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This scenario was predicted in the writings of Marshall McCluhan, the medium being the message itself, and in Guy Debord's "Society of the Spectacle".

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It's fascinating to consider whether the elite are purposefully creating the political conflict through manipulation of the media's messaging or whether the media has fallen into the pattern by naturally lusting for profit. Either way the gradual collapse of this broken system seems inevitable. Not being manipulated by the messaging seems the only reasonable goal. I really appreciate Matt's efforts.

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With all due respect, I cannot agree with your recommendation to regard with suspicion those who present issues beyond your complete control. The burgeoning climate disaster (among other things) is something that none of us can fix individually, yet requires our utmost attention so that we can act as best we can for the good of mankind. Yes, the people shilling this on the news (when they even report it) are likely doing so in order to get your attention and sell you something. But to simply say, "I can't do anything about it, so I am not going to think about it" is exactly what the powers that be want: to ignore it so they can loot and plunder unabated.

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When I was a kid I watched Cronkite with my grandmother. Every night after Walter said: “And that’s the way it is.” she would yell at the screen: “And it stinks!” God, I miss her!

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C'mon Mike. Do we really need to address this latest expose five days from the election. Take a vacation from the news cycle until we win this thing and then you can pursue any kind material that’s left post-Trump.

Let's get behind the far lesser of two evils and put the spin towards Biden. We don't care for this ultra career journalism arc that some of you must sanctimoniously pursue at this time. Be a pragmatic gatekeeper, put your good citizen and Cronkite hat on and unfetter the way for Biden for the better good of this democratic experiment.

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I'm kind of surprised that this is the end of the book as it were. I subscribed and burned through everything up to this point. My reading list has about 30 more books on it that I need to read now, and I've come to realize that among other things the news cycle was making me miserable. I was already having to take periodic breaks from the news to stay sane it felt like due to burnout, but reading all of this I'm definitely at the point where I need to reevaluate my news consumption.

But to end all of this on "Turn it off" as the overarching message seems abrupt. Is it really that dire? That there's no real healthy way to consume news and not go crazy or be manipulated? Or is that even possible (either any more or ever)? It seems awfully nihilistic.

I mean, you're right. I can't pull the levers of power that will make a difference, but enough people can, together, rock the boat, and the people who have the levers of power end up pulling them to satisfy the citizenry. It may be the exception to the rule, but it's something to at least aim for, and to aim for that, you need to be at least somewhat informed right?

I don't have an answer to the things I'm thinking about now but I hope that the best one isn't to opt out.

Otherwise, fantastic read. I'm badgering everyone to subscribe to read it. It coincided with me finally saying to hell with it and burning my Facebook account and since I've never been a fan of twitter, I'm largely social-media free. It's... glorious. Somewhere along the line Facebook decided that keeping me engaged meant keeping me angry upset and furious at story after story that angered me. Even when I didn't want to particularly participate in a thread and would pass it over, it's like Facebook would know which ones would bother me the most and they'd stay at the top of my feed for days or even weeks, until I was literally yelling at my phone to show me something different. I'm realizing now the symbiotic relationship between that feedback loop in social media and the greater media's behavior. In Facebook and Twitter, they get real time feedback on what works and what doesn't to keep you glued. It's like if cigarette companies could stick your brain into a real time MRI machine and watch you while you smoked and looked at advertisements.

Anyway, despite my misgivings about the ending's implications, thank you for writing this book. It was an intense read.

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Note that “Day Zero” was (thankfully) postponed indefinitely in June 2018: http://www.capetalk.co.za/articles/309573/no-day-zero-for-2019-if-appropriate-water-restrictions-are-maintained

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I'm intrigued by this project, but I do believe the main thesis is overstated: that the specific media outlets are inexorably pushed towards completely antagonistic positions against each other, and rely on getting the rest of us literally hooked on feeding the flames of this antagonism. I see this trend in rough outline myself, and commend Matt for portraying it as he sees it with his considerable skill, but I also perceive important countervailing forces working to alleviate the same condition: so many will not remain in front of screens jonesing on Russia or, alternately, immigrants while the Oscars are on, or while sporting events take up their full attention, or even while the local news, which many say they trust more than the national news, is on, and aggressively avoids (at least until Sinclair began its acquisition push) just about anything that suggests controversy (more on this presently); and a whole sub-industry in television, especially, seems dedicated to promoting the idea that we should all come together as Americans when politics enter in at all, or remains dedicated to consumerism and promoting the network's content. I've commented in an earlier chapter that I see programs like The View filling this role. But, where local news is concerned, I'm wondering if Matt is planning chapter(s) on that subject, because I really think local news performs a unique role, or fills a special space in in American propaganda. I've thought of trying to write on this myself in an article to be entitled "Not Even Fake News," but haven't been able to get it together. My point here is to point Matt's attention as a fellow New England Patriots fan who, well, hates the Patriots to the truly remarkable coverage of Pats' owner Robert Kraft's being issued an arrest warrant for soliciting a prostitute in Florida, in an establishment in which evidence strongly suggests the sex workers were from China, forced to engage in such activity, and prevented from any freedom of movement. I refer specifically to WCVB Channel 5's noon coverage today, Friday, February 22d, 2019. For nearly 45 minutes of the hour-long show all programming was dedicated to Kraft, on a day in which a Boston policeman was shot, and a day before we've threatened Venezuela with an ultimatum deadline (and Venezuela supplies much of Boston's oil), and a violent incident took place on its border with Brazil. But the coverage was remarkable to me because it consisted of airbrushed, attractive anchors and reporters merely repeating the same maybe seven or eight small snippets of information over and over and over and over again, often ungrammatically or relying heavily on mangled syntax. These people appeared severely challenged to say anything of informative value on their own, and could only dress up the same few points in increasingly ill-fitted verbal garments for a whole three-quarters of an hour (it seems there were far fewer adverts shown on this broadcast than normal). And, perhaps most important, many contributions attempted to focus on Kraft's philanthropic activities, in a not-so subtle attempt to rehabilitate any immediate smear on his reputation; meanwhile, the was only slight reference to the plight of the pitiable captive sex workers Kraft is accused of exploiting (that's a great story, too: Kraft's buddy Trump insists we have to build a wall to prevent sex traffickers from coming across the Mexican border, while Kraft visits Chinese nationals managed by the same in Florida). The whole show deserves a look, and I hope Matt and others get a chance to see it, and meditate on the place of local news in the wider national media accordingly.

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Another good one.

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