This may be the article of the year, so far.
5 Ways to Spot a B.S. Political Story in Under 10 Seconds
*snip*
A study found that in 1960, about half of the political news stories were about actual policy and the other half were these frivolous "who's winning the game" stories. Today, only 17 percent of stories are about stuff that matters.
Screw baseball. We want to see Obama body-check someone into the wall of a hockey rink.
That's where the gaffe stories come in. See, in this game, your "team" scores a point each time the other team says something stupid. It lets all of the supporters of your team mock and humiliate the supporters of the opposing team, on Internet message boards and around water coolers and in coffee shops nationwide. "Haha! The supposed 'genius' Obama thinks there are 57 states in the U.S.!" "Oh, yeah? Well, your last president said he was going to help terrorists plan their next attack!"
And it never ends, because if your "team" gives up a gaffe, then you need to dig one up on the other side to even the score. So, last month the Romney campaign was embarrassed when an adviser came off like he was comparing his own candidate to an Etch A Sketch toy. Thus, this month the Romney campaign had to jump on an Obama adviser's gaffe that came off like she was saying that stay-at-home moms don't do work. And on and on it goes.
While You're at It, Look out for ...
A variation of this is the stories of embarrassing yet totally inconsequential "scandals" about a candidate that involve nothing illegal or improper, but supposedly define the candidate as a person.
Hey, did you know that Barack Obama is an out-of-touch elitist because he puts fancy Dijon mustard on his hamburgers? Did you know that Mitt Romney is an insane sociopath because he once made his pet dog ride on top of his car 26 years ago? Did you know John Kerry can't relate to the average person because he puts Swiss cheese on his Philly cheese steaks? Did you know that George W. Bush hates foreigners so much that [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqqUEf9alsw"]he wiped his hand after shaking hands with a Haitian[/ame]? Did you know that all of this is petty schoolyard bullshit that wastes valuable time and energy that you'll never get back?
His elbows are on the table! CALL MATT DRUDGE!
Hey, that reminds me. Watch out if ...
#4. The Headline Ends in a Question Mark
Basically, It's ...
A news story so questionable the publication literally felt the need to mark it as such.
The ugliest use of this is when news aggregators like Matt Drudge use question marks to put forth a bullshit conspiracy theory to avoid having to stand behind it. For instance, when a new book came out claiming President Obama had no valid birth certificate because he was actually a foreigner living under a false identity, Drudge promoted it like this:
Hey, he's not saying President Obama is living a lie and is secretly a Muslim foreigner sent to infiltrate America from within. He's just asking the question. What's wrong with asking questions? Questions like "Is Matt Drudge a cancer on the asshole of modern journalism?" I don't know. I'm just throwing it out there. You can say absolutely anything as long as you glue a question mark to the end, and nobody can complain.
*snip*
5 Ways to Spot a B.S. Political Story in Under 10 Seconds
*snip*
A study found that in 1960, about half of the political news stories were about actual policy and the other half were these frivolous "who's winning the game" stories. Today, only 17 percent of stories are about stuff that matters.
Getty
Screw baseball. We want to see Obama body-check someone into the wall of a hockey rink.
That's where the gaffe stories come in. See, in this game, your "team" scores a point each time the other team says something stupid. It lets all of the supporters of your team mock and humiliate the supporters of the opposing team, on Internet message boards and around water coolers and in coffee shops nationwide. "Haha! The supposed 'genius' Obama thinks there are 57 states in the U.S.!" "Oh, yeah? Well, your last president said he was going to help terrorists plan their next attack!"
And it never ends, because if your "team" gives up a gaffe, then you need to dig one up on the other side to even the score. So, last month the Romney campaign was embarrassed when an adviser came off like he was comparing his own candidate to an Etch A Sketch toy. Thus, this month the Romney campaign had to jump on an Obama adviser's gaffe that came off like she was saying that stay-at-home moms don't do work. And on and on it goes.
While You're at It, Look out for ...
A variation of this is the stories of embarrassing yet totally inconsequential "scandals" about a candidate that involve nothing illegal or improper, but supposedly define the candidate as a person.
Hey, did you know that Barack Obama is an out-of-touch elitist because he puts fancy Dijon mustard on his hamburgers? Did you know that Mitt Romney is an insane sociopath because he once made his pet dog ride on top of his car 26 years ago? Did you know John Kerry can't relate to the average person because he puts Swiss cheese on his Philly cheese steaks? Did you know that George W. Bush hates foreigners so much that [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqqUEf9alsw"]he wiped his hand after shaking hands with a Haitian[/ame]? Did you know that all of this is petty schoolyard bullshit that wastes valuable time and energy that you'll never get back?
Getty
His elbows are on the table! CALL MATT DRUDGE!
Hey, that reminds me. Watch out if ...
#4. The Headline Ends in a Question Mark
Basically, It's ...
A news story so questionable the publication literally felt the need to mark it as such.
The ugliest use of this is when news aggregators like Matt Drudge use question marks to put forth a bullshit conspiracy theory to avoid having to stand behind it. For instance, when a new book came out claiming President Obama had no valid birth certificate because he was actually a foreigner living under a false identity, Drudge promoted it like this:
Hey, he's not saying President Obama is living a lie and is secretly a Muslim foreigner sent to infiltrate America from within. He's just asking the question. What's wrong with asking questions? Questions like "Is Matt Drudge a cancer on the asshole of modern journalism?" I don't know. I'm just throwing it out there. You can say absolutely anything as long as you glue a question mark to the end, and nobody can complain.
*snip*
