A strange thing has happened in the last decade, possibly in this century. News, as objective reporting has ceased to exist. I first noticed this trend in India several years ago and assumed that it was peculiar to the developing world, where I assumed, mistakenly as it now seems that its easier to manipulate the media and get a point of view across that is never objective and often not even factual. Its having a point of view and then twisting the facts of every event to have a narrative that furthers the point of view.
It seems like this would be obvious and no one would believe it. Unfortunately it seems like its not obvious and the vast majority do believe it. The minority who don't are completely irrelevant to the opinion makers who rely on the majority opinion to influence and get things done.
I've been based out of the US for almost 3 years now. And I was surprised at the media here. Not only was it nowhere close to what I had imagined it to be, it was way more biased. In India at least there was a pretense of the news channels being biased. Here there was no pretense with even Presidents calling unfavorable news channels biased, which is true and alluding to the news channel of their party being objective and fair which of course is untrue.
3 years ago I discovered a channel where I could rely on the news to be factual. It was a comedy channel and the show "The Tonight Show" with John Stewart. One of the more interesting presenters on that show was a young British comedian John Oliver. He wasn't the funniest, but definitely one who made you pause and think, all the time smiling, if not laughing. A year ago, on April 27, 2014 John Oliver premiered his own talk show, "Last Week Tonight" with John Oliver. And this is now my favorite place to find real news.
You may not believe this, but you'll know more about any subject just seeing John Oliver's take on the subject. The research that is done and the simplification of facts that everyone else attempts to complicate, is unbelievable and awesome.
My 3 favorites are:
Government Surveillance
There are very few government checks on what America’s sweeping surveillance programs are capable of doing. John Oliver sits down with Edward Snowden to discuss the NSA, the balance between privacy and security, and dick-pics.
Wealth Gap
John Oliver discusses America's growing wealth gap and why it may be a problem in the future.
Net Neutrality
Cable companies are trying to create an unequal playing field for internet speeds, but they're doing it so boringly that most news outlets aren't covering it. John Oliver explains the controversy and lets viewers know how they can voice their displeasure to the FCC.
And an additional bonus ones for students about their student debt.
Student Debt
John Oliver discusses student debt, which is awful, as well as for-profit colleges, who are awfully good at inflicting debt upon us.
If you want to keep abreast of what's really happening in the world, all you need to do is subscribe, for free to watch his show.
https://www.youtube.com/user/LastWeekTonight
It seems like this would be obvious and no one would believe it. Unfortunately it seems like its not obvious and the vast majority do believe it. The minority who don't are completely irrelevant to the opinion makers who rely on the majority opinion to influence and get things done.
I've been based out of the US for almost 3 years now. And I was surprised at the media here. Not only was it nowhere close to what I had imagined it to be, it was way more biased. In India at least there was a pretense of the news channels being biased. Here there was no pretense with even Presidents calling unfavorable news channels biased, which is true and alluding to the news channel of their party being objective and fair which of course is untrue.
3 years ago I discovered a channel where I could rely on the news to be factual. It was a comedy channel and the show "The Tonight Show" with John Stewart. One of the more interesting presenters on that show was a young British comedian John Oliver. He wasn't the funniest, but definitely one who made you pause and think, all the time smiling, if not laughing. A year ago, on April 27, 2014 John Oliver premiered his own talk show, "Last Week Tonight" with John Oliver. And this is now my favorite place to find real news.
You may not believe this, but you'll know more about any subject just seeing John Oliver's take on the subject. The research that is done and the simplification of facts that everyone else attempts to complicate, is unbelievable and awesome.
My 3 favorites are:
Government Surveillance
There are very few government checks on what America’s sweeping surveillance programs are capable of doing. John Oliver sits down with Edward Snowden to discuss the NSA, the balance between privacy and security, and dick-pics.
Wealth Gap
John Oliver discusses America's growing wealth gap and why it may be a problem in the future.
Net Neutrality
Cable companies are trying to create an unequal playing field for internet speeds, but they're doing it so boringly that most news outlets aren't covering it. John Oliver explains the controversy and lets viewers know how they can voice their displeasure to the FCC.
And an additional bonus ones for students about their student debt.
Student Debt
John Oliver discusses student debt, which is awful, as well as for-profit colleges, who are awfully good at inflicting debt upon us.
If you want to keep abreast of what's really happening in the world, all you need to do is subscribe, for free to watch his show.
https://www.youtube.com/user/LastWeekTonight
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