Comments on: Obama vs. Clinton: distraction from world reality? http://thekaufmannpost.net/obama-vs-clinton-distraction-from-world-reality/ Transparency, corruption and governance matters, evidence-based Sat, 21 Aug 2010 17:22:33 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: Stephen Roblin http://thekaufmannpost.net/obama-vs-clinton-distraction-from-world-reality/comment-page-1/#comment-180 Stephen Roblin Tue, 24 Jun 2008 18:17:09 +0000 http://thekaufmannpost.net/obama-vs-clinton-distraction-from-world-reality/#comment-180 I definitely think Americans can, partially, be blamed for the "stupidity and lack of imagination of the people producing the news." In my opinion, the "diminishing audience" has very little to do with the lack of reporting of important events occurring outside the country such as the examples listed by Daniel Kaufmann. What I typically hear is that people are sick of the "blood and guts" and overall "negative press." I don't think the decline is due to an unfulfilled appetite for current events occurring outside the country. If there were an appetite, I'm quite confident that the "people producing the news" would meet this demand. Doing so would only increase ratings and, in turn, increase their "bottom line." In short, I disagree with you that Americans should not be blamed. I definitely think Americans can, partially, be blamed for the “stupidity and lack of imagination of the people producing the news.” In my opinion, the “diminishing audience” has very little to do with the lack of reporting of important events occurring outside the country such as the examples listed by Daniel Kaufmann. What I typically hear is that people are sick of the “blood and guts” and overall “negative press.” I don’t think the decline is due to an unfulfilled appetite for current events occurring outside the country. If there were an appetite, I’m quite confident that the “people producing the news” would meet this demand. Doing so would only increase ratings and, in turn, increase their “bottom line.” In short, I disagree with you that Americans should not be blamed.

]]> By: Margaret http://thekaufmannpost.net/obama-vs-clinton-distraction-from-world-reality/comment-page-1/#comment-117 Margaret Fri, 23 May 2008 16:12:25 +0000 http://thekaufmannpost.net/obama-vs-clinton-distraction-from-world-reality/#comment-117 Don't blame American's for the stupidity and lack of imagination of the people producing the news. The broadcast industry, including news, is struggling with a diminishing audience. You've touched on one of the reasons people aren't tuning in: We aren't interested in the blather that's being broadcast. Many Americans are quite aware of the "butterfly" effect, and are quite attuned to events happening around the world. Oh, one last thing: To say that the Democratic Party nominee is all but decided is a failure to recognize that the culture within Washington DC is unique in America. It exerts tremendous influence, and there is nothing democratic within the theatre of it. It's something the news organizations don't get either, but if you ask Americans who move here, they'll tell you, 'it's not like home.' Don’t blame American’s for the stupidity and lack of imagination of the people producing the news. The broadcast industry, including news, is struggling with a diminishing audience.

You’ve touched on one of the reasons people aren’t tuning in: We aren’t interested in the blather that’s being broadcast. Many Americans are quite aware of the “butterfly” effect, and are quite attuned to events happening around the world.

Oh, one last thing: To say that the Democratic Party nominee is all but decided is a failure to recognize that the culture within Washington DC is unique in America. It exerts tremendous influence, and there is nothing democratic within the theatre of it. It’s something the news organizations don’t get either, but if you ask Americans who move here, they’ll tell you, ‘it’s not like home.’

]]>