Last week, after flipping through the channels only to predictably find TV news reporters wasting valuable resources covering the stormfront, I decided to turn a pile of notes that I had been gathering for a couple of weeks into a 100-or-so tweet rant. Though designed to be ingested in small doses that were blasted out every five minutes (in total my #mediarant lasted a little more than seven hours), I also wanted to share a version with our many readers who are smart enough to stay the fuck off of Twitter.
I have a #mediarant. Thinking it might take about #100tweets. Would write an essay if people still read those.
This isn’t about fake news. I’ve said my piece on that. #mediarant
You don’t have to worry about #fakenews anymore anyway. The establishment is addressing #filterbubbles with exclusive conferences and newfangled #apps. #mediarant
Yup, there’s an app for breaking out of #filterbubbles. Soon to be used by all #NRA members I’m sure. #mediarant
Use the word “innovation,” say your app is going to change #media, and you can feast at the funding buffet … #mediarant
Do actual #journalism, generate community news and disseminate it, and get passed up by tech bro frauds all day … #mediarant
I can go on and on about how #journalism grant money is already being burned fighting a BS war on #fakenews … #mediarant
It’s a total joke, because all they’re really saying is that they loathe and distrust @realDonaldTrump … #mediarant
Which is great, but they can’t say that. Because many still operate in a world where objectivity exists. Is a goal. Even though it doesn’t, shouldn’t be … #mediarant
Anyway, I have a message from the community and local ranks. Regionals and alternatives, outlets people claim to value but forget about … #mediarant
We are the foundation. Without us, the bigs have nobody to follow. Like the old journalism adage … #mediarant
TV steals from dailies. Dailies steal from weeklies. Weeklies steal from underground and college outlets, who steal from #4Chan, etc … #mediarant
OK let’s talk about cable news for a second. SMH. #mediarant
There is no fucking way that #DCpolitics should take up even half of the news cycle. Let alone 90+ percent. #mediarant
Who the fuck makes these decisions? How is it good business to do the same thing as everyone else all day? #mediarant
To hell with liberals who claim it’s false equivalency to compare @FoxNews to @MSNBC. Stop it. Like Prego vs. generic shit macaroni sauce. #mediarant
Of course @MSNBC is better. SO. FUCKING. WHAT!?! It’s still lazy. It’s still propaganda. #mediarant
I believe the academics call it #incestuousamplification … #mediarant
As for @FoxNews … It’s 2017. If you’re still watching Fox and thinking you are getting news, then please donate your pea brain for research. #mediarant
Almost all #cablenews is garbage. But that’s often the baseline for people. #mediarant
It’s like people trust them because they’re dressed nicely. There’s no other reason. #mediarant
And now some words about our longtime journalism idols. Most journos we should be listening to are too busy actually working to #mediarant.
If #journalism was more like #hiphop, all these dusty fucks would have had their crowns snatched years ago … #mediarant
I’d call you out by name but most of you already hate me and sadly have used grudges to justify denying funding to my writers … #mediarant
As for working journos, I’m here to rep for y’all. To rep for indies, and to kick the #mainstreammedia w/out the cheap right-wing vitriol … #mediarant
Academics don’t know how to fix #journalism. You can go ahead and wait, but bring some weed because it’s gonna take a while. #mediarant
There are #journalism conferences almost weekly in #Boston. Go to the State House, go to City Hall, ask working journos how often they’re invited … #mediarant
At this point I’m convinced the colleges want to choke local news outlets. They sure as hell don’t share with them. Rarely collaborate … #mediarant
If foundations want to help #media they will stop giving money to universities immediately. But most don’t, and won’t … #mediarant
Most people would be sick if they knew how much money is spent studying #media. STUDYING IT. As opposed to making it … #mediarant
Back to all you chumps on TV news. I’m watching you cover the snow right now. All day! #mediarant
YOUR FUCKING OUTLETS SPEND MORE COVERING SNOW THAN THEY DO COVERING THE STATE HOUSE … #mediarant #mapoli
These dicks barely cover state politics, but burn helicopter fuel covering traffic. #mediarant
Very few of you overpaid assholes are journalists. Like the old saying goes, you want to be on TV so bad that you’ll even do the news … #mediarant
Do you realize how pathetic you look? Running around like dogs chasing ridiculously loud stories. Sports. Weather. GFY. #mediarant
I bet most TV news crews in Mass spent more covering #SuperBowlLI than they will covering local politics all year. #mapoli #mediarant
Don’’ some of you on TV want to make some kind of difference? Use your platforms for some positive? I believe you can do it. You have power. #mediarant
Time for a belated resolution for you gorgeous punks on TV. Find a story worth reporting, and needle your producers until they let you do it. #mediarant
As for what kind of stories are critical, that’s up to you. But I’ll tell you know that tokenizing one person is never useful. You need to tell the bigger story. #mediarant
Don’t kid yourselves. TV news adores those tokens. Lottery winners, guy who stops a robbery. NONE OF WHICH IS WORTHY. #mediarant
A thing recently happened in Mass that struck me as an ideal lens through which I could explain how one kind of #fakenews is born. #mediarant
A Beacon Hill Republican filed an unnecessary bill to prevent the use of EBT cards for weed. Wasn’t even an issue. #mediarant
But for some reason TV news reported it. So there are people going around thinking poor people buy pot with food stamps. #mediarant
And now we have a story where there wasn’t one. Where there isn’t one. Just one example. Happens all day, every day. #mediarant
A couple more things. Starting with the intern programs at major outlets. That don’t pay. They’re for rich kids. Plus requiring a car? GFY. #mediarant
Exclusive unpaid internships keep the media white and upper-middle class as fuck. Don’t you assholes realize that? Why must I explain this? #mediarant
Also, and perhaps most importantly, it’s time to start investing in youth media. Not just literacy, but training, activation, and dissemination too. #mediarant
But back to business. The business of alternative news. It’s funny, for years now people have asked if we are still needed. #mediarant
Or at least they were asking right up to Trump. After that they turned around and noticed that dissent is critical. #mediarant
And yet, even though we all seem to agree that the #MSM is useless, many continue trying to reform the establishment. No! #mediarant
What you need to do is #support #independent #media. It’s that simple. Really. Here’s how … #mediarant
SHARE OUR FUCKING STORIES. Really, share them all. Maybe instead of that asinine think piece about cupcakes. Delicious or not. #mediarant
A Queens, NY native who came to New England in 2004 to earn his MA in journalism at Boston University, Chris Faraone is the editor and co-publisher of DigBoston and a co-founder of the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism. He has published several books including 99 Nights with the 99 Percent, and has written liner notes for hip-hop gods including Cypress Hill, Pete Rock, Nas, and various members of the Wu-Tang Clan.
