The real story of Trump isn’t his amorality and outrageousness. It’s Americans’ receptiveness to that.
Similar to the ideas in "How Headlines Change the Way We Think" (New Yorker), both journalists and the audience need to be more skilled in recognizing important news vs. exciting news. We need to somehow be less susceptible to the headlines and tweets grabbing our attention and influencing our frame of mind. Make it boring and bland, but give us the news and not just the drama around it.
The media is not using their strength, their franchise, to elevate and illuminate the conversation. They’re just getting you all jazzed up about the game.”
It's sort of scary to acknowledge this. We put our trust in the media to give us the information we need to know, but instead we are given what they think we want to hear. It's a relief that this has been realized, but concerning that we, as an audience, have gone so long being okay with it.
Instead, we should hold on to the most outrageous, unconscionable moments.
This is an interesting, strategic way to approach the situation because it allows the journalists and audience to focus on the more important things. It is overwhelming to have every single statement by Trump thrown at you. It becomes difficult to make sense of what is actually happening because the nonsense of the statements is what's highlighted.
but take a break today (remember, just for a nanosecond!)
This dramatization implies that this is the only topic people talk about, which seems sometimes does seem true
the gains should show us what is possible and spur greater efforts to improve opportunity worldwide.
I think this mentality is important. There will always be bad things in the world, but we can focus on the better things
And the United States is an outlier, where life expectancy is falling, not rising as in most of the world.
Even knowing that Americans are known for unhealthy lifestyle practices, I am surprised that life expectancy is decreasing
We cover wars, massacres and famines but are less focused on progress.
I've heard people say that news like this gets more views, so that's what is covered, but I've always wondered why this is
Likewise, Americans estimate that 35 percent of the world’s children have been vaccinated. In fact, 86 percent of all 1-year-olds have been vaccinated against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis.
This is considered a positive accomplishment by most people, but what about anti-vaccination people?