Comments on: Are the majority of journalists liars or just plain stupid? http://www.friday.com/bbum/2006/05/25/are-the-majority-of-journalists-liars-or-just-plains-stupid/ ...so google can index my head. Mon, 26 Jul 2010 19:42:06 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 By: Papa Joe http://www.friday.com/bbum/2006/05/25/are-the-majority-of-journalists-liars-or-just-plains-stupid/comment-page-1/#comment-5330 Papa Joe Sun, 28 May 2006 12:39:29 +0000 http://www.friday.com/bbum/2006/05/25/are-the-majority-of-journalists-liars-or-just-plains-stupid/#comment-5330 hey Bill, we agree on something!!!! us..we 2 amazing!!! just goes to show, if one lives long enough... hey Bill,

we agree on something!!!!

us..we 2

amazing!!!

just goes to show, if one lives long enough…

]]> By: Richard J. Daley http://www.friday.com/bbum/2006/05/25/are-the-majority-of-journalists-liars-or-just-plains-stupid/comment-page-1/#comment-5141 Richard J. Daley Fri, 26 May 2006 12:30:48 +0000 http://www.friday.com/bbum/2006/05/25/are-the-majority-of-journalists-liars-or-just-plains-stupid/#comment-5141 Maybe they're from Chicago? Maybe they’re from Chicago?

]]> By: Adrian http://www.friday.com/bbum/2006/05/25/are-the-majority-of-journalists-liars-or-just-plains-stupid/comment-page-1/#comment-5140 Adrian Fri, 26 May 2006 11:58:50 +0000 http://www.friday.com/bbum/2006/05/25/are-the-majority-of-journalists-liars-or-just-plains-stupid/#comment-5140 Work. Earn. Buy. Pay. You don't need a lot of brain for that. In fact if everybody had more brain we would have lots of problems. Because smart people would start to question the things they eat, wear, use and vote for. For example there would be a serious food shortage if everybody wanted high quality food that didn't come from some assembly line. The last I heard was that the president is pretty unpopular, so the first headline is funny as it's not very heard to be more popular than the president. Stop being angry because anger leads to the dark side. Work. Earn. Buy. Pay.

You don’t need a lot of brain for that. In fact if everybody had more brain we would have lots of problems. Because smart people would start to question the things they eat, wear, use and vote for. For example there would be a serious food shortage if everybody wanted high quality food that didn’t come from some assembly line.

The last I heard was that the president is pretty unpopular, so the first headline is funny as it’s not very heard to be more popular than the president.

Stop being angry because anger leads to the dark side.

]]> By: scott lewis http://www.friday.com/bbum/2006/05/25/are-the-majority-of-journalists-liars-or-just-plains-stupid/comment-page-1/#comment-5134 scott lewis Fri, 26 May 2006 08:47:59 +0000 http://www.friday.com/bbum/2006/05/25/are-the-majority-of-journalists-liars-or-just-plains-stupid/#comment-5134 Where these stories in the News sections or the Entertainment section? Because if they were beside "Bush & Blair set new Goals for Iraq", it's one thing. But if they're beside "Crazy Names Celebrities Give Their Babies", it's quite another. Where these stories in the News sections or the Entertainment section?

Because if they were beside “Bush & Blair set new Goals for Iraq”, it’s one thing. But if they’re beside “Crazy Names Celebrities Give Their Babies”, it’s quite another.

]]> By: bbum http://www.friday.com/bbum/2006/05/25/are-the-majority-of-journalists-liars-or-just-plains-stupid/comment-page-1/#comment-5127 bbum Fri, 26 May 2006 06:16:42 +0000 http://www.friday.com/bbum/2006/05/25/are-the-majority-of-journalists-liars-or-just-plains-stupid/#comment-5127 I knew both of those points going into this. That Seacrest would say something that reporters would repeat without a hint of sarcasm certainly raises a question in regards to their journalistic integrity. Seacrest is little more than a talking bobble head as far as his roll on AI is concerned. As per the headlines -- being "technically correct" when the underlying claim is utter bunk does not a good headline make. Hell, it is like claiming that Carbon Dioxide is actually really good just because we exhale it. Oh, wait... bastards. That it costs real money for people to vote on AI is irrelevant to this particular conversation (beyond further feeding my "people are idiots" funk). I knew both of those points going into this.

That Seacrest would say something that reporters would repeat without a hint of sarcasm certainly raises a question in regards to their journalistic integrity. Seacrest is little more than a talking bobble head as far as his roll on AI is concerned.

As per the headlines — being “technically correct” when the underlying claim is utter bunk does not a good headline make.

Hell, it is like claiming that Carbon Dioxide is actually really good just because we exhale it. Oh, wait… bastards.

That it costs real money for people to vote on AI is irrelevant to this particular conversation (beyond further feeding my “people are idiots” funk).

]]> By: Jim McCoy http://www.friday.com/bbum/2006/05/25/are-the-majority-of-journalists-liars-or-just-plains-stupid/comment-page-1/#comment-5125 Jim McCoy Fri, 26 May 2006 06:00:02 +0000 http://www.friday.com/bbum/2006/05/25/are-the-majority-of-journalists-liars-or-just-plains-stupid/#comment-5125 Ummm.... the first statement ("US idol more popular than the president") is debateable, but given the current polling numbers for the president I would not bet against it. The second two statements are true. They state that the winner of American Idol received more <i>votes</i> than the president, which is technically correct. The lines you quote do not make the claim that more <i>people</i> voted for the winner of this particular contest than voted for the winner of the last presidential election. A semantic quibble, perhaps, but it probably reveals that these journalists, looking for a sensational headline that passes muster with the copy editors, are both more truthful and more clever than you give them credit. It is also worth noting that every one of those votes actually cost the voter real money, which is a larger transactional cost than voting in an election... Ummm…. the first statement (“US idol more popular than the president”) is debateable, but given the current polling numbers for the president I would not bet against it. The second two statements are true. They state that the winner of American Idol received more votes than the president, which is technically correct. The lines you quote do not make the claim that more people voted for the winner of this particular contest than voted for the winner of the last presidential election.

A semantic quibble, perhaps, but it probably reveals that these journalists, looking for a sensational headline that passes muster with the copy editors, are both more truthful and more clever than you give them credit.

It is also worth noting that every one of those votes actually cost the voter real money, which is a larger transactional cost than voting in an election…

]]> By: Matt http://www.friday.com/bbum/2006/05/25/are-the-majority-of-journalists-liars-or-just-plains-stupid/comment-page-1/#comment-5124 Matt Fri, 26 May 2006 05:59:16 +0000 http://www.friday.com/bbum/2006/05/25/are-the-majority-of-journalists-liars-or-just-plains-stupid/#comment-5124 This idea came from the show itself, Bill: host Ryan Seacrest mentioned it during the two-hour finale, which will probably come out as the single highest-rated program of the season. They didn't think it up on their own, they're just repeating it. (Olbermann pointed this out tonight on <i>Countdown</i>.) This idea came from the show itself, Bill: host Ryan Seacrest mentioned it during the two-hour finale, which will probably come out as the single highest-rated program of the season. They didn’t think it up on their own, they’re just repeating it.

(Olbermann pointed this out tonight on Countdown.)

]]>