Episode 70 - TV Journalists & Progress in America

Sep 22

Riots are overtaking the streets, murderers are running unchecked, and gunshots are as common as fireworks...if you believe the evening news. So statistically, how bad is America, really?

There are online lists for all the credible news journalists who have lied about one very shocking, specific type of event. Violence. For some reason, journalists just can’t stop getting caught lying about violent events. Brian Williams lied about being shot down in Iraq. Mike Tobin lied about being punched during a union rally. And so, so many journalists have straight-up fabricated Benghazi stories. Why? Why is violence the go-to news lie, when there’s already so much real violence in the world? Or...is there?

On today’s show we continue our discussion about how the public interprets American Progress through the lens of the evening news. We discuss the actual measurements we use to determine our progress (GDP, Middle Class Sizes, Happiness, etc) and we discuss which ones we think are the most accurate. We also talk about the reason for the rapid decline in crime after the 1990’s, and what that means for the news networks that need crime stories to keep expanding their reach. And finally, we look into the soul of innovation in America: invention. Then we ask the big question that’s been on all our minds - where the hell did all the great American inventors go? The answer is as interesting as it is crushing...

Science Links:

https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/11/20/facts-about-crime-in-the-u-s/

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/biases-make-people-vulnerable-to-misinformation-spread-by-social-media/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Availability_heuristic#:~:text=The%20availability%20heuristic%2C%20also%20known,%2C%20concept%2C%20method%20or%20decision.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mere-exposure_effect

https://www.disastercenter.com/crime/uscrime.htm

https://www.pbs.org/fmc/interviews/currie.htm

https://fortune.com/2015/12/13/the-truest-measure-of-progress-for-americans/

https://www.greenbiz.com/article/there-are-better-ways-measure-progress

https://towardsdatascience.com/has-progress-in-america-peaked-9421f2e10a56 History

Links:

https://www.ranker.com/list/journalists-who-lied/mel-judson