Invectives are not information.. and the NPR/Talk Radio challenge...

I from time to time take the NPR/Talk Radio challenge---okay I made up the NPR/Talk Radio challenge so I may be the only one "taking it"

 

Basically the NPR/Talk Radio challenge is to listen to one station for just a minute---listen to what the story is about, but also listen to the tone and intonation in the voices.

 

And I ask myself 2 questions--

• Is this news?
• How is the information in this story important for me as a voter/informed citizen
• who is the information coming from? An expert in the field? The host/entertainer? Some random person who has called into the show? 
• What is the tone of the story doing to me at an emotional level?
• does this segment make me feel mad? Am I getting angry? Do I feel antagonistic towards people/facts I don't agree with?

When you compare the two every single time I have found that the story/segment on NPR is news or a human interest story that helps me understand anther persons perspective--even though I might not agree.  AND every single time I listen to NPR I fail to feel angry, upset, or feel the blood pressure rise...

 

Every single time but once I've found the story or segment on talk radio is not news--- its opinions and talking points from the entertainer thyself.  Or some random person calling into the show.  And every single time I feel angry... the tone and rhetoric makes one feel aggressive and antagonistic.

 

One of the reasons that Tea Party types are so angry and feel the sky is falling is that they surround themselves with "news" that at just a visceral level makes them feel angry, upset, and distrustful.

 

I've posted on why people feel the sky is falling at an emotional level before--last time on how one feels intuitively just by looking at a map...

 

Charles Blow has a column that hits on this anger and distrust of Obama right now from Republicans...

This underscores the current fight for the soul of this country. It’s not just a tug of war between left and right. It’s a struggle between the mind and the heart, between evidence and emotions, between reason and anger, between what we know and what we believe.

This conflict was captured in a tit-for-tat between Obama and Rush Limbaugh. In an interview with CBS this week, Obama complained about the “vitriol” coming from the likes of Limbaugh: “I think the vast majority of Americans know that we’re trying hard, that I want what’s best for the country.”

Limbaugh shot back on Friday, “I and most Americans do not believe President Obama is trying to do what’s best for the country.”

And there it was. Obama’s language focused on what people “know,” or should know. He seems to find comfort in the empirical nature of knowledge. It’s logical. Limbaugh’s language focused on what he thinks people “believe.” Beliefs are a more complicated blend of facts, or lies, and faith. And, they can exist beyond the realm of the rational.

This focus on faith has allowed people like Limbaugh to mislead and manipulate large swaths of the right.

According to another Quinnipiac poll released last week, Republicans were far more likely than Democrats to say that they follow public affairs most of the time. But how? They listen to people like Limbaugh, and they’re more likely than others to watch Fox News.

But invectives are not information. For example, a poll released on Wednesday by the Pew Research Center found that most Republicans say that they still don’t understand how the new health care reform will affect them and their family.

They don’t know what it means, but they believe it’s bad. Rush & Co. said so. In the vacuum of confusion and misinformation, they strum their fears and feed their anxiety. And, by worrying, their faith is made perfect.

 The sky isn't falling... but people are angry and distrustful.  When we surround ourselves with entertainers and blogs*** that make us angry we aren't going to be able to think through complex challenges and understand that like it or not we are all in this together.

***i'm a blogger and I'm the first to admit I'm not a news source... though I hope i'm at least a resource to finding quality information its still just a way for me to keep track of things I find on the web, post up some of my own thoughts...  entertainment is entertainment is entertainment.  Real news and quality information will still come from experts, and quality journalism...

Posted via email from Jim Nichols for GA State House