Kyle Brady: Blog » News

Age Bias In Media Reporting/Journalism [OpEd]

Kyle Brady — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 07:05:31 +0000

There’s a disturbing trend seen over the last decade: age has become a critical factor for a television news anchor, valued reporter, or any other position that involves direct interaction between “the people” and news services, occurring across all forms of Old Media. This trend of believing age is a factor in talent, skill, believability, or overall trustworthiness is not only disturbing, but is both ruining the experience of younger talents and contributing to the demise of Old Media itself.

The age of reporters has been increasing steadily since the debut of television news, and can be clearly seen with the announcement of Diane Sawyer, at the age of 63, to take up ABC’s World News anchor position. There are occasions when a person is kept because of their talent more than age, such as Tom Brokaw, but these are few and far between – more often than not, an anchor is held onto due to name recognition and their familiarity and not any specific set of talents or skills that could not be found in slightly fresher faces. In looking across all networks, the age of those involved in primetime television news averages near 40, and often eclipses it, and the average increases if local news outfits become the focal point. Television is not alone in this bias, as their also-dying brethren in newspapers have the same issue of pandering to older generations, and in-between publications such as TIME or Newsweek have similar, albeit lessened, problems. Why, then, is this the case?

It would seem that the answer may lie in the audience’s comfort level with familiar faces, even when those familiar faces are aging, untalented, and lack any basic intelligence. But by chasing ratings over talent, the companies are feeding the cyclical nature of their own demise: younger generations are going to be less interested in individuals old enough to be their parents or grandparents for the delivery of news or opinions, if they’re even interested in the activities of Old Media at all. Evidence for this fundamental truth can be found not only in human nature, but in the fact that while individuals under the age of 30 increasingly flock to the Internet as a source for news and entertainment, Comedy Central’s The Daily Show and Colbert Report continue to have wonderful ratings within that same demographic for infotainment - exactly what CNN, NBC, ABC, and others produce, no matter their higher minded claims.

Both of Comedy Central's news shows are spearheaded by men – Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, respectively - who are in their mid-40s, but appear to be much younger at heart and in mind than their network counterparts. But more to the point, their regular contributors and correspondents are typically younger comics, like John Oliver (age 32, debuted at 29), who are vibrant, full of life, and in touch with what the under-30 demographic are interested in – exactly opposite the major news outlets.

The fact that it takes a journalist an average of twenty years to reach any position of credibility or public visibility is quite likely a deterrent for many young journo’s interested in the field, who may choose to take their talents elsewhere. More importantly, by cultivating an increasingly older crop of journalists, those who are new or inexperienced are not allowed the very experience required for them to later reach exalted positions – a problem seen throughout most industries in today’s “need experience, not college kids” environment.

This bias is also pushing an increasing number of interested young-guns to New Media, where their age is seen as a perk and not a disadvantage, for blogging, Internet-video, and a number of other budding online news production outfits and methodologies. The rise of blogs, online news, YouTube, and others is no coincidence, and those who unconditionally embrace it are the future of media, no matter how hard Old Media outlets continue to push aged commenters on a passive audience – more specifically, this means younger, faster, and more savvy individuals will soon rule the journalism game, quickly turning the tables on their predecessors, bringing a new meaning to “journalistic age bias”.

Network news, newspapers, and magazines have created this culture where age is valued over talent, connections over ability, and name recognition over actual worth – now they must deal with its consequences.

Michael Jackson: Time to Move On [OpEd]

Kyle Brady — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 07:05:39 +0000

Last week, Michael Jackson died. The “King of Pop” may have been unintentionally murdered by his doctor the victim of unintentional manslaughter, but the larger story is that the Internet essentially broke due to his death. More importantly, the metaphorical presses of the media stopped for days on end, and are only just beginning to recover – a full week after the initial event. For most people, his death was just the passing of a former celebrity turned modern eccentricity, but for a small minority it was earth shattering. It was for this highly emotional minority that the entirety of the American news media, both on and offline, mainstream and non, decided to have round-the-clock dedicated coverage.

It was highly embarrassing to see the media fawn over Michael Jackson’s death as if he were a beloved icon, when the very same groups loved to crucify his every odd move and decision. Even more embarrassing was that they decided constant coverage was an appropriate reaction so such a small-scale event, shunning crucial events in both North Korea and Iran for chasing a dead celebrity’s body around the state of California. No major media outlet was an exception: CNN, MSNBC, NBC, CBS, NPR, and The BBC all had similar amounts, and depth, of coverage – FOX News too, if they can be included as a news source.

While the death of a former celebrity, possibly the world’s most popular, is sad and marks the end of an era, such 24/7 coverage was both unnecessary and unproductive. Iran had large protests in the streets over an election (which still remains in dispute), and North Korea was brandishing words of war against the Western World – was this not news? Additionally, America’s politicians are in a highly agitated state of fact versus rhetoric over “healthcare reform” – something the general population knows little, if anything, about.

In a culture that gets most of its news via media infotainment, the level of gossip on these networks is already absurdly high – Michael Jackson managed to eclipse every other event in both America and the world. Due to such an eclipse, American citizens tuned into the so-called news at record levels, only to receive unintelligent and garbled fodder pieces instead of intellectual stimulation. FOX News’ usual ranting rhetoric would have been preferable to the “MJ Watch”, since it would have at least elucidated the important issues – even if the facts and spin were entirely incorrect.

This week is no better in the media: Michael Jackson is beginning to fade, as there is nothing left to talk about, but South Carolina’s Governor Mark Sanford has taken his place as the nonsense sensationalized news piece du jour. True, he disappeared completely from his office for days to have an affair with a woman in Argentina. Yes, it was possibly achieved using government funds, and his previous trysts may have involved improper uses of state money as well. He should be forced to resign, and fade from the political life completely – potentially even prosecuted for his misuse of funds. But he is not deserving of constant coverage and attention. Such public scrutiny may destroy his career, but rumors are he is already considering his future as an author thanks to his new-found celebrity.

When will the American media learn? Or the news media at large? What entertains or attracts a large viewership is not part of the definition of “news story” – it shouldn’t be difficult to discern what is truly important versus what is pandering fluff, and yet the 24/7 news cycle is continuing to produce larger quantities of unimportant pieces. The only places to find in-depth coverage of politics or otherwise ignored issues are blogs, and even then they cater to audiences that are already interested in such topics – previously ignorant individuals are not being informed by Politico, DailyKos, or Donklephant.

The American political culture continues to split even further into argumentative factions, prohibiting even the most basic of legislation from being passed, and the majority of America is too concerned with the daily life of C-list celebrities to even notice. This is not what should be happening, and it is contributing to our potential future decline.

It’s time to let the Michael Jacksons and Mark Sanfords of the country fade into the background, permanently, so the real issues can be addressed, however briefly.

4chan’s /b/ – Part of German School Shooting? [Expose]

Kyle Brady — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 07:47:10 +0000

The school shooting in Germany from Wednesday has had rumors of "chat room warnings" prior to the event, which were ignored by local police, but then were quickly debunked as "probably a hoax".

However.

A source with an eye on many of the same things as me sent over a file a little bit ago:

Neither the organization nor comments are mine or my source's.

As I'm sure many readers here will already know, I love /b/, and to a smaller extent, 4chan in general. But this evidence appears to be damning.

Anyone who's done their share of photoshopping should be able to look at that and see that it hasn't been edited for timestamps or content - only the reorganization of the details, for what I assume are "presentation" purposes.

This isn't the first time someone's threatened, as an Anon, to do some heavy violence (to themselves or others). And this wouldn't be the first time it was followed through either.

But egging someone on, when you're unsure of their seriousness, is not a good idea. There's a line between humor and prodding, being a /b/tard and just being retarded...

And things like this cross it.

Since the "chatroom" mentioned in all the coverage is unidentified, we don't know if they're referring to 4chan itself, but I would assume not, based on the descriptions of having usernames and the conversation that transpired. The admin of that chatroom has denied that it happened... but it would be highly difficult to prove it had happened on 4chan, let alone inquire Moot about it.

Which begs the question: have the police, or anyone of any authority, come across this "evidence" yet?

I don't know if this is entirely real or not, but I think it's worth people knowing about - worth consideration.

I love /b/ just as much as alot of other nerds out there do...

But sometimes, it just goes too far.

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Update (3/13/2009 12:10pm PST): People around the world are getting arrested for "copycats", posted on other "chatrooms" and "message boards".

Tom Green Takes on The World [Expose]

Kyle Brady — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 23:45:41 +0000

With all the news of "old media" failing, Tom Green has apparently decided it's time for him to take over.

After 4chan's /b/ getting riled up recently about Tom Green, and a few misguided Anons trying to start memes over him (or was Tom trying to amuse to them?), he has reached out an olive branch - perhaps in response to getting raided recently in his chat room on his live broadcast.

It seems he wants to use the raiding power and nerd dominance of /b/ for his own purposes:

I am extending an olive branch to /b/. Guys and gals at /b/... Help me fight the good fight. Lets take on the man.

Although he does know what he's talking about, and has obviously visited the board more than a few times:

Find the haters. Search. Destroy. Fail. Lulz. :)

I think this is going to appeal to alot of /b/tards, since it not only incorporates making someone miserable, but an offbeat weirdo comedian as well. It's a case of like-attracting-like if there ever was one.

Tom's goals aren't exactly clear, but it looks like he first wants to make himself visible in the public eye again, while simultaneously taking on all of the mainstream media and big networks in an attempt to ... get his live broadcast on a network? Tom's message back to me helps make things more clear. He's not interested in "taking on the media", but rather distributing attention and wealth to those who deserve it, and not the networks. Apply the concepts of music piracy, and how it doesn't actually effect the artists that much, to TV shows, and you'll get the basic point.

I agree that things could/should/would be done alot different, if the networks didn't have such absolute control, but there's a line- shows like "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" just simply wouldn't be the same if they were done on an independent budget. However, I think the world would be alot better off with less network-controlled brainwash crap (American Idol or Survivor, anyone?)... the talkshow-type programs should leave the networks first, since they're easier to produce, followed by the more scripted/planned shows. For example, Conan O'Brien could easily flourish in an online/independent format, as well as "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia", a cheap-to-produce comedy/sitcom.

I'm not sure this is the tipping point, yet, even though Tom seems to think so... but I think it's coming. Between independent content creators/publishers and sites like Hulu that allow a more user-oriented viewing experience, change is coming.

And it's not just Barack Obama that's bringing it.

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Update (3/12/2009 5:40pm PST): I sent Tom a message after writing this and got a response back. Details above have been edited to reflect his clarifications:

Thanks Kyle. I read your blog. Let me be a bit more clear. No this is not about getting my show on a network. This is about becoming the network. And giving all of you the opportunity to do the same. Most shows on TV cost a million dollars an episode to produce if not more. Why? Because the network has massive costs and overheard. Indy broadcasters don't have that. SO we don't need 50 million viewers. We can do really well with 1 million viewers. But if 50 indy broadcasters suddenly had a million viewers each, then this is going to cut into the TV ratings. SO the big biys are trying to keep The Channel down. They don't want this to work. All independent thinking rebels online should unite! Lets go after the big guys! Just like I get bigger lulz watching somebody prank CSPAN on the phone, then when they prank here. Because they really don't get it. I do get it. We have to go after the people that don't get it. This is about creating a business model for independent artists that works. Then we can all take our slice of the media, and end TV networks as we know it. All the networks control is the talent. But this is because they control the money. If the talent can go directly to the consumer, because of the ability to do so on the internet, then the big networks will eventually become obsolete. Just like musicians can now go directly to the consumer, this will end the big record companies as we know it. So here is the deal. We need to all collectively support people online who are doing non conventional independent stuff. You wonder why AOL Time Warner is attacking this website in the blogs online? TMZ etc? Because they don't want this web show to work. We get double the ratings of TMZ.com on our video downloads. People are downloading 40 million videos a month. They don't even come to tomgreen.com to do so. They are downloading and watching through embedded files all over the internet. This is the reason why Alexa has TMZ ahead of us, when really more people are watching video on The Channel. Alexa doesn't account for embedded downloads... This is our biggest viewership. Lets go after the big boys. We have them running scared!! If this works, others will copy. And they will lose control of the content. Then They will lose control of the media. This is happening fast now. Sorry if I am not being totally clear. The main point is this. Any blogger who works for the big broadcasters or media outlets who is trash talking little guys like me, well, they deserve to be schooled. They should do their research and stop stomping on the little guy when he is down. Ahhhhhhhh! Charge!!!! All skateboarders and rappers and punk rockers charge!!! Because at the end of the day! We don't give a FUCK!!!! This is the FU generation! So FUCK OFF!!!! TG