MayTheFourthBeWithYou
DimensionVille
From Evan Scrimshaw's latest:
...(W)e have too many people who aren’t working at any form of singular purpose – we have too many reporters working as pundits, too many pundits pretending to be forecasters, and too many people who end up not being particularly good at either. What we need is a media that covers electoral impacts and policy impacts separately, and doesn’t treat “this is bad but voters don’t care” as salient analysis. Those are two separate and distinct thoughts that deserve to be treated separately, but too much of our media doesn’t.
And it’s making us all stupider...
I think Mr. Scrimshaw has a point.
After all, how many times have you read/heard/seen a piece wherein the pundit tells you that a policy proposal by a local/provincial/national government is important and in the next breath tells you that the policy proposal is irrelevant because a significant chunk of the public doesn't like the sounds of said policy.
As a result of this behaviour, which is repeated over and over and over again, we very often do not do those things that will help us all in the future because of some stupid poll taken today.
Which, of course, really is stupid.
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Somebody really ought to write a sci-fi story about a sharp young kid who builds a time machine, not to travel forward to meet the Eloi or scribble down winning lottery ticket numbers, but instead to come back with poll numbers from the future that make it clear that 98% of the public in 2062 loves the fact that the universal basic income plan implemented by prime minister Autumn Peltier in the spring of 2058 almost completely eliminated poverty while it simultaneously boosted the sustainable GDP-free economy...Or some such thing.
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8 comments:
Isn't he a fantastic writer? I always look forward to his takes- he's humble too as he fully takes responsibility for his mis-call on the Ford debacle last June in Ontario. His take on Jagmeet Singh is particularly compelling. This latest one, is spot on and thought provoking. Certainly a lot better than the always reliable Chantel Hebert, who isn't so much anymore. Tim
Tim--
Yes - in addition to the quality of his writing and analysis I, too, appreciate the fact that Scrimshaw is able to be self-critical in an honest way.
Additionally, in this specific piece he provides a clear illustration of how much the quality of Ms. Hebert's work has degraded recently.
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Citing the decline of C. Hebert's work brings to mind the sad state of political commentary on the MotherCorp generally. This dates me, but nobody could accuse the KCL combo (Kierans, Camp, & Lewis) of dreary predictability!
S-B--
I agree.
Plus, despite their different political stances, they often acted as honest brokers in that group KCL dynamic which I always appreciated.
That is essentially never the case these days on just about any 'panel' you choose to examine.
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@emptywheel on Twitter this morning calling out Maggie Haberman:
“If media outlets insist on having political journalists cover legal investigations, AT LEAST they should be competent enough to call out when a politician refuses to say what he wrote in a book under oath.”
Amen.
Lew--
Amen, indeed.
However, if Ms. Haberman were to do that she would signal that she is not longer playing the game. As a result, she would immediately lose access, either now or in the future. Furthermore, given that her NYT gig is built playing, and most often winning, the access journalism game, well...
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RossK:
Heard our local poster boy for that MO giddily revealing on air he’d had breakfast with a couple of cabinet ministers opening day of this legislative session. No doubt more was hatched at that session than what went into the eggs benny.
scrimshaw said it very well.
I'll have to check out Empty Wheel.
Whether they are American or Canadian they don't say more or provide much information. They all have their "line" and they're sticking to it. Its like a game show and not that interesting.
Now as to the basic income, that is something worth talking about, no lets not talk about it, just implement it. We know the "experiment" prior to Deif being elected worked well. Its also an interesting read when the people involved were asked a long time after how the "experiment effected them through their lives. I remember one couple who decided to go to art school and made aliving for the rest of their lives doing pottery and other various types of art and were happy. It would be so much less exxpensive than all the various "programs". People are smart, they know what they and their families need. If they don't have enough money, just send them what they need and they'll take care of themselves.
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