What IS the media bias?

[liveonearth]

I got enough responses to my bit about preparing to resist radiation that it occurs to me to wonder, is the media really working so hard to inflame panic? Or are they trying to keep us from panicking so that we will all just go to the mall and buy movie tickets instead of concerning ourselves with radiation? I have no idea what the media is up to, because aside from this outward mental spew I participate in it very little. I do not watch TV. I do catch a few minutes of NPR from time to time, and last I heard was some expert saying that the situation at the plant there has surpassed the level of the Three Mile Island meltdown. That was enough for me to know that radiation has already been emitted. I'm not panicked....but I'm interested. These ARE interesting times. I'm fascinated, in fact, with the homogenaity of the responses I've gotten. So everybody thinks it is a hoax? What is informing you of this certainty? And what makes you so sure you are right? I'll have to wait for my other bit a media---a weekly called The Week---before I will have any more media hype to pass on.

Comments

[neptunia67.livejournal.com]

Haha - people stay glued to the media but nobody believes it. It's like watching a car wreck - don't want to see the destruction but can't tear their eyes away.

Personally I think there's a big problem over there. I haven't seen any news footage (Paul did yesterday morning and said it was hyped up bigtime)... however I have NPR connected on my Facebook feed and have been reading tweets and getting updates from friends who have Japanese connections. I prefer to get my news firsthand as often as possible these days. Reading about actual experiences seems to give the most realistic perspective of what's happening, although not the perspective of the experts (scientists, engineers, etc.)

[liveonearth.livejournal.com]

It has recently become crystal clear to me that many Americans don't trust or like science or scientists. I think it is because I started dating someone who honestly feels that way. And perhaps if I took in more of that hyped up media, I'd become more cynical about science myself. Instead, I read the abstracts and then dig into the studies that seem relevant to my interests...and I follow the work in certain areas, building my own picture of reality from the stream of data generated by raw science. I know I don't know for sure, but I can't help but to have ideas and theories about what is going on... and the media can't talk me out of what I know, unless they also take me back to the source.