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PurgedVoter

(2,675 posts)
Fri Dec 26, 2025, 12:22 PM 2 hrs ago

When did the 5 W's get forgotten?

Who, what, where, when, and why. I would add, "how." to the list but it isn't a W and it didn't start with Aristotle. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Ws
I suspect it started to slip strongly with Fox News since truth and understanding isn't their thing. It certainly isn't a guide for the right wing. If they do follow the convention it is twisted. For them it is who do you hate and how strongly do you hate them. Somewhere in there is a twisted why you hate them.

But I miss being able to trust an article to give you a complete story. Not that we could ever trust the story entirely, but articles used to give you a basic understanding of the issues.
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When did the 5 W's get forgotten? (Original Post) PurgedVoter 2 hrs ago OP
Fox is a lie machine 31st Street Bridge 2 hrs ago #1
Very frustrating. I will read a story and then I'll find myself saying, "well where was it?" Walleye 2 hrs ago #2
Years ago when schools switched from objective cbabe 2 hrs ago #3
Check out Chomsky's "Manufacturing Consent" -- snot 2 hrs ago #4
This. ms liberty 50 min ago #5
1. Fox is a lie machine
Fri Dec 26, 2025, 12:39 PM
2 hrs ago

It is a manipulative propaganda factory that should have been shut down years ago.

Walleye

(43,723 posts)
2. Very frustrating. I will read a story and then I'll find myself saying, "well where was it?"
Fri Dec 26, 2025, 12:44 PM
2 hrs ago

All the fundamentals for everything are in the trash right now. I find myself being drawn to sports events because at least they have rules and referees

cbabe

(6,139 posts)
3. Years ago when schools switched from objective
Fri Dec 26, 2025, 12:44 PM
2 hrs ago

writing to subjective curriculum.

Tracks back to Writers Workshop, Columbia Teachers college, meant to be akin to therapy journaling for underperforming kids. Backed by big bucks (Gates) and forced on school districts as the ‘new writing’.

No correct way to write. Express your feelings. Tell your story. No grammar or spelling required.

Which always creeped me out as teachers and admins pried into kids lives.

We laughed at teachers who swallowed the kool aid. But we lost.

And now a couple of lost generations.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TCRWP%27s_Writing_Workshop

TCRWP's Writing Workshop

The Teachers College Reading and Writing Project's Writing Workshop was a method of writing instruction for children developed by teacher Lucy Calkins and her colleagues at the Teachers College, Columbia University.
In October 2023, Teachers College announced it would be closing the Reading and Writing Project and replacing it with a new program, based on new research and criticism received about the program in recent years. Calkins is not the director of the new project, which will be managed by the Advancing Literacy unit.[1][2]

… More … aligned with common core…


snot

(11,444 posts)
4. Check out Chomsky's "Manufacturing Consent" --
Fri Dec 26, 2025, 01:12 PM
2 hrs ago

with documented examples of how the MSM -- even the NYT -- was distorting the news much further back (the book was first published in 1988).

But in those days, at least a bit more diversity of viewpoint could be found via the many thousands of independently-owned newspapers and radio & tv stations.

Things have gotten MUCH worse since then due to the drastic consolidation of media ownership enabled by the Telecom Act of 1996. As you probably know, at least 95% of traditional media worldwide are now controlled by just 6 corporate megaconglomerates, and the internet's been extensively colonized as well.

That's why it's more important than ever to seek out reporting and analysis not only form both "sides" but perhaps even more importantly from independent journalists, many of them prize-winning (e.g., Seymour Hersh, Chris Hedges, etc.), who've been pushed out of the MSM but are still doing valuable work (Consortium News hosts a number of them, at https://consortiumnews.com ).

Manufacturing Consent:

https://www.amazon.com/Manufacturing-Consent-Political-Economy-Media/dp/0375714499?asin=0375714499&revisionId=&format=4&depth=1 .

There's also a film documentary based on the book; see https://tinyurl.com/4eskbafw .

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