question of the media bias AGAINST Israel in favor of the 'palestinians'... the only real concern, then, is how many people actually believe them, and I'm afraid that way too many people in this superficial world run by a totally biased media do!You also said that this topic made you hot. So if this becomes frightfully political we can probably move to private, or to another forum or board more conducive to a knock-down debate. I wonder, however, whether you considered your statement regarding media bias in light of your own phraseology - separating a capitalised Israel from the dubeity of single inverted commas accorded to the 'palestinians'. In times of conflict language, whose ability to convey unbiased meaning is fragile at the best of times, becomes completely subservient to the (conscious or otherwise) expression of prejudice by the parties concerned. At least, IMO. In the very next paragraph, for instance, you describe the inconveniences attendent upon your daily life as a result of the current conflict. Others, however, might wonder whether the activities you describe (shopping, visiting friends and c) are even available to Palestinians caught up in this conflict, let alone in the truncated forms that you experience them. From a simple 'analysis' of the language you use I can hardly tell one way or the other. So in my own way, I fall upon my own biases, and they were not all moulded by journalists. In fact the sources of my biases in this matter include: 1. Hani - a Palestinian student in Kashmir, whom I met in 1981 2. Innumerable 'plucky little Israel' thrillers, and Reader's Digest articles - Raid on Entebbe and so on. (circa 1975 - 1985) 3. A dawning understanding that (for whatever reason) India (the country in which I grew up) did not accord Israel diplomatic status 4. A smattering of reading concerning the history of the state of Israel 5. Knowledge that one of my mother's mentors, and most beloved friends, Flo Hyam, was planning to retire to Israel (circa 1986) ....and finally 6. The media - primarily the British print media - 1992 onwards. I think of myself as a pro-Semite anti-Zionist. I do not like the idea of a racially, or religiously-based 'homeland', and I don't care how many millennia old the traditions of that religion/culture/race are. I do not like the idea that the British government salved its conscience for the Holocaust by giving away land that it had no right to. I do not like the idea that the American government time and again provided arms and support to Israel when the state was younger and already demonstrating that it was quite happy to treat territory taken during war as legitimately belonging to it. I do not like the idea that muslim militants consider terrorism a legitimate political tactic. I do not like the idea that even today, in Israel, a large proportion of the population sees no reason why the country cannot continue just as is: asserting the divine right of Israelis to all the land in that area - to the exclusion of equal rights for those of different cultural/religious traditions. These are my biases. I admit them openly - I would not like the continuation of Israel as anything but a completely secular state, and if my feeble vote in the UK can make a difference in that direction I will use it for that purpose. I am, however, ahppy to be corrected in anything that I may have got wrong factually. For instance, is it incorrect that in the current conflict over 90% of the deaths have been of Palestinians? Is it incorrect that in a number of instances when unarmed Palestinian women and children have been killed it is by Israeli soldiers whose official expanation was that they were being attacked and fired in retaliation? Notice how I have used language to express not just my biases, but to attempt to sound open-minded, yet cynical of Israeli attempts at PR or political spin on this affair? Do you really think there is such a thing as a person with access to 'the truth' in such an affair, or that anybody who is thoughtful about language would be willing to believe anybody who might make such a claim? I think it's a tough one. cheer the sunshine warrior
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#14751
03/06/2001 1:21 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,156
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,156 |
The US media, contrary to popular belief, is pretty carefully, and subtly, controlled to show only an acceptable side of the story. It's great fun to watch and compare the Canadian news and the US news, and see what the US media leaves out. My brother and I were doing an experiment in this sense. We were watching (a few years ago) coverage of the US bombing of Afghanistan - I can't remember the reason any more. The US channels were all indignant about whatever had capitulated the bombing - some perceived or real threat against the US embassy there, I think. The kept playing various statements by the president, etc., on the need to maintain American sovreignty (in a foreign country???!) The Canadian channels carried much of the same, with some added interviews with Afghanistan officials saying that some of the bombs had hit schools or civilian targets or something like that. Now of course that may not be true - but the US channels didn't even bother to show that side of the story! They had to carefully construct the story so that it would seem necessary to bomb them, with no pity at all for the bomb-ees. So I agree with Shoshanna, it helps if you can get information from an outside source. I find the Canadian news is not really picking sides in the Israel-Palestine conflict, not in any obvious way. They're just painting the whole picture as really horrible and depressing, actually, both sides filled with some sort of hatred which they've forgotten the reason for, and lots of innocent people on both sides getting killed... 
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#14752
03/06/2001 1:43 PM
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981 |
> world conflict (taking sides)
I'm definitely not joining in this debate in this forum. I think that AWAD should be open to people of all opinions, some of which, I'm bound to disagree with.
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#14753
03/06/2001 3:22 PM
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Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 85
journeyman
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journeyman
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 85 |
I'd never known that weather reporting could go ...on and on and on ... for sooooo long.No kidding. I can't watch much of the local news for that reason. Out of one and a half hours of news in the evening, 45 minutes of it has to be weather, no exagerations. The rest is constantly repeated soundbites on local events. I can count on my hand the number of times they've indicated that there was another country besides the US. The national program isn't much better. I think the last time I heard news from home was when a former prime minister died a few months ago. You would think the all news channels would be better, but they really aren't. I'm all for recycling, but not endlessly in the news. So I get most of my news online, hard as it is to take some days. Still depressed and angry about the destruction of ancient statuary by the Taliban in Afghanistan. No more news for today... I'm off to clear more snow. Ali
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#14754
03/06/2001 4:25 PM
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Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 116
member
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member
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 116 |
In reply to:
I wonder, however, whether you considered your statement regarding media bias in light of your own phraseology - separating a capitalised Israel from the dubeity of single inverted commas accorded to the 'palestinians'.
Hi Sunshine - and thanks for taking the time to write such a long and thoughtful piece... we can start on the board like this and if anyone gets completely bent out of shape about it, we can go 'private' - in fact, right now, let me suggest that you approve my adding of your private email address to my "Friends & Family" list and you'll begin to get articles and comments about the 'situation' here... just send me a message to wonderworks@iname.com and I'll add you...
Now - on the comment above, first I'll say that I have been actively studying the history of this region for about 20 years (more intensely over the past three as I attended a special school to become a licensed tour guide) and though I don't doubt your interest and understanding as far as it goes..., anyone who actually gives any credibility to the notion of a legitimate nation called 'palestinian' just doesn't know real history! So, you'll understand that I used the capital "I" for the word Israel while keeping the word 'palestinian' as a non-proper noun!
The FACT is that the idea of a separate nation/people/country with that name was CREATED officially in 1964 by the Egyptian government at the Intercontinental Hotel on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem when they official created the "Palestine Liberation Organization" - it was to be primarily a 'political' organization but when Arafat and his Fatah hoodlums got hold of it, they used it as a base of support for their murderous tactics - indescriminately killing anyone who got in their way... who opposed their purpose, which was, from the beginning, to drive the Jews into the sea...
Okay - but there's another question going on here - these folks who NOW call themselves 'palestinian' - where did they come from? MOST (and I do mean that, though I actually do know a few Arabs whose families have been in this area for generations) came here well AFTER the Jews began to return in larger numbers from the middle of the 19th century (after their 2000 year exile) as they (the Arabs who came) saw economic possibilities that were simply not available to them in other parts of the quickly disintergrating Ottoman Empire. If you ask MOST of the Arabs who live here today where their families are from, the honest (but perhaps not public) reply will be Syria or east of the Jordan River [not Jordan, mind you - as it was totally created, with no basis in history, by the British in 1920 when Abdullah was "given" that land which was, of course, also called "Palestine" - if you want to talk about legitimacy in history, they simply have NONE - the Hashemites, after all, were native to the Arabian Peninsula and were forced out in war between them and the Saud Family (which is, of course, why the place is not called Saudi Arabia)... all this is basically 19th and 20th century news - not ancient by any stretch of the imagination], the area now called Iraq (also not an ancient nation nor even a reasonably designed political entity - those guys at Versailles and San Remo... what WERE they thinking?) and even perhaps Egypt or Morocco.
Ya know what - I think that's a good beginning - I can go through a world of history on this board, but let's do it another way - write me privately, give me permission to add your e-mail address to my list, and we'll carry on from there - whaddayasay???
And anyone else is welcome to do the same - there's always room on my e-mail list for a few more friends & family!
Shoshannah
One other word - I had in mind to answer some specific points in your message - I'll do that in private - otherwise, I also just wanted to mention that the name Palestine is NOT a legitimate name for this piece of land - it was given to the 'region' in 135CE by the Roman Emperor Hadrian who, by the way, hated the Jews and created the name to honor the Philistines (who were not "Arab" by any stretch of the imagination...)... prior to that, the region had been called Judea since the time of King David... well, actually just before that period. Also, Hadrian tried to change the name of the city of Jerusalem... be quick now - anyone out there know what he called it? He razed the city and built on the site a new city with a typical Roman city plan - the same design used in most of the cities & towns in the world today. Thus, the name Palestine was born - it was not used as the name of a country or a people - rather a dot on the map of the Roman Empire; the name was later kept alive over the centuries ONLY by Christian cartographers for lack of any other ideas (and they certainly did NOT want to give any credibility to the idea of a Jewish presence there, don't ya know) and of course, there were NO ARABS who lived there or had any authority there until the Muslims arrived (in the presence of Caliph Omar) in 638CE. Okay - enough for now... I'm sure you are happy to hear it!
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#14755
03/06/2001 4:53 PM
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 1,289
veteran
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veteran
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 1,289 |
local vs. foreign news
You have hit on a sore spot with me as well. I am always complaining that at 11:00 PM the local news is likely to lead off with a 5-minute story about a family with 6 small children who have been forced to leave their house because of a gas leak, but who are perfectly OK at a relative's house. This followed by 3 minutes (still a long time on local news) about the U. of MD basketball team's success in NC, or something similar. After 2 commercials, 15 minutes into the broadcast, they would get, for about 30 seconds, to something like a war breaking out with hundreds of casualties in some unfamiliar place, like Borneo, or Burkina Fasso; then maybe 15 seconds on an avalanche somewhere killing 150 people (pictures mandatory, or no story at all).
The fact is that all this is market-driven. The finance boys, acting on the info. received from their bean counters, have learned that the average American is primarily interested in what's going on in his immediate locale, and not interested at all, no matter the gravity of the news, in what goes on in places he knows nothing about. Hence the priorities established for local news reports. The worst thing about local news is that the anchors now try to depict themselves as your friends and neighbors and the station as a sort of elder brother who is making this nightly visit by dearly beloved family members possible. Ugh! [holding nose emoticon]
But that's not the worst possible thing about TV news reporting. I hope and pray that no U.S. president will ever again be assassinated, or otherwise die in office. I could not go through another 24-hour-a-day, 7-day-a-week obsession with reporting on that and every possible ramification to the exclusion of virtually everything else, and going over and over the same stuff until you want to scream.
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#14756
03/06/2001 6:31 PM
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Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409 |
local vs. foreign newsCarefully staying out of the potential quagmire that is Israel/Palestine, I can offer a simple solution to the problem of excessively introspective news media: Move to a small country. Here in NZ, our two major fre-to-air-broadcasters give pretty decent coverage of the outside world, probably because if they did not, they would never fill their 48 minute hours. On the other issue, all I will say is that Lord Acton had it right.
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#14757
03/06/2001 8:11 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
Dear Max: My deafness kept me from hearing what Lord Acton said.
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#14758
03/06/2001 8:16 PM
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Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409 |
Sorry, Bill: "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."
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#14759
03/06/2001 8:25 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
Oh, is that what he said. My hearing aid batteries are getting weak, and the 2K trinkets are in my desk drawer.
Maybe that's my problem. Dear Max, forgive me for taking advantage of your good nature. You are one of my favorite people.
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#14760
03/06/2001 8:41 PM
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Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409 |
My hearing aid batteries are getting weakI would have been much more concerned if you said that you had heard what Lord Acton said, as it would mean that you are more than twice the age you claim to be! 
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#14761
03/06/2001 9:23 PM
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Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 1,094
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 1,094 |
"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."
"Liberty too can corrupt, and absolute liberty can corrupt absolutely" - Getrude Himmelfarb
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#14762
03/06/2001 9:41 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
Gertrude Himmelfarb was right, if she was talking about using obscenities.
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#14763
03/06/2001 10:13 PM
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981 |
> But that's not the worst possible thing about TV news reporting. I hope and pray that no U.S. president will ever again be assassinated, or otherwise die in office. I could not go through another 24-hour-a-day, 7-day-a-week obsession with reporting on that and every possible ramification to the exclusion of virtually everything else, and going over and over the same stuff until you want to scream.
Of course we had virtually a whole week of Diana, so I sympathise. Sad as I was, the wall to wall news reporting didn't help. My partner in life was in the USA for coverage of the bomb that went off in Oklahoma. He was amazed at the highly repetitive and intrusive coverage which went on for days and days.
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#14764
03/07/2001 11:51 AM
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 1,055
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 1,055 |
> ....going over and over the same stuff until you want to scream.
Nobody makes you watch it! One way round it, is to avoid television completely. The mind-numbing repetiton of 'breaking-news' is not worth it, nor is television on the whole. Just throw out your T.V. or find five good reasons to keep it (teletext is not one :-)
uninformedruffian
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#14765
03/07/2001 12:13 PM
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Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 116
member
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member
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 116 |
'C' - first question: are you FROM Munich and if not, from where? I ask because of the name Betts (from your profile, of course) and the fact that I grew up knowing a Betts family who were/are good friends of my family and quite an interesting group! In reply to:
Nobody makes you watch it! One way round it, is to avoid television completely. The mind-numbing repetiton of 'breaking-news' is not worth it, nor is television on the whole.
About TV - here in Israel, we have only two non-cable Israeli channels (1 & 2 - very creative names, don't ya think?). They are different only in that Channel 1 is without adverts and Channel 2 is supported by adverts (so they overwhelm each program, of course). But the programming is very similar - lots of talk shows (Israelis love to talk and debate and scream and rant and carry on - especially about politics...), cooking shows, children's programming, and English-language sitcoms and dramas (from the US, Australia, UK). Channel 2 also buys from HBO, so we get, for instance, "Sex & the City" on the regular channel - but only late at night... not that that really means anything since Israelis are very open about sex and related issues.
Late at night, after Channel 1 goes off the air (around midnight), I can sometimes receive Palestinian TV - which is interesting, since most of its programming consists of Arabic-language talk shows in which the participants rant on about evil Israel and how important it is for them to just kill us all and get it over with.... in the daytime, they show their own version of Sesame Street (in Arabic) in which little children are shown sitting around learning from their adult teachers to songs about killing themselves while they kill Jews to become martyrs - by the way, this program is supported by American tax dollars!
I don't like cable, so I'm reduced to those two choices and occasionally, on a clear day, Jordan's TV channel (used to be a separate foreign language channel - mostly English but also French and now they've consolidated into one 24-hour/day 'superchannel' which, unfortunately, is mostly in Arabic...). Jordan TV is interesting as they also show American sitcoms and dramas - but they edit out any male-female contact, such as kissing and even, in some cases, handholding and so forth!
So - the answer for me is to watch the schedule and turn it on a bit before the program I intend to watch - otherwise, I keep it off and enjoy either music on the radio (I prefer jazz, swing, oldies rock & roll and such) or just listen to the quiet (when I can't hear the shooting and shelling and resulting ambulance sirens these days).
Shoshannah
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#14766
03/07/2001 1:30 PM
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400 |
Oh, Jo, you are so right, most US coverage is repetative, and boring--and the best solution is to avoid it as much as possible.
I recognize that i have this deep seated anti-anglosaxon bent-- I try to keep it check-- and not let it influence me-- (but i always thing bloody brits!) But inspite of that-- i try to read the economist. Its not perfect-- but it, unlike most US "new weekly" acutaly covers the world--
US news and world report-- is pretty short on the world report part-- and news in general in US is covers as--"Plane crashes-- 3 americans killed, detail to follow-- and the details are jumbo jet crashes into school, or hospital or what ever-- but the lead is 3 americans killed---and it there had been no americans aboard, it might not make it to TV news!-- the times (NY Times) is a bit better, it actually acknowledges there is world beyond the US borders.
Most TV station (ie the big three, CBS, NBC, and ABC) no longer even have foriegn corespondants-- and use BBC stringers, or independant news organization reporters.
and as for the weather! the US is a big geographic mass-- there is always interesting weather going on somewhere, and it always makes the news--
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#14767
03/07/2001 2:56 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
Wasn't it Mark Twain who said:"Everybody talks about the news, but nobody does anything about it."
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#14768
03/07/2001 4:59 PM
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,146
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,146 |
Max enthused Here in NZ, our two major fre-to-air-broadcasters give pretty decent coverage of the outside world, probably because if they did not, they would never fill their 48 minute hours.
Being a news junkie, I take at least SOME issue with what my compatriot says above. Generally we get about half an hour of local (including Oz) news and then quarter of an hour to twenty minutes of international news, including REALLY interesting "cat up tree rescued by firemen" type topics. (Why they bother beats me - have you ever seen a cat skeleton up a tree?) The rest is sport.
To top up, I find myself watching or taping the BBC, NBC and ABC plus current affairs programmes sourced from overseas, as well as scanning the newspaper websites on the Internet. To supplement our lamentably parochial newspapers, I subscribe to Time (although its quality is going downhill fast) and read the UK newspapers at our local fish and chip shop!
The idiot also known as Capfka ...
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#14769
03/07/2001 6:36 PM
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Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409 |
Being a news junkie, I take at least SOME issue with what my compatriot says above. Generally we get about half an hour of local (including Oz) news and then quarter of an hour to twenty minutes of international news,Once again, Max has demonstrated his failure to grasp the arcane concept of clearly communicating thought content. What I meant to say, was that NZ TV had quite good non-local coverage when measured against ABC's World News Tonght, the only US news show I see on a regular basis. As much as I enjoy listening to Peter Jennings, it does seem that "World News" is something of a misnomer for that bulletin, as its amount of non-US news makes the 20-25% non-local content in our news look very good. On a related note, I was horrified and very angry to read yesterday that TVNZ is dumping its link with BBC World. No more Hardtalk, no more real world news . If I didn't have acess to this internet thingy I would be even more of an ignorant buffoon than I am.
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