March 26, 2024 • 6 mins
Based on the quality of reporting we see now days, it's pretty clear that news outlets just do not care anymore. Jack made a great point, if we were paying for our news, things might be different. But now, it's all about the clicks. As an added bonus, Jack uses a fancy word because he is a classy guy.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
I don't think anybody in the world of journalism anymore
cares at all about inaccurate information.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
So nice that you seem to, but yeah, no kiding.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
I actually I'm going to be on a panel discussing
that sort of thing in several weeks. But we had
a preliminary meeting to figure out who would do what,
And yeah, that was some of the old school newspeople
were telling their old yarns about how it used to
be and working for the AP and whatever. And if
you did not have two rock solid on the record, sources,
don't print that garbage. We don't have garbage like that
(00:33):
under our banner.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Now it's just the opposite.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
Kate Milton abducted by aliens sounds great for an alien
sex change.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Perfect printed.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
Kate Middleton abducted by aliens for a sex change.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Now that's a headline.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
Well, people talk about clickonomics a lot, but if you
think about it, so you go back in the day
klickonomics being and we've we had this at one point
around here, we don't anymore. Where we got a report
every week how many people clicked on our website versus
other radio show websites, how many people clicked on this
(01:08):
story versus that story. We used to get that, and
that will obviously, and if you get rewarded for that financially, obviously,
that will drive you to do certain things. You see
what things get more clicks and what things don't. But
prior to klickonomics, nobody was changing their subscriptions on a
daily basis. You either subscribed to a newspaper or you didn't,
(01:31):
So if the story showed up a day later, you
wouldn't even notice unless you were like some sort of
weirdo that subscribed to eight newspapers and compared stories.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
I mean, you just got your newspaper and you would
read it.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
What would cause you to cancel your subscription, though, is
if the news turned out to be wrong a lot true.
So it was important for it to be accurate. Because
if I subscribe to some newspaper New York Times or
whatever and it's regularly wrong, no screw this, I'll get
a newspaper that's right. But you wouldn't make that decision
like on a second by second basis, the way we
(02:06):
all do now. You wake up in the morning, if
you're into news, you go to whatever site you like.
Kate Middleton and got abducted by aliens for a sex change.
Click right right, Well, and you know, getting back to
your discussion. Near example of the newspaper, the morning newspaper,
which you'd probably subscribe to practically for life. Yeah, if
you were to get the news of the President's speech
(02:28):
on housing tomorrow instead of today, how would that affect
your life exactly? I mean, unless the headline is swarm
of killer bees coming directly at us, you're gonna be
fine finding out tomorrow. But we've got this frantic need
to know immediately. Now that's kind of seeped into our consciousnesses.
I think I'd never even thought that through that way
before with the newspaper subscriptions, but that.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
Clearly is true.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
You might dump your subscription if you read that whatever
happened with this ship crashing in the bridge, and it
was wrong, it happened a couple of times. It would
sour you on the paper. Nobody cares about that anymore
because you're not subscribing. You're just clicking on it. Maybe
it's true, maybe it's not. You click on something else,
it says something else. That is how we get ourselves
(03:13):
out of this journalistically. Well, add the amorality of clickonomics
to the desperation of all the media outlets who have
There are so many alternatives now, and many ad dollars
have flowed away from more traditional media toward you know,
YouTube and Facebook and all your social media, and so
(03:36):
you add a morality to desperation, and you get organizations
that will they will study what gets clicks. And if
what gets clicks is inaccurate, fine, dangerous, fine, completely immoral,
fine leads to the deaths of thousands, that's fine too,
Just doesn't they it got clicks. We've got a story
about the budget, and we got a story about sex
(03:57):
trafficking dog rings?
Speaker 2 (03:58):
Which one do you think got more click? Now?
Speaker 1 (04:01):
Are the dogs trafficking sects you have there? You'd have
to click on it. Oh yeah, I just saw the headline.
You'd have to click on it to find out. So
there's a news outlet called The Dispatch, which we've talked
about before, that we like. But their whole thing when
they started was they're not going to react to things immediately.
They'll wait like a day or however long they got
for it to sort out or have the facts. And
(04:23):
I gotta admit, as a subscriber, to that news organization.
I'm sometimes disappointed I go for a hot take on
a story and they don't have it because that's not
what they do. And I, oh, I guess I'll have
to go somewhere else to get a hot take on
this thing that somebody said five minutes ago, because that's
the way we're built right right, And well, yeah, that's
(04:44):
interesting for our purposes. I mean, if everybody's going to
be talking about, say, the bridge collapse in Baltimore on
a given day, having a really incisive take tomorrow is
just not as useful given the.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
Media dynamics we've been discussing.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
But but I guess we try to like go for
the sweet spot around here.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
I have the worst of both worlds. That's what we
go for.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
But there are podcasts, like radio show podcasts, but there
are podcasts I go to that absolutely it's for analysis
over a bigger picture analysis, which I assume is some
of what you come here for. That and Rebald jokes
less of what happened and more of what it means. Rebald,
I tell you, that's a classy word. Well done, well played.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
Well, look at my hat. This is the kind of
hat a guy wears. Who says ribald, Well, and you're
the hat, the sport coat.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
You are a man of sophistication in class clearly, all right, Michael.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
Look at the look up Michael's face. I'm not going
to say a thing.
Speaker 3 (05:47):
There you go be going through the McDonald's drive through
later with ketchup on my shirt. This rebald, classy guy.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
Um,
I don't think anybody in the world of journalism anymore
cares at all about inaccurate information.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
So nice that you seem to, but yeah, no kiding.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
I actually I'm going to be on a panel discussing
that sort of thing in several weeks. But we had
a preliminary meeting to figure out who would do what,
And yeah, that was some of the old school newspeople
were telling their old yarns about how it used to
be and working for the AP and whatever. And if
you did not have two rock solid on the record, sources,
don't print that garbage. We don't have garbage like that
(00:33):
under our banner.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Now it's just the opposite.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
Kate Milton abducted by aliens sounds great for an alien
sex change.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Perfect printed.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
Kate Middleton abducted by aliens for a sex change.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Now that's a headline.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
Well, people talk about clickonomics a lot, but if you
think about it, so you go back in the day
klickonomics being and we've we had this at one point
around here, we don't anymore. Where we got a report
every week how many people clicked on our website versus
other radio show websites, how many people clicked on this
(01:08):
story versus that story. We used to get that, and
that will obviously, and if you get rewarded for that financially, obviously,
that will drive you to do certain things. You see
what things get more clicks and what things don't. But
prior to klickonomics, nobody was changing their subscriptions on a
daily basis. You either subscribed to a newspaper or you didn't,
(01:31):
So if the story showed up a day later, you
wouldn't even notice unless you were like some sort of
weirdo that subscribed to eight newspapers and compared stories.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
I mean, you just got your newspaper and you would
read it.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
What would cause you to cancel your subscription, though, is
if the news turned out to be wrong a lot true.
So it was important for it to be accurate. Because
if I subscribe to some newspaper New York Times or
whatever and it's regularly wrong, no screw this, I'll get
a newspaper that's right. But you wouldn't make that decision
like on a second by second basis, the way we
(02:06):
all do now. You wake up in the morning, if
you're into news, you go to whatever site you like.
Kate Middleton and got abducted by aliens for a sex change.
Click right right, Well, and you know, getting back to
your discussion. Near example of the newspaper, the morning newspaper,
which you'd probably subscribe to practically for life. Yeah, if
you were to get the news of the President's speech
(02:28):
on housing tomorrow instead of today, how would that affect
your life exactly? I mean, unless the headline is swarm
of killer bees coming directly at us, you're gonna be
fine finding out tomorrow. But we've got this frantic need
to know immediately. Now that's kind of seeped into our consciousnesses.
I think I'd never even thought that through that way
before with the newspaper subscriptions, but that.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
Clearly is true.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
You might dump your subscription if you read that whatever
happened with this ship crashing in the bridge, and it
was wrong, it happened a couple of times. It would
sour you on the paper. Nobody cares about that anymore
because you're not subscribing. You're just clicking on it. Maybe
it's true, maybe it's not. You click on something else,
it says something else. That is how we get ourselves
(03:13):
out of this journalistically. Well, add the amorality of clickonomics
to the desperation of all the media outlets who have
There are so many alternatives now, and many ad dollars
have flowed away from more traditional media toward you know,
YouTube and Facebook and all your social media, and so
(03:36):
you add a morality to desperation, and you get organizations
that will they will study what gets clicks. And if
what gets clicks is inaccurate, fine, dangerous, fine, completely immoral,
fine leads to the deaths of thousands, that's fine too,
Just doesn't they it got clicks. We've got a story
about the budget, and we got a story about sex
(03:57):
trafficking dog rings?
Speaker 2 (03:58):
Which one do you think got more click? Now?
Speaker 1 (04:01):
Are the dogs trafficking sects you have there? You'd have
to click on it. Oh yeah, I just saw the headline.
You'd have to click on it to find out. So
there's a news outlet called The Dispatch, which we've talked
about before, that we like. But their whole thing when
they started was they're not going to react to things immediately.
They'll wait like a day or however long they got
for it to sort out or have the facts. And
(04:23):
I gotta admit, as a subscriber, to that news organization.
I'm sometimes disappointed I go for a hot take on
a story and they don't have it because that's not
what they do. And I, oh, I guess I'll have
to go somewhere else to get a hot take on
this thing that somebody said five minutes ago, because that's
the way we're built right right, And well, yeah, that's
(04:44):
interesting for our purposes. I mean, if everybody's going to
be talking about, say, the bridge collapse in Baltimore on
a given day, having a really incisive take tomorrow is
just not as useful given the.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
Media dynamics we've been discussing.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
But but I guess we try to like go for
the sweet spot around here.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
I have the worst of both worlds. That's what we
go for.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
But there are podcasts, like radio show podcasts, but there
are podcasts I go to that absolutely it's for analysis
over a bigger picture analysis, which I assume is some
of what you come here for. That and Rebald jokes
less of what happened and more of what it means. Rebald,
I tell you, that's a classy word. Well done, well played.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
Well, look at my hat. This is the kind of
hat a guy wears. Who says ribald, Well, and you're
the hat, the sport coat.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
You are a man of sophistication in class clearly, all right, Michael.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
Look at the look up Michael's face. I'm not going
to say a thing.
Speaker 3 (05:47):
There you go be going through the McDonald's drive through
later with ketchup on my shirt. This rebald, classy guy.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
Um,
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