Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2004 10:53 pm Posts: 20537 Location: The City Of Trees
Even though I think polling is largely bullshit, this one still depressed me a bit:
However, it led me to think of a good exercise for the forum: having all of us give our own ranking to the institutions listed above, and see how we differ.
Here's my list, from most to least trusted:
Supreme Court Small Business Big Business Military Public Schools Banks Organized Labor Medical System Newspapers HMOs Television News Criminal Justice System Church/Organized Religion Police President Congress
Joined: Mon Oct 18, 2004 4:52 pm Posts: 10620 Location: Chicago, IL Gender: Male
A lot of those really work hand in hand and are bordeline synonymous with one another. Also, I can't believe organized labor is ranked so high on your list.
Some I trust highly within limited scopes but my trust goes down as the scope expands.
Banks, I fully trust them to try and make every cent possible off of me and I also fully trust them to have my deposited money on hand when i go to withdraw it. Trusting a bank to do anything not in their best financial interest is just plain wrong, so I'm not sure why banks aren't trusted more. You can trust them within the rules of engagement. Their only failing usually is when the user wants to make them out to be something they obviously aren't.
Same type deal for most of the institutions on the list.
Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2004 10:53 pm Posts: 20537 Location: The City Of Trees
Chris_H_2 wrote:
A lot of those really work hand in hand and are bordeline synonymous with one another.
Agreed--I almost combined the health & media ones together.
Chris_H_2 wrote:
Also, I can't believe organized labor is ranked so high on your list.
It was likely more a result of the others below it being seen as more distrustful. Then again, I tend to have a soft spot for organized labor in general, though you'd likely get me to hate on several specific unions.
Medical System (In my world, this is very high, on a national level, very low) Military Small Business Big Business Public Schools Supreme Court (All the publicity regarding Thomas has got me feeling weird about the SC right now.)
Banks HMOs President Organized Labor
Newspapers Television News Criminal Justice System Police Church/Organized Religion Congress
I kind of grouped them, because some are fairly equal to me in their trustworthiness.
Joined: Sun May 21, 2006 2:02 am Posts: 91597 Location: Sector 7-G
I think we're all going to insert our biases here, and I think some categories get muddled. I work in the media, so I tend to trust it a little more than rest. But there's a distinction that should be made: In my experience, the people doing the leg work in reporting the news, whether it be for TV, radio, newspaper or otherwise, should generally be trusted. They're, for the most part, honest people trying to do honest work and just get to the truth of stories assigned to them. It's when you get to the top management level of media conglomerates you have the real agenda driven reporting.
And I wouldn't be surprised if there were similar truths for some other institutions as well.
_________________ It takes a big man to make a threat on the internet.
I think we're all going to insert our biases here, and I think some categories get muddled. I work in the media, so I tend to trust it a little more than rest. But there's a distinction that should be made: In my experience, the people doing the leg work in reporting the news, whether it be for TV, radio, newspaper or otherwise, should generally be trusted. They're, for the most part, honest people trying to do honest work and just get to the truth of stories assigned to them. It's when you get to the top management level of media conglomerates you have the real agenda driven reporting.
And I wouldn't be surprised if there were similar truths for some other institutions as well.
What the news reporters are covering isn't what I'm thinking of when I'm making the ranking. For example, when I think of television media, I think of the 24 news stations and each of the agendas they are driving. I think of the newspapers and their obvious slant or what they choose to report or not. That has very little to do with what the the working folk writing the stories are doing.
Joined: Sun May 21, 2006 2:02 am Posts: 91597 Location: Sector 7-G
uglyduckling wrote:
cutuphalfdead wrote:
I think we're all going to insert our biases here, and I think some categories get muddled. I work in the media, so I tend to trust it a little more than rest. But there's a distinction that should be made: In my experience, the people doing the leg work in reporting the news, whether it be for TV, radio, newspaper or otherwise, should generally be trusted. They're, for the most part, honest people trying to do honest work and just get to the truth of stories assigned to them. It's when you get to the top management level of media conglomerates you have the real agenda driven reporting.
And I wouldn't be surprised if there were similar truths for some other institutions as well.
What the news reporters are covering isn't what I'm thinking of when I'm making the ranking. For example, when I think of television media, I think of the 24 news stations and each of the agendas they are driving. I think of the newspapers and their obvious slant or what they choose to report or not. That has very little to do with what the the working folk writing the stories are doing.
Which was pretty much my point.
_________________ It takes a big man to make a threat on the internet.
I guess, but not really. You just recognized that the problem is at the top and yet you trust what is put out there? Just because you work in the industry and are part of the reporting process doesn't actually make it any more trustworthy. You recognize the same thing I do, but the real question is, recognizing that, would you still rate them higher than most others have?
Joined: Sun May 21, 2006 2:02 am Posts: 91597 Location: Sector 7-G
uglyduckling wrote:
I guess, but not really. You just recognized that the problem is at the top and yet you trust what is put out there? Just because you work in the industry and are part of the reporting process doesn't actually make it any more trustworthy. You recognize the same thing I do, but the real question is, recognizing that, would you still rate them higher than most others have?
Yes and no. I think there are people worth trusting in the news industry that go far beyond the foot-soldier level. I don't really think it's as simple as are they pushing an agenda or not. I'm not really talking about the extremes here, which would be your Fox News and MSNBC (and CNN to a point), but the three major networks, wire agences (AP/Reuters), and some major market newspapers. Sure, they're clearly slanted and often pushing some sort of agenda, but I'm going to guess most of that manipulation is done in resource allocation and not really in direct orders or talking point memos. For every talking head that's either aggressively pushing an agenda or mindlessly perpetuating marching orders there's a Bob Scheiffer or a Tim Russert (rest his soul) that I absolutely trust is doing his job as it's supposed to be done and not how an agenda dictates.
And when it comes to what is and isn't covered, what they don't cover doesn't always negate what they do. As long as you can watch with an open mind and seek other sources the mainstream media can be just as valuable for information than anyone else.
I think the problem comes when people think of the media as one singular agency, or even a small collection of giant entities. It's not. Even within single organizations there are conflicting views being put out there, and I really don't think whether you should trust the mainstream media as an institution is a fair question. It's not that black and white.
Does that mean I'd rank them higher then anyone else? I don't know
_________________ It takes a big man to make a threat on the internet.
I ranked the medical system really high, and people might suggest that's because that's the industry in which I work. However, that's not really the case. Alaska has a really special model for healthcare delivery (that mimics a very healthy socialized healthcare system), that I'm proud to be a part of. Health care and medical delivery does have an element of human error (like every profession), but the healthcare system here really is next to none.
On a national level, I'm obviously far less impressed, especially when I see what CAN be done.
Police Military Congress Us supreme court Presidency Medical Public schools Criminal justice system Banks Small business Newspapers Television news The church Big business HMO
I have a hard time with a lot of the public institutions being categorized, but business being pretty much small or big. There are some large business institutions that probably are pretty trust-worthy, but my answer changes a lot when you just put "big business" all together.
Of course, I suppose if I'm arguing to break it down more than it already is I'd have to complain about the impacts of geography, too. For example, police in Omaha? Yeah, I trust them quite a bit. Police in Chicago? A bit, but didn't feel quite as safe around em. Police in South Dakota? Holy shit no.
Joined: Fri Oct 22, 2004 12:20 am Posts: 5198 Location: Connecticut Gender: Male
uglyduckling wrote:
What the news reporters are covering isn't what I'm thinking of when I'm making the ranking. For example, when I think of television media, I think of the 24 news stations and each of the agendas they are driving. I think of the newspapers and their obvious slant or what they choose to report or not. That has very little to do with what the the working folk writing the stories are doing.
I think the media is the most important institution in America, and this is what really scares me. A lot of important stuff is not reported. You really have to make an effort to become informed, and I don't think most people realize this.
cutup wrote:
I work in the media, so I tend to trust it a little more than rest.
I'd really love to read a brief opinion of yours on the state of mainstream media. I've seen documentaries like Orwell Rolls In His Grave, Outfoxed, Manufacturing Consent, etc... They present a pretty scary situation. If the overwhelming majority of our media is owned by 5 multi-national corporations (with political ties & agendas), I just don't see how it can be trusted at all. I know there's independent media all over the internet, but I have no clue how many people it actually reaches.
Anyway, as far as that list goes, the only institution I have a high level of trust for is small business.
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 22 guests
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot post attachments in this forum
