Letters to the Editor
mattwa33186
Published Letters: 395 Editor's Choice: 41
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A perfect storm
[Read the article: Five years of Iraq lies]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]A Democratic party that offers nothing but empty shirt intellectuals as candidates in 2000 and 2004, and then through inaction proceeds to make Bush the most powerful President in our history.
A media that constantly uses the First Amendment as a shield for whatever garbage they feel like foisting on us that day but no longer upholds any of the responsibilities that were the reason for their protected speech.
And an apathetic public that is more than willing to buy into the bread and circuses type government that has been the result.
Bush can lie with impunity because the people charged with calling bullshit have all abdicated their responsibilities. He can do as he pleases because no one is going to even try to stop him.
How have these people managed to remain in office? Why aren't we marching in the streets, calling for impeachment, censure, and imprisonment? Ultimately we have no one but ourselves to blame, because when the American government decided it was no longer answerable to the people, we did nothing. We accept the fact that our elections will be decided by corporations. We accept the fact that our representatives no longer represent us. Long as I have a Land Rover and a McMansion, everything is fine.
To all the Second Amendment supporters, go ahead and hand in your guns. This was exactly the reason we had them, to protect us from a tyrannical government that no longer answered to the citizens, but obviously the days when we would stand up for ourselves are long past. The justification for personal firearms is gone. We gave it up.
God only knows what the next 8 years will bring. Liberal backlash? More of the same? All I know is that a return to the center and our Constitutional Republic isn't likely to happen for a long time.
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And it's going to get worse
[Read the article: How local TV embraced fake news]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Tivo and set-top boxes will be used as weapons against us, measuring eyeballs and then correlating those metrics with sales whenever these ads run. They'll get better at it. More marketers will start doing it. And "news" organizations will use this free, high quality (in a sense) content to increase their bottom lines.
Wal-Mart and Publix actually had their advertising for free and low cost prescriptions delivered by news anchors. Sure, it's a public service and people are going to want to know, but it's also a loss leader and a marketing tactic.
The false authority these pieces bring isn't their main benefit, although it is a benefit. As Tivo, the internet, and electronic mail and billing (how many people still check snail mail every day?) chip away at the interruption based advertising that companies have relied on for over 100 years, companies that are too lazy or unimaginative or cheap to come up with ways to get permission based advertising to work for them will basically steal permission.
You gave them permission to show you the news. They showed you an ad instead, without telling you it was an ad, and for that reason you didn't fast forward or go to the bathroom or get a snack. You stayed and watched. The message was delivered. And the chances that you will buy something as a result of receiving that message are exponentially higher than they would be if you had watched a 60 second commercial.
Anyway, that pretty much answers my question about how a local TV station can afford to have 75 reporters, most of which you only see one time.