Forbes: Journalistic Integrity, Values, and Standards? I'm not so sure...

 

 

Let’s do an experiment.

 

In any experiment, one starts with a question or problem, forms a hypothesis as to what they think will answer the question or solve the problem, then sets about testing the soundness of that hypothesis.  At least that’s what I seem to recall from my high school science classes.  

 

So, here are my questions.  Will journalistic publishers ever provide unbiased information or at the very least, present ALL the sides of an argument with descriptions of where bias my bleed into them from the participating parties?  Are journalists and editors and publishers capable of delivering data and opinions in a manner that stimulates conversation, understanding, and informed decisions?  Or are they just about ego and money-generating clickbait?

Dear SAG-AFTRA – Go Screw Yourselves!

 

When the writers went on strike I really couldn’t muster a fart.  Like everyone else, they gotta do what they gotta do.  And in the end, it wasn’t going to amount to anything permanently worthwhile because that’s how America rolls.  America is not a society of proactive action.  We don’t like to prevent disaster; we like to wait for it to happen to us, bitch about it, throw around blame, and go back to regular programming without ever changing course.  Sometimes we duct tape and silly string together a “new plan” to protect certain vulnerable groups from repeat disaster, but it’s always half-hearted and never well thought out.  It’ll be the same for writers in Hollywood.  Studios will give in a little.  There will be a New Deal that’ll last a couple years and be full of loopholes, but no one will care because the big names in the Writers’ Guild will call it a win at election time and the senior writers will get theirs before retiring in a few years giving no figs for the up-and-coming writers, cuz screw them, we got ours! 

How Elon Musk Could Save Twitter and Make the World a Better Place.

For as long as technology has existed, it’s been marketed as something that makes the world a better place; a tool for better, easier lives.  Fire?  Kills pathogens and makes food taste good.  The Wheel?  Makes hauling stuff less backbreaking and way more fun.  The telephone? At it’s peak, its benefits were weighted towards the positive – saving lives and bringing people together through faster, albeit more expensive, communication than a letter or telegram.  These days however, it could be argued the telephone is something we tolerate for the sake of possibly, if we we can get a dispatcher to answer and haven't had our call hijacked by someone operating a Stingray, being able to call for emergency services in the event of a crisis.  Today, telephone calls are the territory of old people and con artists selling car warranties and trying to scare you by saying your “social security number is suspend (sic)”.  Why?  Because we have social media.  No one needs to talk to their friends on the phone anymore because they already know everything they’ve done all day long – it’s all posted on their social media accounts.  Meals eaten, diapers changed, traffic snarls, wrong drink delivered at Starbucks, concert attended, layoff, school acceptance, new job…it’s all there, all day long, every day, an endlessly scrolling record of everyone’s day updated every second.

A candid, post-pandemic interview with members of the United States Federal Reserve System

October 9, 2022

 

By: Laura Christie

 

A recent poll suggested that over 80% of Americans are concerned about the economy and inflation.  Given the rarity of such an occurrence – to wit, 80% of Americans agreeing on anything, I sat down with the seven members of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors and the twelve Federal Reserve Bank presidents to ask them why things are so FUBAR.  Here’s what they had to say*.

Dear Car Manufacturers - STOP SCREWING UP CARS!!!!

JUST STOP ALREADY!

 

Stop with your absurdly-priced, tech-bloated, crap wagons and just build cars that work!

 

Humans have been making automobiles for over 200 years (using Cugnot’s fardier à vapeur as a starting point) and yet you can’t seem to figure out how to make basic transportation anymore because you’re too busy trying to make computers on wheels!  STOP IT!  STOP IT RIGHT NOW!  I have an advanced computer in my pocket, on my desk, and on my nightstand – I DO NOT NEED ONE BUILT INTO MY CAR!  

What's Really Going On With The Housing Market?

By: Laura Christie
17 Jun 2022

I have A LOT of questions about the housing market that no one seems willing or able to answer.  Some journalists have written stories about specific problem pockets, but most just write what’s dictated to them by “sources” with (in)vested interests and agendas.  Politicians are universally useless.  Even if they get the gist of the desperation and depravity at the core of the issue, they offer platitudes along the lines of “I’m calling for investigations into ______.” (The same thing they do every time there’s a shooting, price increase, supply shortage, or scandal and somehow get awarded political credits they later cash in for votes.)  There is job security in actively doing nothing and being able to blame the other guy for preventing action.  The two institutions of accountability are deeply corrupted by the usefulness of apathy.  Political leadership and the media are almost* universally complicit in reducing this country to a real-life Lord of the Flies existence.  

Boomers Gonna Boomer

By Hildee Baldwin

April 20, 2022

Recently, David Lazarus wrote a column titled: Chase let an elderly customer wire more than $600,000 to an overseas scammer.  While his intentions we’re probably honorable, his story was the equivalent of Biden releasing strategic oil reserves to bring down gas prices or blaming the meat packing industry for inflation – great for headlines that appeal to the sardine-like masses and spark viral social media indignation, but pretty useless at addressing or fixing the deeper problem(s).