Charles Pierce: The job of journalism is to hammer home reality until perception conforms to it.

[HomerRamone]

http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/23141-focus-perception-and-reality-and-the-death-of-journalism-

Of all the sins against the craft of journalism, the one I find the most mortal is the acceptance by journalists as axiomatic the notion that "Perception is reality." This is a fine thing for ad men, and for consultants, and for the other witches and warlocks that make up the tangle of fauna infesting our political system. It is death to actual journalism. Perception is perception and reality is reality and, if they don't match up, then it is the job of journalism not to accept the perception as the reality, but to hammer home the reality until the perception conforms to this. If you want to see someone who has tumbled all the way down the rabbit hole on this issue, check out the quotes collected here at Salon from The Washington Post's Chris Cillizza.

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So it is the journalist's job to accept that which sells, no matter how dishonest it is, simply because it is sold well? Truth, as someone wrote in a book once, is defined as that which enough people believe? Dear Jesus, what a mess.

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Nobody can deny that the Republicans have done a fine job spending millions of dollars on meretricious advertising to scare people into hating a law that those same people simultaneously love piecemeal. Nobody can deny that the Republicans have done a fine job spending millions of dollars on meretricious politics in order to define the entire ACA by its shoddy launch -- which was, I keep pointing out, almost nine months ago. Nobody can deny that they are staking their entire midterm election strategy on saddling the Democrats with a law that is working, relying on the perception that their meretricious advertising and meretricious politicking have created to convince people is not. Well done, consultants and ad people. Have another round on me.

However, it is not the primary job of journalism to point out how effective the sales job has been. The primary job of journalism is to point out, again and again, that the Act is largely working the way it is supposed to work, and to point this out over and over until the perception yields to the reality in the public mind. This is what makes the job particularly thankless. Nobody wants to be told that they're wrong, over and over again. That is not the way to be popular. That will crimp your social schedule. But nobody ever should get into this racket to be popular anyway. That is another modern heresy that needs desperately to be stamped out.

AMEN.

[DonCoquixote]

1. on the one hand

There is some truth to the idea that "perception informs the data", many times what can one perceive will affect what something becomes.

However, anyone who takes it that extra step, that "perception IS reality" should try walking into a desert and perceive that they have water. Despite all the limits of glories of human perception, there is still a reality that exists, like it or not.

[HomerRamone]

2. "Views Still Differ on Shape of Planet" nt

[RobertEarl]

3. It's all about propaganda

On DU we see posters attempting to create reality thru a constant hammering of their perception.

Like the idea that the 2010 election disaster was caused because Liberals did not vote. Beware of those posters who post such nonsense.

Then there are some who attempt to deride the scientific method by calling anything that is not congruent with their small minded reality: woo.

And then the adopted reality from the pro-nuke people that "Nukes are safe". That was the whore sold proposition from the beginning, and some people still try to sell that perception against all the science that shows nukes are not safe.

DU is journalism. Few here are paid, but many are whorish, twisted perception sellers, trying to sell us what they say day after day after day, is somehow the truth.

Beware of those whores.

[Junkdrawer]

5. The Probability of an Accident.....not based on Statistics, mind you, computed...from blueprints...

Take a perfectly useful word from this language game.....walk it a few miles.....drop it cold into that language game.

Someday when I have a few spare hours/days, the story I could tell.

[Junkdrawer]

4. Hard to Lampoon this level of corruption....

Truth............Lampoon of Truth...................................................................................America, 2014


My arms are too short.