The Media and Common Sense

[Andy A]

Common sense is not something that is expressed by a journalist's opinion. It is a consensus by the majority of people that something being done is for the good of all, legal and being done in good conscience. It is teaching your children what to do in public, right from wrong and the consequences of their actions should they be wrong. It is the fabric of our daily actions and our lives. It is doing what we know is right even if we dislike doing it.
Somewhere along the way, our media has lost its ability to present us with a common sense perspective of our daily happenings and the problems confronting us. They harangue us from both the left and right with opinion couched in their beliefs and having little to do with the facts of whatever the subject may be. It is almost always a long, long way from being an approach based on what we have been taught is common sense.
Of course, there are exceptions to this aberration in the media. One, for instance, is Ron Kelley, who until recently, was editor of the Beach Breeze and Herald. His editorials, which of course are opinions, are brimming with common sense. I do not find this prevalent with many other journalists. I realize this portion is my opinion. The definition of common sense as I describe it, is not.
More importantly, I am interested in what your take and attitude is regarding the media and its use of common sense. As you have probably gathered, mine is they usually don't utilize common sense, only diatribe.-

 

[Here4Good]

I agree completely.

I believe that this is because there are just too many news outlets, and they are ratings hounds, not actual news organizations. Their mission is not to inform, but to get you to watch/read - and the more they can get you interested in the subject, by getting you inflamed and angry, the better off they are.

They all want to be opinion leaders - they want to drive which issues are being discussed, and they even provide us with catch phrases that we can use in place of actual thoughts. It's a bumper sticker world, and any issue that requires more information than you can put on a t-shirt gets condensed down to meaninglessness.

Everything is also so splintered - people choose their news source by how much they think that source is "right", and so each source has a smaller group to pander to. Their "rightness" gets narrower and narrower.

I worry about anyone who agrees with everything a certain pundit or outlet says 100% of the time. I remember 10 years ago, when Rush Limbaugh was on the rise, I heard his listeners call themselves "Dittoheads" and I just shuddered. To say that anyone is always right is surrendering your brain to laziness.

 

[kkddbb]

Interesting post. And your right as far as im concerned. However, its more than that i believe. Common sense is one thing most in the media have forgotten, no doubt. But, in todays media we actually have political cheerleaders. And than you have flat out irresponsibility. I watch every network everynight and read many newspapers and online sites. I do this to get the most info available and also to see the craziness thats being spewed. I do this because i can no longer take the word of just one correspondant and/or journalist as well as anchors. I see the outcome of this everyday on this very blog. Im always amazed at how lazy journalists are in modern america. We have correspondants that actually get their info from blogs these days and other opinion and/or aggenda driven outlets and use them as fact instead of doing the research themselves. Its created hatred across the board on political issues and makes the american people zombies because they dont know the facts of the subject. Unfortunatly for all of us, there are just a few outlets that are credible these days. Its tough to make life decisions in your own life if you can get the whole news and nothing but the news. Whats most unfortunate is that one our greatest freedoms (freedom of the press) has been taken for granted and taken hostage and used as either entertainment and/or aggenda driving machines. Most of the world would die for free press while here in america many have taken it for granted for selfish reasons. And even worse, our military has fought for generations for this freedom and now they are being stabbed in the back for their sacrifice. Bottom line, its tough to get the news and our options are limited more than ever. Lets hope things change for the better someday....but im not holding my breath

 

[hnooe]

Common sense is not something that is expressed by a journalist's opinion. It is a consensus by the majority of people that something being done is for the good of all, legal and being done in good conscience. It is teaching your children what to do in public, right from wrong and the consequences of their actions should they be wrong. It is the fabric of our daily actions and our lives. It is doing what we know is right even if we dislike doing it.
Somewhere along the way, our media has lost its ability to present us with a common sense perspective of our daily happenings and the problems confronting us. They harangue us from both the left and right with opinion couched in their beliefs and having little to do with the facts of whatever the subject may be. It is almost always a long, long way from being an approach based on what we have been taught is common sense.
Of course, there are exceptions to this aberration in the media. One, for instance, is Ron Kelley, who until recently, was editor of the Beach Breeze and Herald. His editorials, which of course are opinions, are brimming with common sense. I do not find this prevalent with many other journalists. I realize this portion is my opinion. The definition of common sense as I describe it, is not.
More importantly, I am interested in what your take and attitude is regarding the media and its use of common sense. As you have probably gathered, mine is they usually don't utilize common sense, only diatribe.-

______________________________________________

I agree and disagree. (Hey, Andy I SAID I agree)

Common sense would be very welcomed in an op ed piece where the media author is editorializing his or her own opinon, or that of the news outlet they represent-- based on the facts.

The media in the pejorative sense is not here to teach or promote common sense, it is to simply report all the facts known (not their perspective) in a fair and balanced way, and let us decide (the way Fox News says it "should be.")

 

[Blair]

It's not news anymore...It's entertainment

 

[Beach Runner]

Agreed, Andy A. and Here4Good.

For example, CNN is clearly pro-Obama. But they turn on him at the drop of a hat if it helps get listeners more lathered up. We listened to CNN on Sirius much of the way to the beach. On that day they were railing against Obama re the economy. I agree that the second hundred days have not been good for the economy. But shouldn't they stand by their man? Donna Brazile is on vacay, so she couldn't be there to support her man unequivocally as she typically does.

 

[poppy]

I believe you are confusing reporting of the news with news shows. I can tune to any network and get straight forward reporting of the news, it is only when the tuner is left on one network the entire day does one begin to hear the bias. I read the papers and listen to no more than 30 to 45 min. of the news. All the talking head programs on the tv and radio don't interest me.

 

[Alicia Leonard]

Common sense is not something that is expressed by a journalist's opinion. It is a consensus by the majority of people that something being done is for the good of all, legal and being done in good conscience. It is teaching your children what to do in public, right from wrong and the consequences of their actions should they be wrong. It is the fabric of our daily actions and our lives. It is doing what we know is right even if we dislike doing it.
Somewhere along the way, our media has lost its ability to present us with a common sense perspective of our daily happenings and the problems confronting us. They harangue us from both the left and right with opinion couched in their beliefs and having little to do with the facts of whatever the subject may be. It is almost always a long, long way from being an approach based on what we have been taught is common sense.
Of course, there are exceptions to this aberration in the media. One, for instance, is Ron Kelley, who until recently, was editor of the Beach Breeze and Herald. His editorials, which of course are opinions, are brimming with common sense. I do not find this prevalent with many other journalists. I realize this portion is my opinion. The definition of common sense as I describe it, is not.
More importantly, I am interested in what your take and attitude is regarding the media and its use of common sense. As you have probably gathered, mine is they usually don't utilize common sense, only diatribe.-

A journalist may very well believe that the opinion they are expressing is what they believe to be "common sense." It may not be common to you (agreeable) but it does not mean that it is not common to them and their circle of friends and family.*(Only in the case of an editorial.)

Then there is the case where there is a universal"common sense" such as don't stick your finger in an electrical outlet.

I do not believe that the politics and "common sense" will ever meet. There are too many variables.


There is more than one kind of common sense.

"Common sense" in philosophy has two general meanings:

1. a sense of things being common to other things
2. a sense of things common to humanity

[ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_sense"]Common sense - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]



I like the idea that "common sense" is an oxymoron. It's not that common and not everyone has it.................such as ........."Hey. Watch this!"

 

[Beach Runner]

I believe you are confusing reporting of the news with news shows. I can tune to any network and get straight forward reporting of the news, it is only when the tuner is left on one network the entire day does one begin to hear the bias. I read the papers and listen to no more than 30 to 45 min. of the news. All the talking head programs on the tv and radio don't interest me.

What do you listen to or read in order to get unbiased news?

 

[Andy A]

A journalist may very well believe that the opinion they are expressing is what they believe to be "common sense." It may not be common to you (agreeable) but it does not mean that it is not common to them and their circle of friends and family.*(Only in the case of an editorial.)

Then there is the case where there is a universal"common sense" such as don't stick your finger in an electrical outlet.

I do not believe that the politics and "common sense" will ever meet. There are too many variables.


There is more than one kind of common sense.

"Common sense" in philosophy has two general meanings:

1. a sense of things being common to other things
2. a sense of things common to humanity

Common sense - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



I like the idea that "common sense" is an oxymoron. It's not that common and not everyone has it.................such as ........."Hey. Watch this!"

And therein lies the crux of the matter. Journalists reporting the news are responsible to report who, what, when, where and how. When it becomes more than that, it is opinion unless backed with hard, indisputable facts. Columnists are immediately biased on one side or the other. Pick your poison but please don't tell me how "right" they are.
I do agree that politics and common sense will probably never meet. However, that does not mean it isn't there and recognizable by educated, intelligent and researching citizens.
BTW, I, too, used the Wikipedia Encyclopedia source that you used. Just because Wikipedia says it, doesn't make it gospel. Common sense is recognized by most informed citizen. In my opinion, most recognize it when they see it and it doesn't and shouldn't conform to any specific party lines. Its somewhat like Pornography. It may be kind of hard to define but one recognizes it when they see it.