Alisa Miller, head of Public Radio International, talks about why -- though we want to know more about the world than ever -- the US media is actually showing less. Eye-opening stats and graphs. As the CEO of Public Radio International, Alisa Miller works to bring the most significant news stories to millions -- empowering Americans with the knowledge to make choices in an interconnected... Full bio and more links » It's great that we have a good alternative exchange of information and news on the internet just as we have here at TED talks. I always find thought provoking issues and info at my fingertips here, and on various informational web sites. It's good to hear that more young people and us older ones alike are going to our computers for all kinds of information AND entertainment more so now than ever. It's up to us to spread the news, I'm always telling people about TED. com and I rarely get someone who's heard of it. Don't go to the TV as much these days. Maybe soon corporate electronics will be trying to sell us HD plasma screens for our computers. How can news companies be persuaded to maintain staff and news bureaus to report the stories and give the background that we need? It's kind of ironic that the one lecture about Americans not getting enough information is one of the shorter lectures on this site. Something that's beautiful though, is that current (a television station based on user generated content) has almost no stories or documentaries based on celebrities or pop culture. The media, whether we like it or not, creates what becomes reality for us. Anything not reported in the mainstream media ("MSM") basically doesn't exist for us. Governments, including (or should I say, especially) ours have gone into the business of "controlling the message," and "producing" the news. So, if they don't want us to know about something, they can control whether we hear about it at all, or control the level to which it is reported. Much of what the government allows us to see is not necessarily fact at all, but pure propaganda. The MSM (which includes television broadcasting, newspapers, magazines, publishers, radio and the internet) is all owned by a small handful of corporate conglomerates. This results in no diversity of ideas and sometimes no reporting of very significant events. For instance, the largest world-wide peace protest in the world occurred in the weeks leading up to the war in Iraq, yet you would hardly know it even happened. The pundits on TV and writers are constantly writing about how weak the peace movement is compared to the way it was in the past. It's not that weak -- I know because I attend peace protests regularly. It's just not given any coverage. Plus, the U.S. government has a new tendency to label anyone promoting peace as an "enemy combatant" and this prevents many from publicly airing their dissent. A democracy cannot survive without an informed citizenry and without healthy dissent. A Great talk... concerning perhaps THE most important issue when we think about education... Keep them dumb we will keep them poor. It would be great if Google could have a map like that that constantly updates as geographic content goes online. You could see which places are talked about and which are neglected everyday. "The general populace doesn't have the capacity to think for themselves" - I'm sure they could before the TV came along. Summary of Video: You people should be watching what I say is important, not what you want to watch. Talks Alisa Miller: Why we know less than ever about the world
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About Alisa Miller
Discuss this talk: Why we know less than ever about the world ( Alisa Miller )
I regularly seek out a wide variety of news on the internet. The difference between what I know about the world and what people who only get news from the MSM is vast. I find it impossible to discuss what I read with people because they all have a tendency to believe that if it were important, it would be reported in the MSM!
There should be more importance paid to the news arena... Its the only way to know whats really happening in the world..
In some countries there are government funded TV channels...
But at the end People have the world at their fingertips... through internet... they have to be educated to know that there must be more than anna nichole smith and iraq... they have to be thought that identifying themselves with what they see on mtv is a life of a zombie...
Living in the MOST influencial country on the planet you must have some sense of responsibility... If you are proud to say you are americans... you MUST de-zombify...
in my humble opinion...
this talk ought to be extended...
If all this was true then a new agency providing international news only can be born as it is clear there is a need for it.
They provide what Americans want and what is wrong with that?
In the end it's mostly propaganda anyway.
Summary of Video: Spend more time watching news unrelated to Anna Nicole Smith and Britney Spears.
Classic liberal thinking. The general populace doesn't have the capacity to think for themselves, so they need to be told what to do and believe and eat and watch on tv......
Friday, 19 September 2008
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Great Talk. I try to do my part by regularly sending emails to my family and friends. I quote from the BBC, from TED, from TheRealNews, Numerous Books, newspapers and any other places I find a unique point of view. I always include links to these sites and stress the need for diversification of your sources of information. The mainstream media of the U.S. is all about advertising and increasing their per second revenue, especially the news. No one reads books anymore, and magazines and newspaper subscriptions are in decline. A few years ago, the number of major independent media outfits numbered over 60, now there are less than 12. There is a lot less diversification now and any media outlet that doesn't value profits over content struggles and dies. If you combine that with a U.S. population that is in educational decline (SAT scores are dropping again this year), then the ignorance of the general population is not only predictable, but ensured. An ignorant, entertainment distracted populace, is much easier to control and manipulate. Why would government want to change that? It is up to us....you and me. A peeve for me is when people imply that 'Polite Conversation,' should never include Religion or Politics. Why? I say, have uncomfortable conversations regularly. Make people defend their point of view. Fight the ignorance of lazy minds; children are listening.