"Big Brother" And The Web 137
Last week, CBS expelled a male contestant from the reality show Big Brother for holding a kitchen knife against a female contestant's throat. The 26-year-old man, warned previously about threatening behavior, was kicked off the show, whose producers concede they sought out more aggressive contestants this year to boost the program's ratings. CBS can air what it wants, of course, but here's a neat twist: Though the knife-wielder has been deemed too violent to remain on the program, the incident was aired on TV and live online, with additional footage available at extra cost on the Web. The network is selling around-the-clock views from all the cameras in the "Big Brother" home -- more than TV viewers can see -- to Net users for a $10 a month fee.
If you each had pocketed $10 every time CBS News broadcast an online danger story about hackers, intellectual property thieves, the violent effects of gaming, online predators or child pornographers, you could retire. This is the network whose 60 Minutes aired an hour-long program the week after Columbine titled "Are Video Games Turning Your Kids Into Killers?" Big media have been among the leading advocates of the idea that the Net is a dangerous, de-civilizing place for children, that they will encounter all sorts of violent, sexually explicit and other unwholesome material there.
But when I went onto the Big Brother site, I found no age restrictions or warnings about who could buy or see the knife incident. Any kid with access to a credit card could, as is often true of sex and other "unwholesome" sites online. But it's one thing for a pornographer to do that, another a media conglomerate that purports to cover public policy issues, including technology, and that constantly spouts the most high-minded sense of moral purpose. Listen to what Big Brother's producer said of the show's ethics: "I have been lecturing my staff about using the West Point code of honor in making sure we keep to the truth."
The blurring of news, information and entertainment has been underway for years, but the use of the Net as a profit center for trash programming is very new to so-called serious news organizations. The real danger to kids going online is that they will soon have no way of differentiating entertainment from factual information.
The next level seems clear: to round up convicted murders and psychopaths and have them tear one another up, then sell the grisly pictures over the Web to anybody with $10. Maybe fires, traffic accidents, shootings, or the next federal and state executions could be broadcast that way, too, a new revenue source for embattled popular media. Believe me, it will happen.
Big Brother is already cheesy trash; now it's clearly exploiting the possibility of violence to draw viewers. It's also using the Net to cash in on crap the network doesn't dare broadcast on it's publically-owned airwaves. This notion of the Net as a target-marketed toxic waste dump for dubious content is significant, particularly if it makes money and other networks and giant content producers like Disney, or AOL/Time-Warner adopt it. It's not hard to imagine a scenario where the most ubiqutious producers of dubious content for kids are the big media companies that can produce this garbage with one division, while condemning the immoral impact of new technology with another.
Maybe when some pompous Congressional gasbag like Joseph Lieberman next holds hearings about violence on TV and the Net, he can call in a CBS executive and ask him or her if their vision of the Net and ask if the networks' vision is to use cyberspace as a medium for profiting from content not fit for commercial broadcasting. The committee can also ask if, in the news division's next report on online depredations, Dan Rather will include his companys own entertainment division. Don't hold your breath.
Why people watch "Big Brother" (Score:1)
Re:10 To 1 Odds That In The Near Future.... (Score:1)
Running Man - the original story (Score:2)
Synopsis of JonKatz's evaluation (Score:2)
Seeing violence will make you violent
13 year olds have access to credit cards and can see violent stuff
People make money off of creating violence, then condemning it
I really have to remove JonKatz from my list of
Secret windows code
Someone explain the problem to me (Score:3)
- CBS went for agressive personalities (uh oh, Katz, you hear that? maybe you have another chance to talk about profiling!) but screwed up and got someone who was actually violent
- CBS, knowing that real[istic] acts of violence are not generally well accepted on broadcast TV, decided not to air the full detail of the incident
- CBS, knowing that censorship on the internet is significantly less prominent than it is on TV, and that the web is a much more content-on-demand based medium, decided to make the more violent material available online
- CBS decided to charge for some of its online content
- CBS declined to decide for other people what standards (i.e. age) its viewers should be held to in order to view their content
Problems with those:Re:Been done. (Score:2)
Been done. (Score:3)
Next will be shootings, accidents and executions.
Stile Project [stileproject.com]. 'Nuff said.
The Running Man is reality NOW. (Score:2)
According to Muslim law, stoning is done this way: you are wrapped all around in a sack and buried tightly to your waist. Then people throw stones at you that are around the size of a tennis ball. If you climb out of the pit while the stoning goes on, it is a sign from God and you are spared and released. Sounds like fun, no?
Re:Been done. (Score:2)
The Stile Project is NOT a pr0n site. There is pr0n on the site, sure, but it's so much more than that.
Also good is rotten.com [rotten.com]. I advise you to click this link at home, as it does have pictures of decapitations, dead people, lots of blood, and, yes, naked people (usually dead)
Re:Think of the children, Jon? (Score:1)
Well, I guess I agree with you here. :-) It would be interesting to see what he had to say about small-media two-facedness. There is, of course, the fact that he doesn't come out and directly attack it. I will say the small-media duplicity is easier to spot.
Re:Think of the children, Jon? (Score:2)
I think, if you read it, he doesn't have a double standard, he's merely complaining about Big Media's double standard. In fact, I think it's fairly obvious that's what he's doing.
Well, The Running Man _was_ reality 2,000 yrs ago. (Score:3)
Nuff said...
Re:10 To 1 Odds That In The Near Future.... (Score:1)
Not because the gameplay was particularly innovative: the mechanics were essentially the same as Robotron (if anyone here remembers that), with updated effects and big boss-men. Rather, because in the midst of a scene of utter carnage, where the body parts of mutant thugs holding clubs would sail towards the ceiling-mounted camera, you could stumble over a package and hear the show's host exclaim, "A brand new toaster!" That's comedy.
10 To 1 Odds That In The Near Future.... (Score:5)
Bryan R.
Re:Been done. (Score:5)
Dude, dude, dude!!!! Next time you post a link to a porn site, give those of us at work an indication that's what it is!!!! Damn, I am sure some red light went off somewhere just now....
Bryan R.
Re:The Running Man (Score:1)
-Wintermute
Re:10 To 1 Odds That In The Near Future.... (Score:1)
CBS, JonKatz, et al... (Score:1)
Re:Parellels (Score:2)
Except there is no problem, but the government pretends that it is horrible and that air pollution is killing people.
Re: "Reality TV" is a misnomer (Score:2)
Hardly a new idea, it isn't unknown for "guests" on radio talkshows to actually be station staff. It wouldn't suprise me if the likes of "Jerry Springer" have plants both amongst guests and in the audience.
Re:The Running Man (Score:2)
There are an awful lot of these.
One thing to remember is that the average length novel would equate to at least a 2 hour movie. So even if the film makers tried they'd usually end up snipping bits (also novelisations frequently have to be padded even beyond the bits of the script which wern't used otherwise you'd have a very thin book.)
Maybe there should be various catagories.
1) realistic attempt to follow plot and characters
2) book and film are somewhat similar
3) book and film differ radically
4) the only thing they have in common is the title.
You'd have a tough time finding catagory ones...
Re:Big brother, The Battle (Score:2)
The diffrence is that this is the US version of the programme. In general violence is acceptable on US TV, nudity isn't.
Re:Madness (Score:1)
> Have you ever driven I-17?
Or for that matter, set up a chair 20 feet back from any busy railroad crossing, and watched motorist behavior when the flashing lights come on?
Re:Hand-wringing a-go-go! (Score:2)
>
> <BILL_AND_TED> Excellent! </BILL_AND_TED>
Damn, you stole my one-line-thunder.
But for those who think "The Running Man" (movie, TV, or the already-mentioned, and totally awesome, "Smash TV" video game) is fiction, have you turned on FOX recently?
"America's [Wildest|Most-Dangerous] Police [Videos|Chases]" and COPS are real shows.
I admit it - I watch. I like to call it "The Senseless Violence Hour -- on FOX!" I know exactly what I'm there for, namely to munch on popcorn and watch dumbfucks roll their cars after a high-speed pursuit and then try desperately to convince the cop that the six empty beers on the roadway (and the half-empty one still leaking) weren't theirs.
The only difference between these and "Running Man" is that in the current crop of "cop shows", the studios aren't allowed to show the dumbfucks that get themselves killed. So most of the time, even the ones who get ejected from the vehicle get up and walk away with a few scratches. (Presumably it's very expensive to get the releases from the family for the dumbfucks who get themselves killed, whereas the dumbfucks who live don't have much say in the matter...)
Old joke:
Q: Did you hear that it's now legal to broadcast live executions on TV? I wonder if FOX is gonna do it!
A: Naah, FOX would never show a live execution. Live naked executions, on the other hand...
Re:Isn't that a bit selfish? (Score:4)
Yeah, God forbid we show 'em reality on a reality show.
(Personally, I disagree. I'd be willing to bet the CBS execs collectively creamed their Armani suits when the near-knifing happened, until the CBS legal department showed them that they'd be sued into the stone age if they knowingly allowed a contestant to be murdered/assaulted. Whereupon, the execs then shat their pants, turfed the contestant, and gave some New York dry cleaner a Very Bad Day.)
Re:good news everyone (Score:1)
Re:The Running Man (Score:1)
All of his other books made into movies were mediocre at the very best.
At least Running Man had some "major talent" in it, and ok acting for a sci-fi flick. (Oh, how my standards have fallen).
Madness (Score:1)
The thing is, the entire nation as gone voyeuristic: they all want to see one guy (Paul) I think, have sex with some other person.
Oh, another thing, on this post I'm replying too, why do you think having a criminal's execution filmed will stop that criminal committing a crime? If anything, it will make it more likely. The death penalty never ever has worked. If someone is going to commit a murder, they will commit a murder - the only challenge for them is not to get caught. The only kinds of crime the death penalty will act as a deterrent on are things like speeding and illegally parking. Would anyone in the universe risk sudden death for just being five minutes nearer to their destination?
Web feed keeping CBS in check? (Score:5)
Re:And this doesn't make sense how? (Score:1)
Jon, didn't you read the editorial the other day by Taco about behavior in public forums? Or are you only a contributor and don't actually read this site?
And whatever you might think of what Lieberman is doing, atleast he's doing SOMETHING. So it might not be in the direction you might like... but as we saw in the Whitewater investigation, public hearings have a way of meandering...
no warning? then what the heck is THIS? ... (Score:4)
http://www.real.com/partners/bigbrother2/?src=cb sa ds
The live and on-demand content (the "Content") may contain elements offensive to some users and inappropriate for users under 21. Certain Content may be delayed, edited and/or blacked out at various times at our sole discretion. You agree that we shall have no liability whatsoever relating to the Content and you waive any claims you may have, now or in the future, against us relating to the Content. You agree to comply with our Terms of Service.
That's a pretty bold warning, i don't know how Katz missed THAT one... oh wait.
Who needs Visa Buxx when you can get a real Visa? (Score:1)
]$`};L(;/proc);[I(;];<C{;};1S[;`\/while=1E1L[`\p roc{>=
Re:The Running Man (Score:1)
To each thier own, but the movie isn't anything like the book. The only commonality is that there's a very popular game show where the contestants may die and the title. The book is far superior to the movie IMHO. There should be laws about saying a movie is "based" on a book when the movie doesn't even TRY to follow the story in the book...
Re:The Running Man (Score:1)
Gladiators? I LIKE it. (Score:1)
Sign me up! Robert Hanssen [ttp] v. Sidney Bangham [theherald.co.uk] would be one way to reduce the population of repeated violent offenders in jail and make room for more hackers and casual drug users.
But seriously though Jon, you seem like you really want to come out and say "there 'outta be a law!" But you would never say that. Right?
As a parent of two kids who are not yet old enough to surf such trash, but who soon will be, the attitude exemplified by CBS really worries me. Sure, I am trying to be a good role model for my kids and to bring them up to be moral people with a good dose of common sense. But one cannot be ever vigilant. I really don't want my kids to be able to just hop on to crap like this. (Granted, it's my own fault if I let them get ahold of the CC numbers).
WTF! (Score:1)
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Didn't JonKatz used to work for CBS? (Score:1)
Re:The Ultimate Survivor (Score:1)
Put cameras all over an uninhabited island. Dock a boat there. Send in all the "contestants", each with one backpack full of supplies of their own choosing. (full size camping backpack).
Rules:
1) You may leave at any time by getting on the docked boat.
2) Once you leave, you may not come back.
3) Last living person on the island wins.
Game continues until there is one person left. It would take longer, and possibly some may find
it less interesting... but would be much more "survivor"
No "challenges" or "councils". Just harsh survival.
-Steve
Hypocracy? Yes but what's the real issue? (Score:2)
What I don't understand is why this is yet another rant about big media taking over our lives. The real issue is the fact that people buy this stuff. The networks sell the things that make money and people want to see sex and violence.
There is another big hypocracy here. That is this article. Katz says that the Net is not so bad, which is true there is a lot of misconceptions and paranoia. But he also implies that protecting children from say pornography is bad. Now I agree there is no good way to do it yet but my point is that porn on the net is no different than Big Brother (i.e. sex appeals to people) so why is one trashy and the other not? It seem to me that Katz himself has a double standard.
The real issue here is that people choose to believe what's on TV, they choose to install filters on their home computers (which I don't understand what your beef is there, not everyone thinks the same way and if they own the computer then its their right to but whatever they want on it.). And people vote to pass laws that install them on public computers. Is it stupid and paranoid? Yes. Does it violate your rights? Not really. Can it been changed? Yes if you quit whining and go vote!
And Jon's attack on Senator Lieberman is completely destroys any shread of credibility he may have had. If you don't like him don't vote for him but lets not get into personal attacks.
Nothing like a good Jon Katz rant to brighten my day or waste some time at work :)
"One World, one Web, one Program" - Microsoft promotional ad
Only an American (Score:1)
Would go to a site with shootings, accidents and executions and be shocked by the pr0n. You don't think a read light would go off if you went to rotten.com or somewhere similarily non-sexually offensive?
Wow! How void are you... (Score:3)
First off, I have to say to Katz that this is a good article. Really...I've been losing hope for a while, but I thought that the ideas here actually came together.
Second, it seems like Knox here has gotten lost in the Katz-bashing to realize the truth of this. It's pathetic now that they're portraying violence on Big Brother strictly for ratings and $$$. It's a show whose ratings have dropped dearly from the very beginning, but during the show where the incident occured, ratings spiked.
Why? Well, who was the first to report about the incident BEFORE it was aired on Big Brother? CBS.
It's completely unnerving that CBS aired violence for ratings, when they bomblasted the video game market for causing violence. And I assure you, kids who know these are adults IN REAL LIFE who are doing this kind of violence are going to be far more influenced that this is normal than if they were to see it in a computer game.
Granted, it doesn't surprise any of us, because we've been imagining it for years. But just because we've imagined it doesn't mean that it's right for them to go ahead and do it.
But what I liked best about the article isn't so much about, "Oh my gosh, they're creating violent TV shows for ratings." What I liked was, "They're creating violent TV shows for ratings when they've complained over and over in the past about how violence in the media leads to violence in real life."
It's a double standard. They say media violence is influential on children, but then sell it to make money anyway. We've already collected billions of dollars from big tobacco because they've been doing the same thing for the past hundred years. It's a dangerous game that they shouldn't be playing.
Isn't that a bit selfish? (Score:1)
The reason he was expelled was because he's a danger to everyone on the show, and a possible PR nightmare for CBS. I mean, a murder/assault on a reality show?
He wasn't kicked off because it was offensive, where did you pull that out of?
Ahhhh the irony! (Score:1)
Hand-wringing a-go-go! (Score:2)
<BILL_AND_TED> Excellent! </BILL_AND_TED>
Y'know, I think that Jon Katz is actually Bob Greene [chicagotribune.com] in disguise.
--
Four Arguments For The Elimination Of Television (Score:1)
Re:Katz. Ugh. (Score:1)
1) login
2) choose preferences
3) tick the box marked JonKatz under 'Exclude stories from the homepage: Authors'
4) save the change
bingo - no more Katz stories.
Re:Think of the children, Jon? (Score:2)
Series 7 - The Contenders (Score:2)
Its about money and control. (Score:2)
This is a prime example of hypocracy. The web is so bad, but when they can make money, they just jump in. Its too bad to broadcast on TV, but they broadcast it on the web for a fee. If they had more of it, they might have done it on pay-per-view.
Re:10 To 1 Odds That In The Near Future.... (Score:1)
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Re:10 To 1 Odds That In The Near Future.... (Score:1)
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Re:10 To 1 Odds That In The Near Future.... (Score:1)
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Re:10 To 1 Odds That In The Near Future.... (Score:1)
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Katz. Ugh. (Score:1)
I find this absolutely shocking! (Score:3)
Real World (Score:1)
Re:Real World (Score:1)
Re:The Ultimate Survivor (Score:1)
--------------------------------------
The Ultimate Survivor (Score:2)
I think that they should do kind of an Ultimate Survivor kind of thing. They can take all the survivor candidates and lock them in a house with no food and massive ammounts of weapons. Then we can find out who the true "survivor" is. We also would get the added bonus of only having to deal with one self righteious prima dona trying to make something of his 15 minutes of fame.
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deep. (Score:1)
down with the media! i want to see a woman masturbating a horse for free!
Re:10 To 1 Odds That In The Near Future.... (Score:1)
What was the game show where the guy had to climb a rope to escape angry dogs while he collected money along the way? It really reminds me of the direction that the "Reality-based" TV is heading today..
And the scene where they supposedly mapped Arnold S.'s character over another live actor with a computer to fake up his death.. that was total sci-fi at the time, but it's reality now...
Go see "Series 7" movie (Score:1)
Re:Web feed keeping CBS in check? (Score:1)
Got it backwards... (Score:1)
Yes, reality TV is getting out of hand, but the public still watches. Therefore, they try and make more money by giving us more.
Its amazing.... after all these years of great media, companies are just selling stuff to make more money. SURPRISE!
--
The Running Man (Score:1)
Ever read "The Running Man" by Richard Bachman (aka Stephen King)? I'm not talkin the cheesy movie with 'ahhhnold', but the book.
--
Pope Katz (Score:1)
It's the same attitude you see from hard core environmentalist, anti-smoking folks, anti-pornography protesters, religious whackos, just about anyone with an agenda to push. They truly believe they they (and the few like minded folks) are the only ones that can see things clearly, and the rest of us need their help.
If you don't have anything nice to say, say it often.
Debit cards (Score:1)
They said it was standard policy not to give debit cards out to those without credit cards.
Dragon Magic [dragonmagic.net]
Why CC != Adult anymore (Score:2)
Instead of handing your kid $10 a week in allowance, just tell Visa to add $10 a week on their card and take it off your card or out of your checking account.
The card's name is Visa Buxx, and their site is here: http://www.visabuxx.com/ [visabuxx.com]
This is why places like Adult Check, etc., are no longer viable. Any kid can now have his or her own credit card that would work fine, and they can be of any age. No need to steal them, no need to apply for them themselves...
So yes, 12 year old kids can go to the Big Brother Site and legally get an account to see into the bathroom or bedrooms of the show. Thanks, Visa!
Dragon Magic [dragonmagic.net]
Re:Parellels (Score:1)
Don't believe me that the air is bad?
Try spending a few years in a remote environment far from major poluters, then spend some time in a large city. That choking, scratching feeling in your throat should convince you otherwise. Believe me, I've gone through this before.
-Medgur
Re:The Running Man (Score:1)
Re:Go see "Series 7" movie (Score:1)
-cb
Nope. Not a double standard. (Score:3)
The hole in his logic (and yours) is that "the media" is not a single sourse. It is the vehicle by which lots of people, with diverse opinion, transmit their ideas.
First, you have the people who seem to be saying, through the media, that "the Net is a breeding ground for thieves and degenerates" (as Mr. Katz puts it with his usual hyperbolic flair). People like Sen. Lieberman, and various talking heads on the news.
Then, you have the TV executives who decide to air shows like Big Brother, or the game designers who ship games like "Carmageddon" (a favorite of mine, btw), or the various on-line porno merchants.
Just because a TV executive allows somebody like Bill Bennett to rant about violence in the media during a "Meet The Press" interview doesn't mean he endorses that opinion.
The typical media mogul puts violent shows on his network because there are viewers who want to watch them. He puts anti-violence rants on the news shows because there are also people who want to watch them. For pretty much anything where there are enough people who want to see it, he puts it on.
Therefore, it has nothing to do with hypocracy. If Turner or Eisner were campaigning against the Internet as beeing too exploitative, you could make that case, but I see no evidence of them holding such positions.
Don't mistake diversity for hypocracy.
OMG! (Score:1)
Anyway, there is some truth to what he says, although laying the whole thing at the feet of Joseph Lieberman sounds a bit random to me...As I recall, all he wants is labeling (e.g., .xxx TLD, etc.). I think if you sent this article (?) to him, he would be quite happy to jump all over CBS' lame ass...
Re:Deranged Killers on TV (Score:1)
Nope, too late. I remember hearing on the news about 6-7 years ago that someone came out with Serial Killer trading cards complete with Jeffery Dahmer, Charles Manson....
I dont know how popular they became but I still think its pretty sad that criminal activity is glorified in popular culture.
AUP for School Playgrounds (Score:2)
I totally agree. My 9 year old daughter brought home an Internet Acceptable Use Policy form that I had to sign, which said, in effect, that I was responsible for whatever my daughter did on the internet. It relieved the school of any responsibility for monitoring my child's activities. It was basically some lawyer trying to cover the school division's ass.
But why should they be more concerned about covering their asses where the internet is concerned? Shouldn't they have a similar acceptable use policy for the school library or the playground? It is because everyone hears the word "Internet" and thinks "Ooohh... internet bad". It's really no worse than a myriad of other things my daughter might encounter while at school. The only difference seems to be the mystique of the internet.
I think Katz is probably right that the media have a vested interest in whipping us into a frenzy of fear about the internet. The internet is too free for their purposes. It's much harder for them to control the flow of information. They can't deal with anything interactive because it can't be controlled. That's why they talk out of both sides of their mouth. They don't want you using the internet to look at anything besides Corporate Authorized Content. Even if it is the same kind of crap that they try and create hysteria about.
Big brother, The Battle (Score:1)
As for the pay per view: they tried it, but i suppose it was not that popular. the 2nd season was way less popular. (like someone said here , is it still on then?). So the pay per view will fade away.
I just expect a sort of Jerry springer alike soap. With the difference this takes 100 days.
But after 2 seasons Big Brother and 2season "de bus" (like big brother, but then in a bus) i think we all get bored by it.
As for the "for adult" thing. Wouldn't the credit card to pay the 10$ block it. Why else are all those "Adult check" Web ages asking for a credit card no to validate the age. Not that i ever go there......
Public executions. (Score:1)
Re:10 To 1 Odds That In The Near Future.... (Score:1)
Re:Why CC != Adult anymore (Score:1)
Re:And this doesn't make sense how? (Score:1)
And yet, few of you complain when G.W. gets impaled by someone's sigfile......
Re:10 To 1 Odds That In The Near Future.... (Score:1)
Jaysyn
Re:The Running Man (Score:1)
Jaysyn
It's hard to make deadlines and have cogent ideas (Score:3)
Could it be that we are struggling to see ourselves as victims in an era when the memory of earlier successes fade?
The Katz Argument: The media seeks to perpetuate the idea that hackers/crackers are thugs- but what do they know because they are just low-level pornographers.
I'm glad to see the level of logical argument on /. raised to the next level. It may be time to retire the notion that we have anything interesting to say anymore. [ridiculopathy.com]
Re:You're just now realizing "reality" TV is shit? (Score:1)
What is the problem? (Score:3)
That said, I find it interesting that Katz is railing on CBS about corrupting children when this is clearly a matter of parental responsibility. He brings up the info-tainment program (I refuse to call it "news" or "journalism") about video games - sorry Katz, but you're committing the same cardinal sin - blaming a corporation for something that really falls in the domain of parental responsibility.
While I think these reality TV programs are a colossal waste of time and only appeal to the most base standards of quality, I won't begrudge CBS for selling it. Some people can't get enough of that pap show. It's like the outtakes or deleted scenes offered on a DVD - some people want to see the fat that was trimmed off the steak.
But please, don't start crying about the children, when all you are trying to do is make a point. Doing so makes you no better than the Liebermans who exploit children for political mileage.
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Re:Hello, Japan! (Score:2)
You know what ? There's already lots of game shows in the West in which the contestants get hurt and where that constitutes a significant portion of the shows' appeal. Let me think...boxing, football, Ultimate Fighting...
Think of the children, Jon? (Score:2)
For as much bile as you harbor for Big Media, you're just asking for trouble in suggesting that they be held to standards other than that of Little Media. No matter how much good you think it could do, it is the exact same line of reasoning that you have derided on countless occasions in the past regarding things such as video game violence, censorship, and preferential treatment of big companies.
How do you define Big Media, Jon? Is AOL Big Media? How about NBC? Easy, no? Well than, what about CNN? PBS? MP3.com (back in it's glory days?) OSDN? The Onion? A bit less easy, seeing as we're starting to take aim at "good guy" sites now, isn't it? And even if you can confidently draw your line in the sand to partition the "good" from the "bad", you most certainly won't be the only person drawing lines in the sand, and your word is highly unlikely to be final.
Don't advocate double standards. Don't think of the children, dammit. Don't be so quick to throw equality by the wayside.
Re:Think of the children, Jon? (Score:3)
There's more to his piece, though. He homes in on Big Media's two-faced behavior, but makes it very clear that he feels that Big Media's duplicity is a breed apart from Small Media's duplicity:
But when I went onto the Big Brother site, I found no age restrictions or warnings about who could buy or see the knife incident. Any kid with access to a credit card could, as is often true of sex and other "unwholesome" sites online. But it's one thing for a pornographer to do that, another a media conglomerate that purports to cover public policy issues, including technology, and that constantly spouts the most high-minded sense of moral purpose. Listen to what Big Brother's producer said of the show's ethics: "I have been lecturing my staff about using the West Point code of honor in making sure we keep to the truth."
He makes clear that it is indeed OK for a pornographer to be a pornographer, but then rips into Big Media (and Big Media alone) for being [duplicitous|multi-faceted enterprises]. The entire tone of the article is that this duplicity is a Big Media Problem, when it's honestly easily as applicable to Little Media "good guys". Hell, Slashdot has an alarming habit of posting front-page articles that flat out lie for the sake of advocacy; this goes on in spite of the "News" for nerds tagline. NPR has an ongoing scandal revolving around selling membership lists to third parties, despite their "privacy-friendly" enrollment. Major scientific journals soak research groups into paying thousands just to submit articles for publication, not to mention the prohibitive cost of such subscriptions; this in the name of furthering the general knowledge of mankind. One can even argue that Small Media is in some ways more prone to two-faced behavior, as they often tend to be niche outlets with clearly-defined target audiences and adgendas.
After reading this article, to uggest that Jon isn't exhibiting a clear anti-Big Media bias is disingenuous. Jon is most certainly drawing lines in the sand on this one.
Hello, Japan! (Score:2)
I think... (Score:2)
Katz-bashing aside (fun though it is), I don't see where it comes as a surprise that a major media outlet would do this. If they thought they could get away with it, they'd be airing the knife incident thrice nightly and charging Superbowl prices for ad time. They apparently don't think they can get that past the FCC and the angry parents, though, so they'll do it on the 'Net, and charge what the market will bear.
The only way to stop it, of course, is to either censor it - a bad idea, I'm sure most of us agree - or somehow get people to tune out such trash in favor of better programming.
Yeah, right.
OK,
- B
--
Re: (Score:2)
Comment removed (Score:4)
Re:Got it backwards... (Score:2)
Media Coverage of Violence (Score:2)
I think what really set me off on this was the huge fallout after the Columbine shootings. Suddenly every news station had around the clock coverage on the aftermath and endless editorials on why these things happen. The entire over coverage of the incident really went beyond integrity into the realm of cashing in on the ratings that a Columbine special piece would bring. And don't even get me started on the people who decided to cash in with books and articles on how video game companies were immorally cashing in on violence, regardless of the results. The hypocratic nature of someone selling a book about such a tragedy, in which they condemn others they percieve to have been profitting from the tragedy is apalling. Dr. Liberman added a chapter to a book of his dedicated to how video games make kids into killers. Tell me it's pure coincidence he added this chapter after the shootings, and not as a means to increase the books sales. How distastefull is that! I'm getting too upset just writing this now.
The media needs to start trying to get back some of it's integrity and thus the respect of it's viewers. As is most people I know are highly critical of the various biases that underly news stories these days.
You're just now realizing "reality" TV is shit? (Score:2)
The reality tv phase is going on right now simply because it's cheap and it gets pretty good returns. You want to fix it, watch a different channel. Watch Animal Planet, or TCM, or Bravo. Go on the internet and visit a good website, read a book. Vote with your eyes and this shit will be off the air.
D - M - C - A
good news everyone (Score:2)
CBS has not undertaken security measures such as these since the 1998 quad cities "Diagnosis: Murder" convention, when 80-year-old Horace Watkins presented the cast with a rutabaga pie, and then couldn't remember whether he'd baked his gun in it or not.
As in previous "Survivor" installments, contestants will be competing for one million dollars so they can get the hell out of there, which, by the way, is the same thing rulers there have been doing for generations.
Kenya was the site of an American embassy bombing just three years ago, and U.S. officials report that American tourists are particularly at risk of kidnapping, assault, even assassination. To prepare the new survivors for these difficult circumstances, CBS has created the guidebook "how to defend yourself with a Bud Light, a bag of hot grits, two Dr. Scholl's insoles and a Pontiac Aztek."
i was angry:1 with:2 my:4 friend - i told:3 4 wrath:5, 4 5 did end.
Re:Its about money and control. (Score:2)
Re:And this doesn't make sense how? (Score:2)
In fact, I'd be willing to bet Katz has a queue full of articles -- a week's worth, whatever -- and is not a regular visitor of Slashdot.
That said, I find it baffling that Katz would call Lieberman a "pompous gasbag."
For a couple of reasons:
First, the obvious.
And second: Lieberman -- of all of our elected officials -- is far from "pompous". Granted, he's fairly critical of the media and its portrayal of violence, but this doesn't necessarily make him pompous. At least not any more so than any other, er, media crtic. Ahem.
Katz's comment about Lieberman -- a slight slip, perhaps -- is fairly revealing: it makes Katz's previous points less persuasive and suddenly gives Katz the none-too-subtle appearance of having, eek!, an agenda.
And really -- I say this honestly -- what's worse than a media critic with an agenda who engages in ad hominem attacks?
Not much.
Katz, you care to respond?
But of Course! (Score:3)
As for the lack of age restrictions on the Big Brother site, I'm sure CBS would claim "Well, only adults are able to get credit cards." Nonsense, but most people don't know better. What we on
Parellels (Score:5)
In "The Running Man", the world is horribly polluted, and air pollution is killing people, but the government simply pretends there is no problem. Sound familiar?
In "The Running Man", thousands of people line up for the chance to degrade themselves on a variety of game shows for the amusement of a sadistic audience. So it is today.
In "The Running Man", a huge corporation is at least as powerful as the government. In the real world, large corporations and special interest groups wield enormous power over elected officials, with campaign contributions, etc.