Generating Your Own Press

[David T]

It's amazing how good an e-federation can sound when that e-fed writes its own news stories. I'm not talking about distributing a professional looking press release. We've all seen those and been impressed by how they read. I'm talking more along the lines of blatant front page shills. I see some very poorly written hype pieces from site to site pawned off as legitimate news. What's worse is the individuals typing up this self promoting garbage actually start believing their own hype. They want you to believe they're something special, just like everyone else.

They (the shill artists) want you to share their opinion of them without actually doing something newsworthy to support their public dick waving. They come up quite short actually compared to others. There's nothing more polarizing than someone proclaiming they're the best of the best, forcing you to decide, right then and there whether or not they actually are El Numero Ono, King of all Kings, and Lord of all Lords, and the REAL kicker - BETTER THAN YOU. It's pathetic.

The untrained eye may not catch or discern what is a shill versus what is a factually based news article. The media itself could be to blame for this inherit dumbing down of media obsessed (yet knowledge starved) society. Do any of you want to be characterized as a mindless sheep? Then why are you getting your news from only one or a select few "news" sources? Why are you allowing someone else tell you what to think, how to feel, and who to "bah" to when he decides to raise his shepherd's staff on your magic entertainment box? Don't be someone's puppet on a string either ladies and gentlemen.

Depending on which news source you go to on television you may love or you may hate our President, Barack Obama. Keep in mind, the "news" being broadcast is helping you form that opinion of him. That's all some pretty deep, thought provoking subject matter to take into consideration, huh? What's this rant really all about? Get to the point already, Dave! Bare with me, I'll get to how all of this ties into e-wrestling in a minute. There's some relevance here. Just indulge me a little longer, allow an extra thought or two to develop in your head for a moment so you can comment later.

For now....

Listen to your radio. No, I mean really listen to it. You'll go from hearing blatant advertising, to infomercials, to some big mouthed nut job doing his damnedest to convince you his product or his political ideology (or both) should be the only political view to believe or only product worth using. In the midst of all this agenda seeking drivel where is the actual news? It goes without saying endorsements (i.e. public blow jobs) are not news no matter how well they are cleverly disguised. Deep down, they are advertisements!

Why is everything you see on TV labeled as "news" slanted? Why does every published or spoken statement in the media today have to involve spin? You read a news article. It's supported by the selective news anchor dolled up on your television set. The teleprompter goes on and what someone else wants that reporter to say is echoed and erroneously labeled "Late Breaking News". Sure, you may find some "news" in the report but that's only after having to listen to a carefully orchestrated manipulation of facts. Are they really "facts" once all the whoring happens?

Don't even get me started on how much crap there is to wade through on various internet websites that call themselves "news" sites. 90% of what you browse through today is a compellation of distorted and doctored stats, this statement included. That brings me back to the e-wrestling world. We have somehow allowed ourselves to participate in the "monkey see", "monkey do" game of selectively propping up who we like and digging up all the dirt on those we don't.

I say it's time to change the way the news is reported and distributed. I say it's time to put opinions where opinions belong in the blogosphere. It will be much more beneficial to e-wrestling promotions, handlers, and staff members alike if we take more pride in our work and observe more journalist integrity. I'd like to see this across the board - starting here, starting now. It's a lofty goal but optimistically it could happen. Every trend, every new culture, begins with someone bold enough to say, "Enough is enough!"

Have you had enough of the self serving press? Maybe it's time you as an individual generated your own press, the right way. Do something newsworthy. That action will echo louder than any self promoting shill or hype ever will. I know there are many within the e-wrestling community capable of accomplishing great things in 2010 and beyond. Those are the people you will read, see, and hear about the most. All the rest will find themselves left behind once they're exposed for the fakes they are.

All comments, questions, and concerns regarding this subject matter are welcome.

 

[EpyonMarx]

Speaking as a freelance journalist: pure news doesn't exist. Everything is spin - as soon as there's anything other than pure reporting of the facts (and often those facts are virtually impossible to come by) is opinion, whether based on known opinion or based on a plethora of other factors (where the listener perceives themselves, what their job is, how they were raised, etc). "Journalistic integrity" doesn't exist for the same reason there isn't a "free" press - the journalist reports the news in the way the person who pays the cheques decides, and other facts that might be newsworthy are protected by a variety of legislation. The closest the audience gets to seeing true journalistic integrity is when they consume different media and arrive at their opinion based on the mulitude of opinioned news they have consumed. Unless all opinion is stripped away and the journalist is freed from any outside influence (including but not limited to word-count, friendships, possible legal and financial ramifications in the real world) then the best anyone can hope is that different news outlets carry enough divergent opinions for the public to decide on their own opinion.

And now I'm going to go back into my corner and hope my mind flips out of academic mode, I'm not meant to start writing academic pieces until next week

 

[PlanetOfHats]

Hi, reporter here.

I'm a little sick of everyone ripping on the media as though all reporters are biased. We're not. Our job is to go out there and report the story. It's not my fault people look at pundits, anchors, analysts and columnists, whose job is to give analysis and opinion, and mistake these people for actual reporters. For the most part your average reporter is just reporting the facts as best he can. Sometimes thing do get lost to space requirements and legal limits, yeah, and a lot of power does lie in the hands of the advertisers, but I really don't like this assumption that all reporters are corrupt cackling overlords who deliberately hoard away information to deceive you as though we're all part of some huge conspiracy.

Stop tarring me with the same brush as Bill O'Reilly.

 

[John Doe]

Hi, reporter here.

I'm a little sick of everyone ripping on the media as though all reporters are biased. We're not. Our job is to go out there and report the story. It's not my fault people look at pundits, anchors, analysts and columnists, whose job is to give analysis and opinion, and mistake these people for actual reporters. For the most part your average reporter is just reporting the facts as best he can.

Stop tarring me with the same brush as Bill O'Reilly.

But....he has a no spin zone.....

 

[PlanetOfHats]

The No-Spin Zone sounds like a finishing move.

Someone call the Phantom Republican.

 

[LQJT86C]

Hi, reporter here.

I'm a little sick of everyone ripping on the media as though all reporters are biased. We're not. Our job is to go out there and report the story. It's not my fault people look at pundits, anchors, analysts and columnists, whose job is to give analysis and opinion, and mistake these people for actual reporters. For the most part your average reporter is just reporting the facts as best he can. Sometimes thing do get lost to space requirements and legal limits, yeah, and a lot of power does lie in the hands of the advertisers, but I really don't like this assumption that all reporters are corrupt cackling overlords who deliberately hoard away information to deceive you as though we're all part of some huge conspiracy.

Stop tarring me with the same brush as Bill O'Reilly.

Thank you! I say the same thing to people who whine about FOX News or MSNBC being Conservative/Liberal. Guys like Hannity, O'Reilly, Olbermann, they don't have to be down the middle. They're paid to render opinions, not unbias news. True, the opinion programming on these stations most likely gets more playtime than the actual news broadcasts, but that's more an argument on the direction of TV news, i.e. entertainment vs. reporting. Television networks view news like Vince McMahon views wrestling- it's news 'entertainment'.

 

[PaulNJ21]

The news is what it is. Everyone, whether they are conscious of it or not, has certain biases. What you should do is read/watch/listen to as many different perspectives as possible and then come to your own conclusions.

 

[fugginVOSS]

I prefer to watch Saw or something like that than the news. Real life is just too scary.

 

[EpyonMarx]

Reporters are biased unless they don't want to get paid - I tried reporting the facts about a case where Britain wanted a Russian national extradicted from Russia to Britain (Russian citizens cannot be extradicted from Russia to anywhere under the Russian constitution), but before I went on air with the bulletin got told to cut that part or there was no chance of having a job at the end of the day. I also had to slant the story to sound like "Russians evil, we good" (not what the editor said, but the gist of it). It comes right the way down to what words you have to say (why on Fox is a US sniper called a "sharpshooter" instead of a "sniper"? It's because of a memo from the top saying don't use "sniper" for US troops because the word has negative connotations). Journalists try to be as unbiased as possible, but sadly if they want to continue working they have to do what they're told. Journalists are victims of capitalism. (and I realise I just opened another can of worms )

 

[JLevinson]

I don't know, I think it all depends. There is certainly some editorial decision-making regarding what is going to be printed, even via the Associated Press or Reuters, which are both as unbiased as I've come across. Nonetheless, certainly some level of opinion has to decide what is and is not important.

That being said, there are a billion news sources out there from both sides of the political spectrum, so the information is pretty much out there if you want it. You just gotta find it.

 

[PlanetOfHats]

Interestingly I've seldom had that problem. Clearly you just have bad editors, Karl. Besides which, TV news is a much different beast than print.

 

[TH]

The Phantom Republican is going to be one of my next CAWs on SvR 10.