UK Politics Thread

[Furunculus]

I think the two evils feed on each other.

Some years ago, someone pointed out the self evident fact that people choose the newspapers they read based on what they already think. So he chose to read the newspapers that he disliked - in this case as he thought how can he understand the average GP patient without reading the Daily Mail. I realised that I'd fallen into the same trap, tailoring the news I read based on what I already thought so I got reflected back at me the news through the prism of what I already thought.

Media outlets need to make money and the easiest way is giving people what they want - hence the cycle of only getting a version of events that fits with what you already think. Breaking this is extremely tough since these are for-profit organisations and they aren't going to accept massive loss of readers to be more balanced.

I try to anger-read my way through the Guardian and if I'm really wanting to get my Gen-X blood up I read the Metro - even the opinion columns. And looking at things that I might not have initially agreed with I have come to view Social Democracy is probably the ideal form of government rather than small state, individual freedom which is the view I had and was probably strongly influenced from my father.

But the Point is that this was a conscious choice to act against my innate nature.

happy to agree with that.

and i do spend way more time reading the guardian than i ever do the telegraph.
though i do recognise the problem you speak to in that you have to choose to do this - and still i never make time for the mail/mirror/express.

likewise - i deliberately follow interesting left wing people who are willing to engage and discuss (not much point following the ranters). but here too is the problem, as I use social media to get interesting people to bring the things that interest to my attention. and if my interests are heavily slanted towards technology/politics/foriegn-policy, then i am stove-piping my 'feed' to the mind-sets that are most prevalent in those areas.

still, i can't accept the notion that it is substantially the media that leads public opinion. it doesn't fit my own experience (or yours), and accepting it as a general principal is simply too dismal to the prospects for human civilisation.