Conservative political pundits have used the Chevy Volt (and all EVs in general) as a can they can kick around. The majority of Americans are moving away from their ideology. Don’t get me wrong. Many of us, me included, consider ourselves to be fiscally conservative and socially liberal (especially when compared to the average Fox News viewer).
On what do I base this perceived move away from the ideology? Well, for one, the last presidential election. For another, there are the results of a poll run by Public Policy Polling. A blog post documents the poll and shows Fox News is both the least and most trusted news outlet. Odd that it can be both, no? Well, with the polarization of our political spectrum, “Democrats trust everything except Fox, and Republicans don’t trust anything other than Fox.”
The multiple-choice question, “Do you trust (insert news organization here)?” was asked, with the potential answers being:
- Trust it
- Do not trust it
- Not sure
The number one “Trust it” response went to conservative media whipping dog, PBS at 52%. The next highest was Fox at 41%.
The number one for “Do not trust it” was a tie between Fox and Comedy Central! I can’t help but laugh at that. A comedy network, if included in the poll at all, tying what’s is purported to be a real news organization is rich in irony.
The next two questions in the poll were:
- “Which TV news outlet do you trust the most?” (a list was provided)
- “Which TV news outlet do you trust the least?”
The most trusted was Fox at 34%. Their nearest competition came from PBS at only 13%!
The least trusted was Fox as well, at 39% The second least trusted news source was MSNBC at 14%
Following the poll questions, were questions about the respondents’ political leanings, gender, race and age. These seemed to be pretty much distributed like the general population.
The big point made by the poll is that “Fox News has hit a record low in the four years” that Public Policy Polling has been doing the poll.
Fox News has nothing to do with the story I want to tell you about today. Shady reporting does and I’m hoping that the poll shows that maybe, just maybe, the American public is starting to realize that both ends of the spectrum have their own news media outlets in their pocket and that what they’ve been perceiving as news may actually be propaganda. Not only that, but that maybe we, as a culture, will start to mistrust the organizations that are the most obviously unfair and unbalanced, and more importantly, turn them off. That’s how we will have a real fourth estate that is our paid watchdog and not someone’s paid lackey. We have to cut off their air supply by killing their ratings and consequently, their advertising revenue. I’m saying this about both sides of the spectrum. We should ignore all biased news sources, liberal or conservative. We do not need to have our biases reinforced, if we want to develop as intelligent human beings. We should each be trying to get a better understanding of the world by testing those biases. We need a healthy media that works for us. They need to trust that we have the intelligence to weight the pros and cons of an issue, when presented with them, and come to a conclusion. We do not need to be spoon fed an opinion.
This is where real work comes in. The media workers actually have to do research and not just take the word of anyone who will speak with them. That’s work, but it’s much more rewarding than being a stenographer. The viewers of said media (you and me) actually have to do the work of weighing the information presented and form an opinion based on the facts.
Will this end the feuding and result in a more uniform opinion of world events and trends? Probably not. We each have our own perspectives and values. Some see environmentalism as being of paramount importance, and would stop the building of a road or factory if it endangered any species. Others see any concession to the environment as “tree hugging” and detrimental to progress or the economy or both.
These are both valid viewpoints, albeit a bit to the extreme! We each are entitled to our chosen value system. However, we must remember that opinions are like anuses: everyone’s got one and they all have a less than appealing odor. (“stink” seemed a little harsh this morning)
Once we accept this, instead of screaming at our political opponents, both sides can start to have a dialog about why they view an issue a particular way. We can make political debate an educational process instead of the current all-out war it is today.
Here’s the main event:
John M. Broder wrote an article for the New York Times about a drive he took, in a Tesla Model S, between Washington D.C. and Boston. The photo, at the top of the article, showed a Model S on a flatbed tow truck. It is an interesting choice for the only photo in the article, prominently displayed at the very beginning. Mr. Broder goes on to tell a story of woe about trying to keep his Tesla moving along, while stoically suffering through very cold cabin temperatures: “…my feet were freezing and my knuckles were turning white” and driving so slowly that “Buicks and 18-wheelers flew past…”
It sounds like a horrific trip, in a car most of us thought, including Motor Trend Magazine, was the greatest automotive accomplishment of the year. How could this happen on the “E.V. Highway” to a driver obviously being so diligent in trying to maximize the range of the Tesla?
Well, there’s two sides to every story and Elon Musk, Chairman, Product Architect & CEO of Tesla Motors responded on the company blog with a post entitled, “A Most Peculiar Test Drive.”
These two articles paint widely divergent pictures of the test drive conditions. Mr. Broder’s article is the result of his journalistic experience and (I assume) diligent note keeping. Mr. Musk’s article is backed up by data logs of the drive. Being in the EV Challenge, I have seen how data logging works automatically, during the drive (and charging and resting). I cannot, of course, speak to the veracity of Mr. Musk’s reporting of these logs’ contents.
As I stated earlier in this post, news organizations should present the unbiased facts and let us draw our own conclusions. Both the NY Times article and Tesla rebuttal blog post are hyperlinked above. I highly recommend reading them both with an open mind and drawing your own conclusions.
I trust you can do that.
I also recommend that you require the news organizations you choose to fund (by watching their advertising) show you the same respect. If you think one of these organizations has lied, let them know of your decision to ignore them in the future by emailing the Editor-in-Chief or CEO.
The battle for a truly unbiased media is much more important than the arguments presented by these two opposing blog posts.
Great post Buzz. Unfortunately so many people do not want to expend the mental energy to analyze information. They want the easy path of listening to someone who will confirm their views. The easy view of the problem of transportation costs is to make their cost of energy (gasoline) cheaper. “Give me more at a lower price” is much easier than analyzing and finding a new solution. That is why it is so refreshing to be part of a revolution that will find new solutions and create alternatives. Keep spreading your “truth” and looking at both sides. We need people who still do their homework instead of simply selling out.
We really need more people to become less complacent. We are being lied to every day, in ways that threaten the freedoms we all cherish. While true that freedom has to be protected by blood at times, the application of knowledge can prevent things from getting to the point that blood has to be spilt.
Thanks for the encouragement. It’s good to know people are actually reading my blog. Often I wonder if I’m speaking in an empty room…