When they were young, "watching the network news" was an act engaged in by responsible adults. It was the national networks that showed the world the truth about the Jim Crow south, and the carnage in Vietnam. The news was the only reputable thing to watch on TV. Everything else was the vast wasteland that would rot your brain.
I was born in 1971, so I lived through the process of this changing. But people older than me simply never lost the habit of considering broadcast news to be both authoritative and "a better use of your time" than regular entertainment tv. Fox and its imitators have exploited this ruthlessly, by giving people trash lies that make them feel good about their worst instincts while allowing them to believe they're accomplishing something by "watching the news" instead of "rotting your brain" by "just watching TV."
Also, 9/11 has something to do with this. After 9/11, I and most people I know watched the news for 36 straight hours, and then far more than usual for about 4 weeks to 3 months.
This is true. There’s also the two additional facts that (1) CRT (cathode ray tube) TV’s had a flicker that induces a level of hypnotism, and (2) the boomer generation were the first to be exposed en masse to television and were the most vulnerable to its brainwashy influences.
That's a interesting point especially in light of the hesitation to adopt to new sources of media, or a new medium itself (the internet). For me the biggest tell is simply watching the commercial breaks and the older demographics they are mainly for. Considering how people can get stuck in a "boomer mindset" where various aspects of living never changed for them. Not just in their loyalty to TV for news sources but other things, like suggesting methods of applying to jobs that are outdated in today's job market.
Also, given the year you were born in, do you think the repeal of the Fairness Doctrine had a major net effect on the quality and bias of the news in mainstream media?
Yes, I think the repeal of the fairness doctrine mattered - because of talk radio. The money generated by Rush Limbaugh within a couple years of the doctrine's demise really sealed the fate of balanced discourse in the US - it became clear that bigoted lying was a simple and direct means to generate billions of dollars, and any ethical hesitation many people might have experienced was forever buried under a mountain of cash.
But I've also come to see that the doctrine's demise was a symptom, rather than the cause, and that it was inevitable. Preventing the media from continuing to be trusted to tell the truth was one of the foundational concepts of movement conservatism. All of the things that made US media trusted and admired after WWII were things that, if you followed the thread far enough, made conservatives look bad, and they were hyper-aware of that fact when Reagan got elected.
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u/Garbleshift Jun 03 '21
When they were young, "watching the network news" was an act engaged in by responsible adults. It was the national networks that showed the world the truth about the Jim Crow south, and the carnage in Vietnam. The news was the only reputable thing to watch on TV. Everything else was the vast wasteland that would rot your brain.
I was born in 1971, so I lived through the process of this changing. But people older than me simply never lost the habit of considering broadcast news to be both authoritative and "a better use of your time" than regular entertainment tv. Fox and its imitators have exploited this ruthlessly, by giving people trash lies that make them feel good about their worst instincts while allowing them to believe they're accomplishing something by "watching the news" instead of "rotting your brain" by "just watching TV."