1 00:00:01,000 --> 00:00:08,839 Speaker 1: Understand the thinking atheist. It's not a person, it's a symbol, 2 00:00:09,400 --> 00:00:10,000 an idea. 3 00:00:10,800 --> 00:00:13,519 Speaker 2: The population of atheists this country is going through the. 4 00:00:13,519 --> 00:00:19,039 Speaker 1: Rule, rejecting faith, pursuing knowledge, challenging the sacred. If I 5 00:00:19,120 --> 00:00:22,559 tell the truth, it's because I tell the truth, not 6 00:00:22,679 --> 00:00:24,600 because I put my hand on a book and made 7 00:00:24,600 --> 00:00:28,839 a wish and working together for a more rational world. 8 00:00:29,079 --> 00:00:32,039 Speaker 3: Take the risk of thinking. Feel so much more happiness. 9 00:00:32,079 --> 00:00:34,719 Truth Usian wisdom will come to you that way. 10 00:00:35,679 --> 00:00:43,520 Speaker 1: Assume nothing, question everything, and start thinking. This is the 11 00:00:43,600 --> 00:00:47,520 Thinking Atheist Podcast hosted by Seth Andrews. 12 00:00:56,280 --> 00:00:59,520 Speaker 3: Today I want to dial in on a specific example 13 00:00:59,560 --> 00:01:03,200 of how the free press journalism is under attack in 14 00:01:03,240 --> 00:01:05,239 the United States, and it has to do with the 15 00:01:05,280 --> 00:01:09,599 new editor in chief of CBS News, Barry Weiss, and 16 00:01:09,640 --> 00:01:11,599 I got to give you just a little bit of 17 00:01:11,680 --> 00:01:17,079 backstory for context. So sixty minutes a flag ship show 18 00:01:17,400 --> 00:01:22,400 doing real journalism, a news magazine broadcast that started the 19 00:01:22,519 --> 00:01:26,599 year I was born, nineteen sixty eight. This is not 20 00:01:26,680 --> 00:01:31,359 a tabloid, it is not sensationalism. It is real journalism 21 00:01:31,439 --> 00:01:35,519 done by veterans in the field. It's a very responsibly 22 00:01:35,599 --> 00:01:39,480 produced program. So back in twenty twenty four, when Kamala 23 00:01:39,519 --> 00:01:43,760 Harris was a presidential candidate running against Donald Trump, sixty 24 00:01:43,799 --> 00:01:46,480 minutes sat down with her on camera. I think she 25 00:01:46,560 --> 00:01:49,439 must have been there for an interview that lasted had 26 00:01:49,480 --> 00:01:52,480 to be over an hour, maybe two hours. But as 27 00:01:52,560 --> 00:01:56,640 these shows do, they whittled it down. They grabbed sound 28 00:01:56,640 --> 00:01:59,959 bites and answers to questions and sort of packaged it 29 00:02:00,120 --> 00:02:03,799 for short form broadcasts. The segments run about fifteen minutes 30 00:02:03,840 --> 00:02:07,760 a pop. Well, Donald Trump says, oh oh, when you 31 00:02:07,840 --> 00:02:12,759 ask her about the Israel Hamas conflict in separate broadcasts, 32 00:02:13,120 --> 00:02:17,520 you deceptively edited her to make her look good, and 33 00:02:17,599 --> 00:02:22,800 a lawsuit was filed under the Deceptive Trade Practices Act. 34 00:02:23,439 --> 00:02:26,199 CBS said, hey, wait a minute, this is how we 35 00:02:26,319 --> 00:02:29,319 always do what we do. We stand by the segment, 36 00:02:29,400 --> 00:02:32,879 We stand by our editing of the interview. Your lawsuit 37 00:02:32,919 --> 00:02:36,080 is completely without merit, and there was a rallying cry 38 00:02:36,280 --> 00:02:40,840 across the journalistic community and the general public. Two sixty 39 00:02:40,919 --> 00:02:46,919 minutes in CBS, do not cave, do not settle, don't 40 00:02:47,080 --> 00:02:50,680 let them win. This is about more than a single 41 00:02:50,759 --> 00:02:54,479 segment with Kamala Harris. This is about journalistic integrity and 42 00:02:54,599 --> 00:02:59,120 autonomy and your ability to properly do your jobs without 43 00:02:59,439 --> 00:03:04,159 government interference. But low and behold, there was a pending 44 00:03:04,319 --> 00:03:10,759 merger involving Paramount, the parent company for CBS. Paramount didn't 45 00:03:10,759 --> 00:03:13,719 want any bad press and certainly didn't want the government 46 00:03:13,800 --> 00:03:18,960 stepping in to prevent this profitable merger. So Paramount settled. 47 00:03:19,520 --> 00:03:25,000 Paramount Global settled with the Donald Trump administration for sixteen 48 00:03:25,560 --> 00:03:29,560 million dollars. And this I think may have been the 49 00:03:29,599 --> 00:03:33,759 beginning of the end for American journalism because now the 50 00:03:33,800 --> 00:03:37,719 president has been set if you threaten journalists, if you 51 00:03:37,800 --> 00:03:42,919 threaten their network's major corporations, who essentially own the media 52 00:03:42,919 --> 00:03:45,599 in this country, well they're going to fold. They're going 53 00:03:45,639 --> 00:03:48,199 to cave, because it's all about money and power and 54 00:03:48,280 --> 00:03:51,319 kissing the right ass to get what you want. Whether 55 00:03:51,479 --> 00:03:54,400 or not you are a Bernie Sanders fan, I will 56 00:03:54,439 --> 00:03:56,479 say he has been on the right side of this, 57 00:03:56,599 --> 00:04:00,319 blowing the whistle about the billionaires, the power players who 58 00:04:00,360 --> 00:04:05,120 are behind our media, which I think six companies own 59 00:04:05,599 --> 00:04:10,039 ninety percent of the media outlets in the United States, 60 00:04:09,800 --> 00:04:13,400 a freaking monopoly. Really well, he posted this on the 61 00:04:13,439 --> 00:04:16,920 thirteenth of March. He said, it's not just that oligarchs 62 00:04:16,959 --> 00:04:20,360 control our economy. It's not just that they control our 63 00:04:20,399 --> 00:04:25,040 political system. Increasingly, they control what we see here and read. 64 00:04:25,560 --> 00:04:29,199 Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, owns x, 65 00:04:29,720 --> 00:04:33,839 Larry Page and Sergey Brinn, the second and third richest men, 66 00:04:33,920 --> 00:04:40,240 control YouTube. Jeff Bezos owns Twitch, Mark Zuckerberg owns Facebook 67 00:04:40,240 --> 00:04:45,360 and Instagram, and Larry Ellison will soon control TikTok. Almost 68 00:04:45,439 --> 00:04:49,199 all of them sat right behind Donald Trump at his inauguration, 69 00:04:49,680 --> 00:04:52,519 all of them bank rolled him. All of them are 70 00:04:52,560 --> 00:04:56,279 getting richer by the day. But it's not just social media. 71 00:04:56,560 --> 00:04:59,040 Ellison and his son David, with the help of Trump, 72 00:04:59,079 --> 00:05:06,079 will soon control CNN, not to mention CBS, HBO, MTV, MIRAMAX, Beet, 73 00:05:06,680 --> 00:05:10,680 Warner Brothers, and many more. In fact, just this morning, 74 00:05:10,839 --> 00:05:13,399 and again this was a few weeks ago. Just this morning, 75 00:05:13,720 --> 00:05:17,879 after CNN published reporting on the president's mishandling of the 76 00:05:17,920 --> 00:05:22,560 war in Iran, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said, quote, the 77 00:05:22,680 --> 00:05:27,399 sooner David Ellison takes over that network, the better. This 78 00:05:27,600 --> 00:05:30,600 is a startling example of the kind of state control 79 00:05:30,800 --> 00:05:35,959 U see in authoritarian states, not a democracy. I believe 80 00:05:36,000 --> 00:05:39,399 most journalists are factual in report what they see the 81 00:05:39,519 --> 00:05:43,639 real question is what are they told to emphasize by 82 00:05:43,680 --> 00:05:47,560 their corporate bosses? What are they told to ignore? Whose 83 00:05:47,759 --> 00:05:52,120 stories are being told? Larry Ellison has made billions of 84 00:05:52,160 --> 00:05:56,839 dollars from AI. Will you hear much serious discussion about 85 00:05:56,839 --> 00:06:01,120 the economic, social, and existential threats of AA on TikTok, 86 00:06:01,279 --> 00:06:07,720 CBS or CNN. Allison is a personal confidante of Benjamin Netanyahoo, 87 00:06:08,000 --> 00:06:11,839 a notorious war criminal and a supporter of Netta Yahoo's 88 00:06:11,920 --> 00:06:16,160 genocidal war in Gaza. Will we see criticism of Israel 89 00:06:16,399 --> 00:06:21,079 on his media platforms? There was another Bernie Sanders post 90 00:06:21,079 --> 00:06:24,519 from January. He said, thanks to Trump, right wing billionaire 91 00:06:24,680 --> 00:06:30,519 Larry Allison will now control the TikTok algorithm along with CBS, MTV, 92 00:06:30,720 --> 00:06:36,439 the Free Press, b E, t CMT, Simon and Schuster, Nickelodeon, 93 00:06:36,560 --> 00:06:42,079 Paramount Plus, Pluto TV, and more. This is what oligarchy 94 00:06:42,240 --> 00:06:45,240 looks like. Let me play a clip from about a 95 00:06:45,319 --> 00:06:50,519 year ago Bernie Sanders, Senator from Vermont's talking about oligarchy 96 00:06:50,720 --> 00:06:51,879 on the Senate floor. 97 00:06:52,000 --> 00:06:57,120 Speaker 2: And what should upset every American, no matter whether you're conservative, moderate, progressive, 98 00:06:57,800 --> 00:07:01,759 is that in direct violation the Constitution in federal law. 99 00:07:02,160 --> 00:07:08,560 Trump is intimidating the medium with lawsuits against ABC, CBS, META, 100 00:07:08,720 --> 00:07:13,839 and the Wine Register. His FCC is now threatening to 101 00:07:14,000 --> 00:07:19,879 investigate PBS and NPR. What Trump is essentially saying to 102 00:07:19,959 --> 00:07:23,879 every media outlet in America, if you say or do 103 00:07:24,040 --> 00:07:29,360 anything that is critical of me that displeases me, you 104 00:07:29,519 --> 00:07:34,759 may be subject to a lawsuit or a federal investigation. 105 00:07:36,279 --> 00:07:39,759 If that is not a direct attack on the First Amendment, 106 00:07:39,959 --> 00:07:43,160 on the US Constitution and free speech in our country, 107 00:07:43,839 --> 00:07:45,759 I don't know what is. 108 00:07:46,759 --> 00:07:48,879 Speaker 3: So I've set the stage. Let me come back to 109 00:07:49,160 --> 00:07:53,639 the subject of my ire. Before she became the power 110 00:07:53,680 --> 00:07:57,519 player at CBS News, Barry Weiss was an op ed 111 00:07:57,600 --> 00:08:01,480 and book review editor for the wallstre Rejournal eight nine 112 00:08:01,600 --> 00:08:03,600 years ago something like that. Used to write for The 113 00:08:03,680 --> 00:08:07,720 New York Times. Got disenfranchised. There was some big blow 114 00:08:07,839 --> 00:08:11,279 up about what she called harassment on Twitter. She didn't 115 00:08:11,279 --> 00:08:14,279 feel like The New York Times did enough to protect 116 00:08:14,319 --> 00:08:17,279 her or defend her, and she said, fine, if you're 117 00:08:17,279 --> 00:08:20,079 gonna let Twitter be the de facto editor for the 118 00:08:20,120 --> 00:08:22,279 New York Times, I'm out of here. And it was 119 00:08:22,319 --> 00:08:25,920 a very public and nasty separation, and she goes off 120 00:08:25,959 --> 00:08:29,560 to found her own media company called The Free Press. 121 00:08:29,800 --> 00:08:32,679 She had positioned herself kind of in the middle, at 122 00:08:32,759 --> 00:08:35,679 least verbally. She said, well, I'm not Fox News to 123 00:08:35,720 --> 00:08:38,919 the right, I'm not MSNBC to the left. I'm going 124 00:08:38,960 --> 00:08:40,840 to be right here in the middle. I think she 125 00:08:40,919 --> 00:08:45,799 called herself a liberal centrist or centrist liberal, you get 126 00:08:45,840 --> 00:08:47,679 it right. I'm in the middle. I'm going to be 127 00:08:47,679 --> 00:08:50,440 more objective. And this was dubious. She used to gripe 128 00:08:50,440 --> 00:08:53,559 a lot about the woke Libs, and she was a 129 00:08:53,559 --> 00:08:58,840 big proponent of the intellectual dark Web, which I don't 130 00:08:58,840 --> 00:09:02,360 even know who chose people that were supposedly part of 131 00:09:02,440 --> 00:09:05,960 this new elite that had been cast off or had 132 00:09:06,080 --> 00:09:09,840 left the university system and the legacy media system and 133 00:09:09,919 --> 00:09:14,039 we're out here doing great thinking on their own terms. 134 00:09:14,080 --> 00:09:19,480 The intellectual dark Web. The term is actually concocted as 135 00:09:19,559 --> 00:09:22,960 a gag, but it was Barry Weiss who popularized it. 136 00:09:23,279 --> 00:09:25,320 And I don't mean to digress too much, but the 137 00:09:25,399 --> 00:09:29,000 people who were the supposed elite thinkers who had cast 138 00:09:29,039 --> 00:09:31,360 off the system and they were now doing their own 139 00:09:31,399 --> 00:09:35,320 thing included I know somebody put Sam Harris on the list. 140 00:09:35,320 --> 00:09:37,759 In Steven Pinker, I don't know how they feel about that. 141 00:09:37,879 --> 00:09:42,519 But also as part of the intellectual dark web, Jordan Peterson, 142 00:09:43,519 --> 00:09:50,320 Ben Shapiro was on the list, Joe Rogan, Dave Rubin, 143 00:09:50,639 --> 00:09:52,720 You're gotta be shitting me, you know, so we can 144 00:09:52,759 --> 00:09:57,720 already see where Barry Weiss's leanings had been. Well, there 145 00:09:57,759 --> 00:10:00,279 was a big buy out that was being propos ed 146 00:10:00,519 --> 00:10:04,960 six months ago. The Ellisons, David Ellison and his billionaire 147 00:10:05,039 --> 00:10:10,679 father Larry Ellison. They are extremely wealthy, powerful people who 148 00:10:10,759 --> 00:10:14,960 are adjacent to Donald Trump. Essentially, they're kind of on 149 00:10:15,039 --> 00:10:17,600 his staff as far as I'm concerned. I mean, they 150 00:10:17,639 --> 00:10:21,600 are pro Trump. And David Ellison was in the process 151 00:10:21,679 --> 00:10:27,120 of acquiring Paramount. This was a massive acquisition, eight billion 152 00:10:27,360 --> 00:10:33,120 dollars to buy Paramount, but David Ellison required the approval 153 00:10:33,440 --> 00:10:37,080 of the government. Donald Trump sees that a couple of 154 00:10:37,080 --> 00:10:40,559 his buddies are going to buy CBS. Of course, Trump 155 00:10:40,759 --> 00:10:45,720 pissed at CBS, especially sixty minutes for any reporting that 156 00:10:45,840 --> 00:10:48,639 didn't kiss his ass, so he was like, oh great. 157 00:10:48,679 --> 00:10:52,159 In fact, he said this quote, I see good things 158 00:10:52,279 --> 00:10:55,200 happening in the news, so I think one of the 159 00:10:55,200 --> 00:10:58,720 best things to happen is this show and New ownership 160 00:10:59,039 --> 00:11:03,960 CBS and new ownership. I think it's the greatest thing 161 00:11:04,080 --> 00:11:06,720 that's happened in a long time to a free and 162 00:11:06,879 --> 00:11:11,519 open and good press. Now, if the Ellisons they're going 163 00:11:11,559 --> 00:11:16,039 to buy Paramount and Paramount owns CBS, what a wonderful 164 00:11:16,120 --> 00:11:20,600 time to hire a Trump friendly editor in chief for 165 00:11:20,879 --> 00:11:26,559 CBS News Q Barry Weiss. By the way, the Ellisons 166 00:11:26,720 --> 00:11:30,519 bought Barry Weiss's platform, The Free Press, and they only 167 00:11:30,559 --> 00:11:34,320 paid her one hundred and fifty million dollars, So I'm 168 00:11:34,399 --> 00:11:38,519 sure she has no motivation to keep those people happy. 169 00:11:39,200 --> 00:11:43,080 And what do you do? First? She installed at the 170 00:11:43,159 --> 00:11:47,080 evening anchor desk Tony de Koppel. He was a morning 171 00:11:47,120 --> 00:11:51,159 show guy. She moved him into the evening CBS News 172 00:11:51,159 --> 00:11:54,799 slot to do more Trump friendly I'll just say it, 173 00:11:54,840 --> 00:11:59,080 more Trump friendly story certainly less critical stories. He goes 174 00:11:59,159 --> 00:12:01,480 forward and he says, you know what, we have been 175 00:12:01,519 --> 00:12:05,960 relying too much on the experts, on the elites. We 176 00:12:06,039 --> 00:12:09,480 will now be listening more to the public. Let me 177 00:12:09,480 --> 00:12:11,440 play you a sound bite. This is actually from the 178 00:12:11,480 --> 00:12:16,039 CBS Evening News broadcast the night Tony de Koppel took over. 179 00:12:16,399 --> 00:12:19,799 Speaker 4: People do not trust us like they used to and 180 00:12:19,840 --> 00:12:23,759 It's not just us, it's all of legacy media. 181 00:12:23,799 --> 00:12:24,440 Speaker 3: And I get it. 182 00:12:24,720 --> 00:12:26,559 Speaker 4: I get it because I've been hearing about it from 183 00:12:26,720 --> 00:12:29,600 just about everybody for more than twenty years, as I've 184 00:12:29,639 --> 00:12:33,519 traveled America on this assignment, or that my mom's neighbors 185 00:12:33,600 --> 00:12:36,240 in West Virginia, my own neighbors in New York City, 186 00:12:36,679 --> 00:12:41,200 thousands and thousands of conversations in between. Sometimes people want 187 00:12:41,240 --> 00:12:43,720 to talk to me about our coverage of NAFTA or 188 00:12:43,720 --> 00:12:47,279 the Iraq War. Other times it's all about Hillary Clinton's 189 00:12:47,320 --> 00:12:51,639 emails or Russia Gate, or more recently, COVID lockdowns, Hunter 190 00:12:51,720 --> 00:12:57,039 Biden's laptop, or the President's fitness for office. The point is, 191 00:12:57,279 --> 00:13:00,600 on too many stories, the press has missed the story 192 00:13:01,279 --> 00:13:04,840 because we've taken into account the perspective of advocates and 193 00:13:04,919 --> 00:13:08,240 not the average American. Or we put too much weight 194 00:13:08,320 --> 00:13:12,320 in the analysis of academics or elites and not enough 195 00:13:12,600 --> 00:13:13,080 on you. 196 00:13:14,279 --> 00:13:17,440 Speaker 3: Now, let's take a second and consider the implication CBS 197 00:13:17,440 --> 00:13:23,120 News has admitted now that rather than rely on expertise, experience, 198 00:13:23,559 --> 00:13:27,559 degreed professionals who are peer reviewed holding each other accountable. 199 00:13:28,000 --> 00:13:31,600 Rather than do that exclusively or mostly, let's go out 200 00:13:31,639 --> 00:13:34,440 to the general public. I am reminded of that line 201 00:13:34,440 --> 00:13:38,120 from Men in Black, or Tommy Lee Jones's character said, 202 00:13:38,159 --> 00:13:43,320 a person is smart, people are dumb. And I'm telling 203 00:13:43,360 --> 00:13:47,080 you Americans, we have been running hard for the gold 204 00:13:47,159 --> 00:13:51,440 Medal of stupid for decades, if not longer, in this country. 205 00:13:51,519 --> 00:13:55,320 So now Tony Dakoppel admits outright, you know, we're going 206 00:13:55,399 --> 00:13:58,320 to give pretty much equal weight to a culture that 207 00:13:58,440 --> 00:14:03,799 thinks COVID was a hoax and vaccines cause autism. The 208 00:14:03,960 --> 00:14:09,240 earth may be flats. Airplanes are dropping keemtrails, mind controlled 209 00:14:09,320 --> 00:14:13,279 drugs on the public, and we need legislation to stop 210 00:14:13,480 --> 00:14:18,879 this crime. Global warming doesn't exist. Aliens built the pyramids. 211 00:14:19,759 --> 00:14:25,480 The Biblical God endorses net and Yahoo's genocide in Gaza. 212 00:14:25,679 --> 00:14:29,080 I can't start my day without reading my star chart. 213 00:14:29,279 --> 00:14:34,159 The astrologists await me. Nine to eleven was an inside job. 214 00:14:34,799 --> 00:14:39,480 You can defeat cancer by eating more kale. This is 215 00:14:39,519 --> 00:14:42,559 the culture that Tony de Koppal says he's going to 216 00:14:42,600 --> 00:14:49,159 rely more on while reporting hashtag news. I am sure 217 00:14:49,200 --> 00:14:52,879 you remember right after Barry Weis took over at CBS 218 00:14:52,919 --> 00:14:57,799 sixty minutes had investigated the Sea Coot Center. This prison 219 00:14:58,279 --> 00:15:03,600 a concentration camp, torture chamber really in Al Salvador, where 220 00:15:03,759 --> 00:15:07,200 people who were being deported as gang members out of 221 00:15:07,240 --> 00:15:11,559 this country were since and essentially forgotten as their lives 222 00:15:11,559 --> 00:15:16,440 became a living hell. And the Seacott situation is a nightmare. 223 00:15:16,600 --> 00:15:22,080 It is a nightmare. So sixty Minutes does legitimate investigative 224 00:15:22,200 --> 00:15:25,600 reporting on what the hell is going on? And right 225 00:15:25,679 --> 00:15:27,840 before it goes out, and I mean right at the 226 00:15:27,919 --> 00:15:31,679 last second, Barry Weiss jumps in and says, I'm not 227 00:15:31,799 --> 00:15:35,559 convinced the White House has been given an ample opportunity 228 00:15:35,679 --> 00:15:40,919 to comment on this story. She pulled the plug, and 229 00:15:41,039 --> 00:15:44,720 the producers and investigative reporters at sixty minutes had a 230 00:15:44,879 --> 00:15:49,600 what the hell moment. We have properly vetted and investigated 231 00:15:49,639 --> 00:15:52,759 and given everybody a chance to comment, and now you're 232 00:15:52,799 --> 00:15:57,279 telling us that we haven't done proper journalism. But that's 233 00:15:57,320 --> 00:16:02,039 what she did. However, the package, the news package, including 234 00:16:02,120 --> 00:16:05,679 sixty Minutes, went out to other outlets, including outlets in 235 00:16:05,919 --> 00:16:09,679 Canada where it aired as it was supposed to. And 236 00:16:09,720 --> 00:16:12,399 there was a story in the States that the segment 237 00:16:12,639 --> 00:16:17,279 was leaked online. That's not accurate. It wasn't leaked by anybody. 238 00:16:17,320 --> 00:16:21,320 It simply aired in Canada, and then it became available 239 00:16:21,360 --> 00:16:23,600 on the internet. People grabbed it and copied it and 240 00:16:23,639 --> 00:16:27,720 saved it and re shared it, and Signal boosted it, 241 00:16:27,759 --> 00:16:32,480 and ironically, more Americans saw that sixty minute segment on 242 00:16:32,600 --> 00:16:35,360 the internet than would have ever tuned in to the 243 00:16:35,399 --> 00:16:40,559 actual show on CBS, so it went super viral. Barry 244 00:16:40,559 --> 00:16:44,200 Weiss is criticized left and right for being a non 245 00:16:44,320 --> 00:16:47,559 journalist who pulled the plug because she is a little 246 00:16:47,600 --> 00:16:52,360 too Maga friendly. Finally, after a couple of months, sixty 247 00:16:52,440 --> 00:16:56,679 minutes has given permission to air the segment as intended. 248 00:16:56,720 --> 00:16:59,200 But you can see the challenge, and you can understand 249 00:16:59,639 --> 00:17:03,440 why journalists at sixty minutes and elsewhere are looking around 250 00:17:03,480 --> 00:17:05,680 going how in the hewl are we supposed to do 251 00:17:05,799 --> 00:17:09,240 our jobs under someone who is not qualified to do 252 00:17:09,319 --> 00:17:13,240 what we do, yet wields great power and is attached 253 00:17:13,319 --> 00:17:16,799 to the Ellisons who are attached to Donald Trump? Is 254 00:17:16,839 --> 00:17:21,279 this the beginning of the Fox newsifacation of CBS? And 255 00:17:21,359 --> 00:17:25,400 of course the fallout began in short order and continues today. 256 00:17:26,000 --> 00:17:31,200 Producer Alisha Hasty, she left CNN's Anderson Cooper, did a 257 00:17:31,240 --> 00:17:36,079 lot of reporting for sixty minutes. He left CBS News 258 00:17:36,319 --> 00:17:40,720 Radio after one hundred years of broadcasting, has been shut 259 00:17:41,039 --> 00:17:46,480 down due to quote challenging economic realities. We're talking about 260 00:17:46,480 --> 00:17:51,480 seven hundred affiliated stations nationwide affected by the end of 261 00:17:51,599 --> 00:17:54,480 CBS News Radio, which is going to officially kick in 262 00:17:54,640 --> 00:17:59,480 May the twenty second, with all jobs eliminated. There has 263 00:17:59,519 --> 00:18:02,839 been a gutting of the news division at CBS, and 264 00:18:02,920 --> 00:18:05,799 those who remain have to do their work under a shadow, 265 00:18:06,119 --> 00:18:10,880 actually several shadows. Barry Weiss, the Ellison's Paramount Plus and 266 00:18:11,119 --> 00:18:15,160 this administration. Did you see that segment Don John Oliverer, 267 00:18:15,599 --> 00:18:18,799 It's got a great HBO broadcast. This was a clip 268 00:18:18,799 --> 00:18:20,000 from five months ago. 269 00:18:20,319 --> 00:18:23,240 Speaker 5: When these takeovers get announced, it's easy to think, well, 270 00:18:23,559 --> 00:18:26,960 thank goodness, there are other outlets that aren't under some 271 00:18:27,039 --> 00:18:30,200 billionaires influence. And that is true because there is always 272 00:18:30,240 --> 00:18:34,720 another one until there suddenly isn't. And I admit I 273 00:18:34,839 --> 00:18:37,240 don't know what is going to happen next. Maybe Barry 274 00:18:37,240 --> 00:18:40,599 Weiss will completely reshape CBS News, maybe she'll flame out 275 00:18:40,880 --> 00:18:45,000 and write another resignation letter heard around the world, but 276 00:18:45,119 --> 00:18:47,559 it is it is worth keeping an eye out for 277 00:18:47,640 --> 00:18:50,759 subtle changes there because while I'm sure many of CBS's 278 00:18:50,799 --> 00:18:53,599 good journalists will continue to do great work. If you 279 00:18:53,759 --> 00:18:57,720 start seeing people resigning or getting fired, or you start 280 00:18:57,720 --> 00:19:00,519 seeing stories that seem off in some way, especially if 281 00:19:00,519 --> 00:19:02,920 it involves the left going too far on a topic 282 00:19:02,960 --> 00:19:08,519 Barry weiscaz about, it's worth asking yourself why that might be, because, unfortunately, 283 00:19:08,519 --> 00:19:12,079 the much bigger answer might be that the billionaire has 284 00:19:12,160 --> 00:19:16,200 chosen to inject contrarian, right leaning opinion journalism into an 285 00:19:16,240 --> 00:19:17,160 American icon. 286 00:19:17,720 --> 00:19:22,200 Speaker 3: Longtime CBS Late Night host David Latterman, he came forward 287 00:19:22,240 --> 00:19:25,440 and he was talking to Sky News Australia about the 288 00:19:25,480 --> 00:19:26,880 debacle at CBS. 289 00:19:27,039 --> 00:19:31,119 Speaker 6: What about those idiots at CBS. The CBS News is 290 00:19:31,119 --> 00:19:35,640 a rare bill, just gone CBS News for decades, joining 291 00:19:35,680 --> 00:19:38,920 back your brand world War Two. Before World War Two, 292 00:19:40,160 --> 00:19:43,839 they would be Ed Murrow would be broadcasting the blimpse 293 00:19:43,920 --> 00:19:48,160 of London from the rooftop of buildings in London for 294 00:19:48,400 --> 00:19:52,680 CBS Radio. And it was that mentality that drove the 295 00:19:52,720 --> 00:19:56,559 integrity of CBS News that has been trampled on, pissed on, 296 00:19:56,680 --> 00:19:59,559 and eviscerated by these idiots that have taken it over. 297 00:20:00,039 --> 00:20:03,640 And I'm at a point now where It really is 298 00:20:03,720 --> 00:20:07,359 hurting my feelings because I'm sick and tired of people saying, oh, 299 00:20:07,440 --> 00:20:12,759 into those midterms, kids. We're far downstream of the midterms 300 00:20:12,759 --> 00:20:13,960 having any effect on this. 301 00:20:14,359 --> 00:20:19,519 Speaker 3: And unsurprisingly, the already lackluster ratings at CBS News pre 302 00:20:19,880 --> 00:20:26,240 Barry Weiss have now become abysmal. TV Insider just reported 303 00:20:26,279 --> 00:20:29,400 that the CBS Evening News, which had a what four 304 00:20:29,400 --> 00:20:33,200 and a half million viewership for the first night, which 305 00:20:33,319 --> 00:20:36,880 was really rocky. D Koppel has been just pathetic. He 306 00:20:37,160 --> 00:20:40,680 struggled on the air. He brought on all kinds of 307 00:20:40,720 --> 00:20:43,920 Trump friendly people. He had Pete hag Seth, and he 308 00:20:44,000 --> 00:20:48,559 had Christy Nome and they were pitching ice propaganda, etc. 309 00:20:48,920 --> 00:20:50,960 He did a feature where he was talking about the 310 00:20:51,079 --> 00:20:56,480 ultimate Florida man, Marco Rubio. Of course, Marco Rubio appointed 311 00:20:56,519 --> 00:20:59,759 by Trump to be our Secretary of State. This is 312 00:20:59,799 --> 00:21:03,359 a guy who's been totally neutered by Donald Trump and 313 00:21:03,400 --> 00:21:06,640 by Magga. He's totally flipped. Do you remember years ago 314 00:21:06,839 --> 00:21:08,759 when he issued this warning. 315 00:21:09,000 --> 00:21:11,960 Speaker 7: Donald Trump has portrayed himself now consistently is fighting for 316 00:21:12,000 --> 00:21:14,400 the working people, and he has a record of sticking 317 00:21:14,480 --> 00:21:17,200 it to working people for thirty five years If any 318 00:21:17,200 --> 00:21:19,480 other candidate in this race had his record, there would 319 00:21:19,519 --> 00:21:22,240 be non stop reporting on it. But unfortunately, he's being 320 00:21:22,279 --> 00:21:24,400 pumped up because many in the media with a bias 321 00:21:24,519 --> 00:21:26,640 know that he'll be easy to beat in a general election. 322 00:21:27,000 --> 00:21:28,599 Speaker 3: So we're going to put a stop to it now. 323 00:21:28,759 --> 00:21:30,640 Speaker 7: There is no way we are going to allow a 324 00:21:30,720 --> 00:21:33,319 con artist to take over the conservative movement. And Donald 325 00:21:33,359 --> 00:21:34,720 Trump is a con artist. 326 00:21:35,079 --> 00:21:39,119 Speaker 3: Okay, that was ten years ago. Marco Rubio. Here is 327 00:21:39,160 --> 00:21:42,680 a SoundBite from three months ago as he is sitting 328 00:21:42,799 --> 00:21:45,759 shouldered his shoulder with Donald Trump at a cabinet meeting. 329 00:21:46,039 --> 00:21:49,799 Speaker 8: Everything this president does is driven by the American people. 330 00:21:49,799 --> 00:21:51,880 Whether you you don't have to agree with the actual 331 00:21:51,920 --> 00:21:55,279 move but understand the motivation. The motivation is always you, 332 00:21:55,400 --> 00:21:58,279 the American people, and what's good for you, for your family, 333 00:21:58,359 --> 00:21:59,279 for the country, and. 334 00:21:59,279 --> 00:22:03,039 Speaker 3: For our economy. So how does CBS News with Tony 335 00:22:03,079 --> 00:22:08,559 Decoppel cover Marco Rubio? Check this out. 336 00:22:08,519 --> 00:22:11,559 Speaker 4: Only in America. The many lives and many jobs of 337 00:22:11,599 --> 00:22:14,480 Marco Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants and a former 338 00:22:14,519 --> 00:22:17,319 Florida senator. He's now the face of US foreign policy 339 00:22:17,599 --> 00:22:21,119 and President Trump's point man on Venezuela all in addition 340 00:22:21,200 --> 00:22:25,039 to his roles as Secretary of State, Interim National Security Advisor, 341 00:22:25,359 --> 00:22:29,839 and Acting National Archivist, and USAID Chief. Whatever you think 342 00:22:29,880 --> 00:22:32,599 of his politics, you got to admit it's an impressive resume. 343 00:22:33,079 --> 00:22:36,599 And now AI memes have added to that portfolio, casting 344 00:22:36,640 --> 00:22:39,680 Secretary of Rubio as the new Governor of Minnesota, the 345 00:22:39,759 --> 00:22:43,079 new Shaw of Iran, the Prime Minister of Greenland, the 346 00:22:43,119 --> 00:22:46,720 new Manager of Manchester United, the head of Hilton Hotels, 347 00:22:46,759 --> 00:22:50,160 and highest of high honors of all, the new Michelin Man. 348 00:22:50,839 --> 00:22:52,960 Now back in real life. Of course, these memes may 349 00:22:53,000 --> 00:22:55,839 not add up to much, but for Rubio's hometown fans, 350 00:22:56,160 --> 00:22:58,799 which are many around here in Miami, it is a 351 00:22:58,839 --> 00:23:02,319 sign of how Florida, once an American punchline, has become 352 00:23:02,400 --> 00:23:06,839 a leader on the world stage. Marco Rubio, we salute you. 353 00:23:06,839 --> 00:23:08,400 You're the ultimate in Florida man. 354 00:23:09,039 --> 00:23:13,400 Speaker 3: This is supposedly objective journalism, and the people are not happy. 355 00:23:13,480 --> 00:23:17,680 They have been defecting. Viewership is dropping. The network is 356 00:23:17,680 --> 00:23:21,160 now seeing three and a half million viewers, which is 357 00:23:21,359 --> 00:23:24,960 a terrible number. And now many people are saying Barry 358 00:23:24,960 --> 00:23:28,720 Weiss herself might see her career on the chopping block. 359 00:23:29,079 --> 00:23:32,440 So it's a bloodbath over there. You get the idea. Well, 360 00:23:32,519 --> 00:23:35,079 let me read for you an article that was posted 361 00:23:35,200 --> 00:23:39,279 in the Verge. The author is a senior writer at 362 00:23:39,400 --> 00:23:43,200 The Verge. Her name is Elizabeth Lopato, and the title 363 00:23:43,319 --> 00:23:47,039 does not pull any punches. It is memo to Barry 364 00:23:47,079 --> 00:23:52,960 Weiss regarding CBS News, You're doomed. Let me take my 365 00:23:53,079 --> 00:23:54,839 short break and I will come back so I can 366 00:23:54,880 --> 00:24:06,799 read the whole thing uninterrupted right after this. Okay, let 367 00:24:06,799 --> 00:24:08,920 me read this article. I will link it in the 368 00:24:08,960 --> 00:24:14,559 description box, written by Elizabeth Lopoto, Memo to Barry Wise 369 00:24:14,839 --> 00:24:25,160 regarding CBS News, You're doomed. Subject Good luck, babe. I 370 00:24:25,319 --> 00:24:29,319 honestly cannot believe you've willingly decided to go into the 371 00:24:29,319 --> 00:24:34,039 worst kind of job that exists, management at a dying company. 372 00:24:34,599 --> 00:24:38,759 Managing sucks. It sucks even when you like the people 373 00:24:38,799 --> 00:24:41,880 you're managing. And it's a low stress position. And I'm 374 00:24:41,920 --> 00:24:45,160 sure I don't have to tell you running CBS News 375 00:24:45,440 --> 00:24:49,079 is not a low stress position. You're gonna get blamed 376 00:24:49,119 --> 00:24:52,240 by everyone above you for decisions that are made by 377 00:24:52,279 --> 00:24:55,640 people below you, and you're gonna get blamed by people 378 00:24:55,759 --> 00:24:59,000 below you for the decisions that are made by people 379 00:24:59,039 --> 00:25:02,319 above you. You're also going to get blamed for your 380 00:25:02,440 --> 00:25:06,480 own decisions, just for kicks. You have elected to take 381 00:25:06,519 --> 00:25:09,240 a job where the primary purpose is for you to 382 00:25:09,400 --> 00:25:13,720 eat shit and own. The death of broadcast TV news 383 00:25:14,000 --> 00:25:17,000 a thing that's going to die no matter what you do. 384 00:25:17,640 --> 00:25:22,000 Nice work. This is the glass cliff to end all 385 00:25:22,160 --> 00:25:26,839 glass cliffs. You're Marissa Mayer at Yahoo without the Googler 386 00:25:26,960 --> 00:25:31,720 street cred, your Nancy Dubuque advice, without the string of 387 00:25:31,799 --> 00:25:36,480 hit TV shows. You're Linda Yaccarino at Twitter without the 388 00:25:36,680 --> 00:25:41,279 advertiser relationships. You have been hired as a soop to 389 00:25:41,319 --> 00:25:45,599 a Trump administration that is actively hostile to the actual 390 00:25:45,799 --> 00:25:49,359 free press, and you will be made to oversee wave 391 00:25:49,519 --> 00:25:53,200 after wave of layoffs until you quit or get fired, 392 00:25:53,480 --> 00:25:56,599 and the entire news division is shut down in a 393 00:25:56,680 --> 00:26:01,279 final spasm of cost cutting after the next next inescapable 394 00:26:01,400 --> 00:26:05,799 media merger. No one can save CBS News because it 395 00:26:05,960 --> 00:26:09,319 was made for a media ecosystem that is now dead. 396 00:26:09,920 --> 00:26:15,039 Broadcast television is slowly circling the drain its aging audience, 397 00:26:15,119 --> 00:26:19,319 drifting toward the great inevitable. Younger people are getting their 398 00:26:19,359 --> 00:26:23,160 news from TikTok and Instagram in ever greater numbers, and 399 00:26:23,240 --> 00:26:28,720 they trust institutional media less than ever CBS in particular. 400 00:26:29,000 --> 00:26:33,039 That's your new company now has the oldest audience in 401 00:26:33,160 --> 00:26:38,599 primetime TV. These folks aren't the free presses assiduously courted 402 00:26:38,720 --> 00:26:43,160 classical liberals either. It's normy grandparents, a bunch of whom 403 00:26:43,160 --> 00:26:46,000 are planning to appear at the next No Kings rally. 404 00:26:46,519 --> 00:26:50,119 I might invoke Edward R. Murrow, but they remember him. 405 00:26:50,400 --> 00:26:53,480 They don't have any goodwill toward you. They don't know 406 00:26:53,519 --> 00:26:55,640 who you are at all, and they're not going to 407 00:26:55,759 --> 00:26:59,519 defend you when you screw up. You are now stuck. 408 00:27:00,000 --> 00:27:03,359 I mean, your goal is to win back younger audiences, 409 00:27:03,559 --> 00:27:07,160 which you cannot do while your real job is to 410 00:27:07,319 --> 00:27:11,240 manage decline. There is no way to win here, only 411 00:27:11,400 --> 00:27:15,839 slightly better ways to lose. Now, it's possible that your 412 00:27:15,960 --> 00:27:20,160 delusional enough to think that Larry Ellison's takeover of TikTok 413 00:27:20,279 --> 00:27:23,480 will give you a tailwind. I mean, your owner is 414 00:27:23,640 --> 00:27:27,519 Ellison's son, after all, and why wouldn't the Ellison family 415 00:27:27,640 --> 00:27:30,640 support each other. You should have known the moment you 416 00:27:30,680 --> 00:27:34,599 saw Rupert Murdoch on the investor list that wasn't going 417 00:27:34,680 --> 00:27:39,119 to happen. After all, did MySpace help Fox News or 418 00:27:39,160 --> 00:27:44,839 did NewsCorp catastrophically fumble an asset that didn't understand On 419 00:27:44,920 --> 00:27:49,279 a business level, Your problem with TikTok is this platforms 420 00:27:49,359 --> 00:27:54,319 exist to erode institutions like CBS News. You cannot solve 421 00:27:54,359 --> 00:27:59,160 your problems with improved distribution on TikTok. The things that 422 00:27:59,240 --> 00:28:02,640 work on televis for sixty year olds do not work 423 00:28:02,680 --> 00:28:06,079 on TikTok for fourteen year orols. First of all, but 424 00:28:06,559 --> 00:28:12,559 more importantly, TikTokers monetize their channels by directly integrating advertising 425 00:28:12,599 --> 00:28:17,400 and brands into their content, a strategy in immediate conflict 426 00:28:17,440 --> 00:28:21,039 with the values and ethics of a storied news organization 427 00:28:21,279 --> 00:28:25,200 like CBS News. Even if you somehow manage to crack 428 00:28:25,279 --> 00:28:29,000 TikTok's algorithm, you still won't make enough revenue to survive 429 00:28:29,240 --> 00:28:33,440 without trashing the very soul of the institution you're purporting 430 00:28:33,480 --> 00:28:37,400 to save. It's actually even worse than that. You also 431 00:28:37,599 --> 00:28:42,319 have to manage talent, famous TV talent, the people your 432 00:28:42,359 --> 00:28:45,799 audience actually knows and likes, and who will eat you 433 00:28:45,920 --> 00:28:49,279 alive if they think you've screwed them over. In order 434 00:28:49,319 --> 00:28:52,680 for that to work, you actually need to completely disappear 435 00:28:53,039 --> 00:28:55,799 and let the talent be the face of the network. 436 00:28:55,839 --> 00:28:59,799 And quite frankly, nothing about your history suggest you're capable 437 00:28:59,839 --> 00:29:02,720 of that. And one of the main problems with talent, 438 00:29:03,240 --> 00:29:08,000 especially famous TV talent, is that they are ego maniacal 439 00:29:08,160 --> 00:29:11,720 monsters who love getting paid and throwing his e fits 440 00:29:12,000 --> 00:29:14,960 and hate being told what to do. You think you 441 00:29:15,039 --> 00:29:17,680 had a bad time at The New York Times, baby, 442 00:29:17,759 --> 00:29:21,640 you have no idea what a bad time is. You'll 443 00:29:21,640 --> 00:29:25,079 find out when you try to tell Nora O'Donnell anything 444 00:29:25,079 --> 00:29:28,400 at all about her reporting. If you're lucky, she'll just 445 00:29:28,519 --> 00:29:31,160 shake her emmys at you when she tells you to 446 00:29:31,240 --> 00:29:35,039 fuck off. You think Gail King or David Martin they're 447 00:29:35,079 --> 00:29:37,960 gonna sit through a lecture from you, like for real? 448 00:29:38,319 --> 00:29:42,880 Come on, Jane, Polly has already caused one media firestorm 449 00:29:42,960 --> 00:29:47,839 by changing jobs. Are you ready for this? Managing requires 450 00:29:47,920 --> 00:29:52,599 certain kinds of soft skills ones I'm not confident you possess. 451 00:29:53,039 --> 00:29:56,440 They weren't necessary in your cushy Wall Street Journal op 452 00:29:56,599 --> 00:30:00,880 ed job or your cushier New York Times bad job. 453 00:30:01,279 --> 00:30:04,880 They were barely required at the publication you invented the 454 00:30:04,920 --> 00:30:09,519 free press. So now you're the head honcho at CBS News. 455 00:30:09,799 --> 00:30:13,440 Let's say you decide to skip levels to directly edit 456 00:30:13,640 --> 00:30:16,559 a sixty minute story. It doesn't even have to be 457 00:30:16,640 --> 00:30:20,519 a controversial story to make all hell break loose, because 458 00:30:20,880 --> 00:30:25,079 you have neither the credibility nor the relationships required to 459 00:30:25,160 --> 00:30:28,759 take this kind of work on. And what's more, you've 460 00:30:28,759 --> 00:30:34,079 got a news division composed exclusively of ambitious piranhas below you, 461 00:30:34,559 --> 00:30:39,279 not your handpicked cronies like Tyler I wish to see Hollywood, 462 00:30:39,400 --> 00:30:44,480 Virgin's Cohen. These people have decades on television. And you 463 00:30:44,599 --> 00:30:48,039 have a newsletter and a history of throwing your colleagues 464 00:30:48,160 --> 00:30:52,400 under the bus. The media reporters are already circling you 465 00:30:52,480 --> 00:30:56,000 like a pack of wolves. Like take your opening memo 466 00:30:56,079 --> 00:30:59,440 to the news division, the one about quote the same 467 00:30:59,680 --> 00:31:04,319 core journalistic values that define this profession from the beginning, 468 00:31:04,759 --> 00:31:08,119 which for some reason includes using all of the tools 469 00:31:08,119 --> 00:31:11,359 of the digital era. Not only could it have been 470 00:31:11,440 --> 00:31:15,240 better edited and based on actual journalistic history, but you 471 00:31:15,359 --> 00:31:19,279 might have held off on insinuating you intend to incorporate 472 00:31:19,480 --> 00:31:25,160 aislop into the work process until sometime after your first day. 473 00:31:25,880 --> 00:31:28,960 Consider all the people you now lead to have actual 474 00:31:29,160 --> 00:31:32,119 reporting experience. Do you think they're going to do something 475 00:31:32,160 --> 00:31:35,680 other than call their favorite media reporter the moment you 476 00:31:35,759 --> 00:31:40,680 interject yourself into a story or impose some nonsensical AI 477 00:31:41,160 --> 00:31:46,799 bias meter review to make matters worse. You have never reported, 478 00:31:47,119 --> 00:31:50,279 and they all know it. You don't know anything about 479 00:31:50,319 --> 00:31:55,119 the challenges or judgment calls required for complicated stories. You're 480 00:31:55,160 --> 00:31:59,359 an op ed writer who rode Bret Stevens's coat tails 481 00:31:59,440 --> 00:32:02,880 into the New New York Times newsroom, then quit in 482 00:32:02,920 --> 00:32:06,160 a huff because they wouldn't fire you for whatever it 483 00:32:06,279 --> 00:32:09,079 was you wanted to pretend to be a free speech martyr. 484 00:32:09,240 --> 00:32:12,880 For the closest you came to doing anything like reporting 485 00:32:13,079 --> 00:32:19,079 was the flop Twitter Files work, which exposed people having 486 00:32:19,200 --> 00:32:23,920 banal conversations in the context of the Twitter files. This 487 00:32:24,160 --> 00:32:27,599 was a win since you didn't actually dox anyone. By 488 00:32:27,640 --> 00:32:30,799 the way, the Twitter Files was a big Elon Musk 489 00:32:31,000 --> 00:32:34,279 collaboration that blew up, and that's a whole other story 490 00:32:34,400 --> 00:32:37,839 back to the article. Honestly, I thought your experience with 491 00:32:37,920 --> 00:32:40,640 Elon Musk might have prepared you for what a bad 492 00:32:40,720 --> 00:32:44,200 idea this was, since you know he got mad at 493 00:32:44,240 --> 00:32:47,839 you when you asked the wrong questions about China. Sure, 494 00:32:47,960 --> 00:32:50,599 you've made a career out of kissing the right asses 495 00:32:50,640 --> 00:32:53,119 to move ahead, but you must have learned by now 496 00:32:53,200 --> 00:32:57,480 this means you will be disposed of whenever it's convenient. 497 00:32:58,359 --> 00:33:02,000 You had such a good gig going to Your entire 498 00:33:02,119 --> 00:33:05,279 pitch at the Free Press, Lol, was that you were 499 00:33:05,359 --> 00:33:10,039 standing boldly against the big, bad corporate media that simply 500 00:33:10,119 --> 00:33:14,359 wouldn't tell the truth. This was an easy pitch, albeit 501 00:33:14,440 --> 00:33:18,599 one made by every substacker from Taylor Lorenz to Ken 502 00:33:18,680 --> 00:33:23,640 Klippenstein to Naomi Wolf, and, judging by your audience, a 503 00:33:23,799 --> 00:33:27,640 fairly lucrative one. You didn't even have to get stories right. 504 00:33:28,119 --> 00:33:31,680 Remember when your columnist Coleman Hughes published a column about 505 00:33:31,720 --> 00:33:35,200 George Floyd that was so wrong it got dog walked 506 00:33:35,400 --> 00:33:39,440 not once but three times by Radley Balco, and you 507 00:33:39,599 --> 00:33:43,559 personally got dog walked a fourth time, and your response 508 00:33:43,880 --> 00:33:47,880 was that Balco should do your podcast. No one but 509 00:33:47,920 --> 00:33:52,519 the terminally online remembers that little kerfluffle because the steaks 510 00:33:52,640 --> 00:33:56,640 were small potatoes. But you're on TV now, babe. Do 511 00:33:56,720 --> 00:34:00,799 you remember when CBS News is Dan Rather didn't adequately 512 00:34:01,000 --> 00:34:04,880 verify some documents purporting to be about George W. Bush's 513 00:34:04,920 --> 00:34:09,039 military service, and it turned into a national controversy that 514 00:34:09,119 --> 00:34:12,719 lasted for weeks. That's what you have to look forward to, 515 00:34:13,280 --> 00:34:18,000 especially if you personally sign off on compromised reporting, and 516 00:34:18,079 --> 00:34:22,599 that controversy is coming for you at warp speed. More 517 00:34:22,639 --> 00:34:26,199 than half of America thinks Israel has gone too far 518 00:34:26,320 --> 00:34:30,800 in Gaza, and any insufficiently aggressive reporting on the situation 519 00:34:30,960 --> 00:34:33,880 in Gaza is ultimately going to be blamed on you, 520 00:34:34,199 --> 00:34:39,280 miss zionist fanatic. Plus, CBS News isn't going to move 521 00:34:39,320 --> 00:34:43,320 the needle on young people's attitudes toward Israel because they 522 00:34:43,519 --> 00:34:48,000 don't watch it. This specifically, is an area of news 523 00:34:48,079 --> 00:34:51,079 where there are no winning moves for you because of 524 00:34:51,119 --> 00:34:54,079 your proudly worn biases. You don't even have to be 525 00:34:54,159 --> 00:34:57,599 involved in a bomb story to get blamed for it, 526 00:34:57,679 --> 00:35:02,119 because getting blamed for reporters alas is the most important 527 00:35:02,159 --> 00:35:05,559 part of your job. Though reporters are near and dear 528 00:35:05,559 --> 00:35:08,440 to my heart, they are not your worst problem. Your 529 00:35:08,559 --> 00:35:13,840 worst problem is somehow Brandon Carr. Now let me jump 530 00:35:13,920 --> 00:35:17,280 out here for just a second. Brendan Carr was appointed 531 00:35:17,280 --> 00:35:21,400 by Donald Trump to head the Federal Communications Commission the FCC, 532 00:35:21,480 --> 00:35:26,920 and the FCC oversees broadcast media in this country, and 533 00:35:27,079 --> 00:35:30,960 Brendan Carr has come forward and threatened to revoke the 534 00:35:31,000 --> 00:35:35,440 broadcast licenses of outlets that are being too critical to 535 00:35:35,719 --> 00:35:39,800 unfair to Donald Trump. So he is essentially part of 536 00:35:39,840 --> 00:35:43,719 a wing of the Trump administration who wants free speaking, 537 00:35:43,840 --> 00:35:48,679 free writing, free expression journalism to become dear leader state 538 00:35:48,840 --> 00:35:52,119 television with its head up the ass of Donald Trump. 539 00:35:52,320 --> 00:35:56,199 This guy is a nightmare who wields great power. Back 540 00:35:56,239 --> 00:36:00,679 to the article, your worst problem is somehow, Brendan car 541 00:36:01,280 --> 00:36:04,199 I don't mean that he's gonna personally come for you, Barry. 542 00:36:04,320 --> 00:36:07,199 I mean that you've obviously been put in charge of 543 00:36:07,239 --> 00:36:10,920 CBS News as a way of appeasing the Trump administration 544 00:36:11,239 --> 00:36:14,920 something to allow the merger to go through. Car blessed 545 00:36:14,960 --> 00:36:19,679 the sky Dance acquisition after CBS paid sixteen million dollars 546 00:36:19,679 --> 00:36:23,320 to President Donald Trump in what was definitely not a 547 00:36:23,480 --> 00:36:28,400 bribe and didn't renew late show host Stephen Colbert's contract. 548 00:36:28,920 --> 00:36:33,800 Sky Dance promised car An anti DEEI pro diversity of 549 00:36:33,880 --> 00:36:37,639 viewpoints Nanny in the News division, that Nanny is a 550 00:36:37,719 --> 00:36:42,559 Republican donor who somehow has even less journalistic experience than 551 00:36:42,639 --> 00:36:45,519 you do, So that kind of puts you in a 552 00:36:45,559 --> 00:36:50,239 precarious position. Babe. The moment that deal is closed, you're 553 00:36:50,440 --> 00:36:54,519 disposable and there are just so many ways to dispose 554 00:36:54,679 --> 00:36:58,000 of you. Every day will be a thrilling new adventure. 555 00:36:58,599 --> 00:37:02,320 Will a truth social post and your career? Will you 556 00:37:02,480 --> 00:37:06,360 accidentally publish aislop? Is there going to be a mass 557 00:37:06,480 --> 00:37:09,679 quit leaving you with a gaping hole in your programming? 558 00:37:10,280 --> 00:37:15,159 Or will a maga pilled influencer inevitably goed musk into 559 00:37:15,159 --> 00:37:20,320 an advertiser harassment campaign that ends your career. Perhaps there 560 00:37:20,360 --> 00:37:23,960 will be a newsroom scandal I have not adequately foreseen. 561 00:37:24,480 --> 00:37:27,960 This is a deck that's stacked against you, and you 562 00:37:28,039 --> 00:37:31,679 haven't got the skills to finesse your way through the deal. 563 00:37:31,920 --> 00:37:35,239 Congrats on that one hundred and fifty million dollar payout 564 00:37:35,280 --> 00:37:40,519 for the Free Press. Someone else owns it now, and 565 00:37:40,599 --> 00:37:45,559 Elizabeth Lopato at The Verge is absolutely correct. Everybody disposable 566 00:37:45,559 --> 00:37:48,880 in the Trump administration. Anybody who rubs him the wrong way, 567 00:37:48,920 --> 00:37:52,599 anybody who's a convenient scapegoat or fall guy, anybody who 568 00:37:52,639 --> 00:37:57,599 fails in his adult mind. Everybody's expendable. Barry Wise is 569 00:37:57,639 --> 00:38:01,559 expendable as well. But watching in real time not just 570 00:38:01,679 --> 00:38:05,679 the demise of legacy news media, but we're really watching 571 00:38:05,719 --> 00:38:09,239 the demise of what was once a great and credible 572 00:38:09,239 --> 00:38:13,519 and reputable and wonderful journalistic enterprise. And I'll start with 573 00:38:13,679 --> 00:38:16,519 sixty minutes, but I mean CBS News at least they 574 00:38:16,559 --> 00:38:21,159 were reporting some news. You'll never eliminate bias from reporting, 575 00:38:21,159 --> 00:38:25,039 but I mean they were relatively credible until they weren't. 576 00:38:25,400 --> 00:38:29,199 Now they are bleeding credible journalists. And Barry Weiss is 577 00:38:29,199 --> 00:38:32,159 sitting there wondering what she's going to do when the 578 00:38:32,280 --> 00:38:36,400 ratings actually hit the basements. I just thought that was 579 00:38:36,440 --> 00:38:42,039 an interesting piece in the Verge. I mentioned earlier about 580 00:38:42,480 --> 00:38:46,960 six major corporations and or billionaires who own ninety percent 581 00:38:47,000 --> 00:38:49,239 of the media in this country. And I want to 582 00:38:49,280 --> 00:38:52,400 come back to that short break. We'll do it next. 583 00:39:00,039 --> 00:39:03,119 Broadcaster in the nineteen nineties, you know my story. I 584 00:39:03,159 --> 00:39:06,800 was on FM radio, and I'm pretty familiar with broadcasting 585 00:39:07,039 --> 00:39:11,079 of that time, the late twentieth century, So it was 586 00:39:11,320 --> 00:39:14,920 true that in the middle of the twentieth century there 587 00:39:14,920 --> 00:39:19,320 were major players. There were rich families and corporations who 588 00:39:19,360 --> 00:39:23,000 did own a bunch of our media. The Grams owned 589 00:39:23,000 --> 00:39:26,559 the Washington Post, the Chandlers owned the Los Angeles Times, 590 00:39:26,599 --> 00:39:31,119 the Tailors owned the Boston Globe. We saw the Cox 591 00:39:31,199 --> 00:39:36,400 family controlling Cox Networks, the Sinclair's they own hundreds of stations. 592 00:39:36,440 --> 00:39:39,840 Of course, the Murdos, et cetera. But it was during 593 00:39:39,920 --> 00:39:43,320 the nineteen eighties that things really began to shift in 594 00:39:43,400 --> 00:39:46,000 favor of the oligarchs and the billionaires and the major 595 00:39:46,079 --> 00:39:49,880 corporate players. So Reagan is in office, and this is 596 00:39:49,920 --> 00:39:52,400 a time of excess, and this is a time of 597 00:39:52,840 --> 00:39:57,440 free market latitude. Let us get the governments out of business, 598 00:39:58,000 --> 00:40:01,960 stop interfering. This is America that if we pull off 599 00:40:02,000 --> 00:40:04,719 the restraints and the regulations and all of the red tape, 600 00:40:04,760 --> 00:40:07,000 and we allow the market to do what it does, 601 00:40:07,119 --> 00:40:11,760 it'll be a great democratizing thing, and everybody everywhere will 602 00:40:11,760 --> 00:40:15,840 be able to play fairly. This is either a monumentally 603 00:40:15,960 --> 00:40:20,320 naive notion or these people were just corrupt. Because as 604 00:40:20,320 --> 00:40:23,360 soon as we saw the elimination of the fairness doctrine 605 00:40:23,400 --> 00:40:28,199 and the deregulation of broadcasting and media in the nineteen eighties, 606 00:40:28,719 --> 00:40:35,079 what happened what always happens, Monster corporations swooped in and 607 00:40:35,360 --> 00:40:39,239 vacuumed up everything in sight. Do you think the mom 608 00:40:39,280 --> 00:40:42,800 and pop shops, you know, the radio stations and TV stations, 609 00:40:42,800 --> 00:40:44,119 do you think they were going to be able to 610 00:40:44,159 --> 00:40:49,599 compete with billionaire power players. They would either be suffocated 611 00:40:49,639 --> 00:40:54,559 out by overwhelming amounts of competing programming, or they'd be 612 00:40:54,679 --> 00:40:58,599 offered a deal they felt they couldn't refuse. You know what, 613 00:40:58,800 --> 00:41:01,519 I know your family, but let us come in and 614 00:41:01,559 --> 00:41:04,599 we'll make your ridge. Just give us all your assets, 615 00:41:04,679 --> 00:41:10,039 the frequency, etc. That's exactly what happened. There were fifty 616 00:41:10,239 --> 00:41:14,400 major owners of commercial media in nineteen eighty three. There 617 00:41:14,400 --> 00:41:19,199 were twenty three major owners of American media in nineteen ninety. 618 00:41:19,480 --> 00:41:23,920 That number reduced to ten major entities who owned most 619 00:41:23,960 --> 00:41:28,199 of our media in nineteen ninety seven, and today, of course, 620 00:41:28,400 --> 00:41:35,039 it is six six entities own ninety percent of our media. 621 00:41:35,599 --> 00:41:38,519 And again, it used to be that broadcasters couldn't own 622 00:41:38,760 --> 00:41:42,480 more than one station in one market, and there was 623 00:41:42,599 --> 00:41:46,719 no ownership of a newspaper and television station or radio 624 00:41:46,760 --> 00:41:49,599 station by the same company in the same market. Right, 625 00:41:49,639 --> 00:41:52,440 you cannot come in and monopolize. That was nineteen seventy 626 00:41:52,480 --> 00:41:56,119 five and then the eighties kicked in the Telecom Act 627 00:41:56,239 --> 00:42:00,719 nineteen ninety six, the Internet comes into play, and it 628 00:42:00,840 --> 00:42:04,119 was officially in twenty seventeen that the FCC struck the 629 00:42:04,239 --> 00:42:07,039 rule that said that a TV or radio station could 630 00:42:07,039 --> 00:42:13,719 not also own a newspaper publication in the same market. Now, 631 00:42:13,760 --> 00:42:16,599 I want to expand just a little bit past the 632 00:42:16,679 --> 00:42:22,039 oligarchs and those Trump adjacent corporations and power players in 633 00:42:22,039 --> 00:42:25,719 the billionaires, etc. To talk a little bit about how 634 00:42:25,800 --> 00:42:30,079 the algorithms are shaping how we think and what we do. 635 00:42:30,519 --> 00:42:34,039 We've talked in the past about how we are being controlled, 636 00:42:34,119 --> 00:42:36,800 and of course this is not news to you, but 637 00:42:36,880 --> 00:42:39,199 I want to get more specific. There was a TED 638 00:42:39,280 --> 00:42:43,360 talk from a few years ago by a technology ethicist 639 00:42:43,639 --> 00:42:47,360 who used to work for Google. His name is Tristan Harris. 640 00:42:47,800 --> 00:42:51,159 He has co founded an organization called the Center for 641 00:42:51,440 --> 00:42:56,079 Humane Technology. He has been featured in a Netflix documentary 642 00:42:56,159 --> 00:43:00,000 called This Social Dilemma. This guy's been out there pounding 643 00:43:00,079 --> 00:43:04,960 the drum advocating for the understanding and minimizing the negative 644 00:43:05,000 --> 00:43:09,480 impact of digital technologies on our lives. He's been featured 645 00:43:09,519 --> 00:43:13,559 on sixty Minutes and Anderson Cooper and Elsewhere, and a 646 00:43:13,559 --> 00:43:17,400 few years ago, he did a presentation for Ted talking 647 00:43:17,440 --> 00:43:23,000 about how Google, YouTube, etc. Are directing our attentions often 648 00:43:23,199 --> 00:43:27,280 away from those we are genuinely interested in or positively 649 00:43:27,320 --> 00:43:30,639 impact our lives. They are doing it for ratings, clicks, 650 00:43:30,639 --> 00:43:34,639 and profit. This clip is along when it runs about 651 00:43:34,840 --> 00:43:37,920 ten minutes, but I've got the clip and we've got 652 00:43:37,920 --> 00:43:38,400 the time. 653 00:43:38,760 --> 00:43:43,840 Speaker 9: I want you to imagine walking into a room control 654 00:43:43,920 --> 00:43:46,559 room with a bunch of people, one hundred people hunched 655 00:43:46,599 --> 00:43:50,280 over at desks with little dials, and that that control 656 00:43:50,360 --> 00:43:56,360 room will shape the thoughts and feelings of a billion people. 657 00:43:58,400 --> 00:44:02,679 This might sound like science fiction, but this actually exists 658 00:44:03,480 --> 00:44:07,719 right now today. I know because I used to be 659 00:44:07,840 --> 00:44:10,639 in one of those control rooms. I was a design 660 00:44:10,719 --> 00:44:14,039 epicist at Google, where I studied how do you ethically 661 00:44:14,079 --> 00:44:17,760 steer people's thoughts? Because what we don't talk about is 662 00:44:17,800 --> 00:44:20,920 a handful of people working at a handful of technology 663 00:44:20,960 --> 00:44:25,760 companies through their choices, we'll steer what a billion people 664 00:44:26,079 --> 00:44:28,639 are thinking today. Because when you pull out your phone 665 00:44:28,639 --> 00:44:31,639 and they design how this works or what's on the feed, 666 00:44:32,039 --> 00:44:35,360 it's scheduling little blocks of time in our minds. If 667 00:44:35,400 --> 00:44:38,360 you see a notification, it schedules you to have thoughts 668 00:44:38,360 --> 00:44:42,039 that maybe you didn't intend to have. If you swipe 669 00:44:42,119 --> 00:44:45,760 over that notification, it schedules you into spending a little 670 00:44:45,760 --> 00:44:48,079 bit of time getting sucked into something that maybe you 671 00:44:48,119 --> 00:44:54,679 didn't intend to get sucked into. When we talk about technology, 672 00:44:54,760 --> 00:44:56,760 we tend to talk about it as this blue sky 673 00:44:57,000 --> 00:45:00,679 opportunity could go any direction, and I want to get 674 00:45:00,679 --> 00:45:02,840 serious for a moment and tell you why it's going 675 00:45:02,840 --> 00:45:07,679 in a very specific direction, because it's not evolving randomly. 676 00:45:08,679 --> 00:45:11,239 There's a hidden goal driving the direction of all of 677 00:45:11,280 --> 00:45:14,800 the technology we make, and that goal is the race 678 00:45:15,000 --> 00:45:23,519 for our attention. Because every news site, ted elections, politicians, games, 679 00:45:23,559 --> 00:45:28,039 even meditation apps have to compete for one thing, which 680 00:45:28,039 --> 00:45:31,239 is our attention. And there's only so much of it. 681 00:45:33,199 --> 00:45:35,920 And the best way to get people's attention is to 682 00:45:36,119 --> 00:45:39,519 know how someone's mind works. And there's a whole bunch 683 00:45:39,519 --> 00:45:42,360 of persuasive techniques that I learned in college at a 684 00:45:42,480 --> 00:45:45,840 lab called the Persuasive Technology Lab to get people's attention. 685 00:45:46,599 --> 00:45:50,119 A simple example is YouTube. YouTube wants to maximize how 686 00:45:50,199 --> 00:45:52,519 much time you spend, and so what do they do? 687 00:45:53,639 --> 00:45:57,000 They auto play the next video and let's say that 688 00:45:57,039 --> 00:45:58,840 works really well, They're getting a little bit more of 689 00:45:58,840 --> 00:46:01,920 people's time. Well, if you're Netflix, you look at that 690 00:46:02,000 --> 00:46:04,480 and say, well, that's shrinking my market share, so I'm 691 00:46:04,519 --> 00:46:08,400 going to auto play the next episode. But then if 692 00:46:08,440 --> 00:46:10,440 your Facebook, you say, well, no, that's shrinking all of 693 00:46:10,440 --> 00:46:12,440 my market share. So now I have to auto play 694 00:46:12,480 --> 00:46:14,519 all the videos in the news feed before waiting for 695 00:46:14,559 --> 00:46:19,199 you to click play. So the Internet is not evolving 696 00:46:19,400 --> 00:46:23,599 at random. The reason it feels like it's sucking us 697 00:46:23,639 --> 00:46:26,920 in the way it is is because of this race 698 00:46:27,280 --> 00:46:30,159 for attention. We know where this is going. Technology is 699 00:46:30,199 --> 00:46:34,039 not neutral, and it becomes this race to the bottom 700 00:46:34,079 --> 00:46:37,239 of the brain stem of who can go lower to 701 00:46:37,280 --> 00:46:40,840 get it. Let me give you an example of Snapchat. 702 00:46:41,000 --> 00:46:44,480 If you didn't know, Snapchat is the number one way 703 00:46:44,679 --> 00:46:47,280 that teenagers in the United States communicate. So if you're 704 00:46:47,320 --> 00:46:51,719 like me and you use text messages to communicate, Snapchat 705 00:46:51,800 --> 00:46:53,960 is that for teenagers. And there's like one hundred million 706 00:46:53,960 --> 00:46:56,280 of them that use it. And they invented a feature 707 00:46:56,320 --> 00:46:58,760 called snapstreaks, which shows the number of days in a 708 00:46:58,880 --> 00:47:03,039 row that two people communicating with each other. In other words, 709 00:47:03,039 --> 00:47:06,000 what they just did is they gave two people something 710 00:47:06,039 --> 00:47:09,679 they don't want to lose because if you're a teenager 711 00:47:09,679 --> 00:47:11,599 and you have one hundred and fifty days in a row, 712 00:47:12,199 --> 00:47:14,719 you don't want that to go away. And so think 713 00:47:14,719 --> 00:47:17,239 of the little blocks of time that that schedules in 714 00:47:17,320 --> 00:47:20,760 kids' minds. This isn't theoretical. When kids go on vacation, 715 00:47:21,000 --> 00:47:23,360 it's been shown they give their passwords up up to 716 00:47:23,480 --> 00:47:27,199 five other friends to keep their snapstreaks going even when 717 00:47:27,239 --> 00:47:29,920 they can't do it, and they have like thirty of 718 00:47:29,920 --> 00:47:32,239 these things, and so they have to get through photo 719 00:47:32,320 --> 00:47:35,280 taking photos of just pictures or walls or ceilings just 720 00:47:35,320 --> 00:47:38,760 to get through their day. So it's not even like 721 00:47:38,760 --> 00:47:41,760 they're having real conversations. We have a temptation to think 722 00:47:41,800 --> 00:47:45,320 about this as, oh, they're just using you know, snapchat 723 00:47:45,360 --> 00:47:47,199 the way we used to gossip on the telephone. It's 724 00:47:47,239 --> 00:47:50,639 probably okay, Well, what this misses is that in the 725 00:47:50,679 --> 00:47:53,320 nineteen seventies, when you were just gossiping on the telephone, 726 00:47:54,079 --> 00:47:56,119 there wasn't one hundred engineers on the other side of 727 00:47:56,119 --> 00:47:59,239 the screen who knew exactly how your psychology worked and 728 00:47:59,320 --> 00:48:03,559 orchestrated you into a double bind with each other. Now, 729 00:48:04,400 --> 00:48:06,400 if this is making you feel a little bit of outrage, 730 00:48:07,519 --> 00:48:10,559 notice that that thought just comes over you. Outrage is 731 00:48:10,599 --> 00:48:14,920 a really good way also of getting your attention, because 732 00:48:14,920 --> 00:48:17,840 we don't choose outrage, it happens to us. And if 733 00:48:17,840 --> 00:48:20,599 you're the Facebook news feed, whether you'd want to or not, 734 00:48:20,679 --> 00:48:24,960 you actually benefit when there's outrage because outrage doesn't just 735 00:48:25,039 --> 00:48:30,280 schedule a reaction an emotional time space for you. We 736 00:48:30,360 --> 00:48:32,800 want to share that outrage with other people, so we 737 00:48:32,840 --> 00:48:34,679 want to hit share and say can you believe the 738 00:48:34,760 --> 00:48:39,800 thing that they said? And so outrage works really well 739 00:48:39,840 --> 00:48:42,360 at getting attention, such that if Facebook had a choice 740 00:48:42,360 --> 00:48:45,800 between showing you the outrage feed and a calm newsfeed, 741 00:48:46,800 --> 00:48:48,920 they would want to show you the outrage feed, not 742 00:48:48,960 --> 00:48:52,280 because someone consciously shows that, but because that worked better 743 00:48:52,599 --> 00:48:58,679 at getting your attention. And the news feed control room 744 00:48:58,719 --> 00:49:02,119 is run by is not accountable to us. It's only 745 00:49:02,159 --> 00:49:05,639 accountable to maximizing attention. It's also accountable because of the 746 00:49:05,679 --> 00:49:09,320 business model of advertising for anybody who can pay the 747 00:49:09,360 --> 00:49:11,440 most to actually walk into the control room and say 748 00:49:11,480 --> 00:49:14,199 that group over there, I want to schedule these thoughts 749 00:49:14,239 --> 00:49:19,639 into their minds so you can target. You can precisely 750 00:49:19,679 --> 00:49:23,599 target a lie directly to the people who are most susceptible, 751 00:49:24,800 --> 00:49:27,280 and because this is profitable, it's only going to get worse. 752 00:49:29,800 --> 00:49:34,800 So I'm here today because the costs are so obnous. 753 00:49:36,960 --> 00:49:39,239 I don't know a more urgent problem than this, because 754 00:49:39,239 --> 00:49:44,039 this problem is underneath all other problems. It's not just 755 00:49:44,119 --> 00:49:47,880 taking away our agency to spend our attention and live 756 00:49:47,920 --> 00:49:52,519 the lives that we want. It's changing the notion the 757 00:49:52,559 --> 00:49:55,800 way we have our conversations. It's changing our democracy, and 758 00:49:55,840 --> 00:49:58,679 it's changing our ability to have the conversations and relationships 759 00:49:58,679 --> 00:50:03,000 we want with each other and we in It affects 760 00:50:03,079 --> 00:50:06,239 everyone because a billion people have one of these in 761 00:50:06,280 --> 00:50:14,039 their pocket. So how do we fix this? We need 762 00:50:14,079 --> 00:50:18,480 to make three radical changes to technology and to our society. 763 00:50:20,480 --> 00:50:21,320 Speaker 3: The first is. 764 00:50:21,280 --> 00:50:25,880 Speaker 9: We need to acknowledge that we are persuadable. Once you 765 00:50:25,960 --> 00:50:28,719 start understanding that your mind can be scheduled into having 766 00:50:28,719 --> 00:50:31,800 little thoughts or little blocks of time that you didn't choose, 767 00:50:32,280 --> 00:50:35,400 wouldn't we want to use that understanding and protect against 768 00:50:35,440 --> 00:50:37,880 the way that that happens. I think we need to 769 00:50:37,920 --> 00:50:41,039 see ourselves fundamentally in a new way. It's almost like 770 00:50:41,079 --> 00:50:43,719 a new period of human history, like the Enlightenment, but 771 00:50:43,800 --> 00:50:47,079 almost to kind of self aware enlightenment that we can 772 00:50:47,360 --> 00:50:50,639 be persuaded and there might be something we want to protect. 773 00:50:52,159 --> 00:50:55,960 The second is we need new models and accountability systems 774 00:50:56,719 --> 00:50:58,800 so that as the world gets better and more and 775 00:50:58,840 --> 00:51:00,960 more persuasive over time, because it's only going to get 776 00:51:01,000 --> 00:51:03,920 more persuasive, that the people in those control rooms are 777 00:51:03,960 --> 00:51:07,760 accountable and transparent to what we want. The only form 778 00:51:07,800 --> 00:51:10,519 of ethical persuasion that exists is when the goals of 779 00:51:10,559 --> 00:51:13,199 the persuader are aligned with the goals of the persuade, 780 00:51:14,320 --> 00:51:16,840 and that involves questioning big things like the business model 781 00:51:16,880 --> 00:51:24,400 of advertising. Lastly, we need a design renaissance because once 782 00:51:24,440 --> 00:51:27,440 you have this view of human nature that you can 783 00:51:27,519 --> 00:51:31,159 fear the timelines of a billion people. Just imagine there's 784 00:51:31,320 --> 00:51:33,360 people who have some desire about what they want to 785 00:51:33,400 --> 00:51:34,679 do and what they want to be thinking, and what 786 00:51:34,679 --> 00:51:36,400 they want to be feeling and how they want to 787 00:51:36,400 --> 00:51:39,519 be informed, and we're all just tugged into these other directions, 788 00:51:39,519 --> 00:51:41,960 and you have a billion people just tugged into all 789 00:51:41,960 --> 00:51:47,039 these different directions. We'll imagine an entire design renaissance that 790 00:51:47,159 --> 00:51:50,679 try to orchestrate the exact and most empowering time well 791 00:51:50,719 --> 00:51:53,639 spent way to those timelines to happen, and that would 792 00:51:53,679 --> 00:51:57,119 involve two things. One would be protecting against the timelines 793 00:51:57,119 --> 00:51:59,360 that we don't want to be experiencing, the thoughts that 794 00:51:59,440 --> 00:52:01,920 we wouldn't want to be happening, so when that ding happens, 795 00:52:02,199 --> 00:52:04,599 not having the ding that sends us away. And the 796 00:52:04,679 --> 00:52:08,000 second would be empowering us to live out the timeline 797 00:52:08,039 --> 00:52:09,440 that we want. So let me give you a concrete 798 00:52:09,480 --> 00:52:12,960 example today. Let's say your friend cancels dinner on you, 799 00:52:13,519 --> 00:52:17,480 and you are feeling a little bit lonely, and so 800 00:52:17,559 --> 00:52:19,760 what do you do in that moment? You open up Facebook? 801 00:52:21,639 --> 00:52:25,000 And in that moment, the designers in the control room 802 00:52:25,239 --> 00:52:27,840 want to schedule exactly one thing, which is to maximize 803 00:52:27,880 --> 00:52:32,079 how much time you spend on the screen. Now, instead, 804 00:52:32,639 --> 00:52:35,599 imagine if those designers created a different timeline that was 805 00:52:35,639 --> 00:52:38,840 the easiest way in using all of their data to 806 00:52:38,920 --> 00:52:40,599 actually help you get out with the people that you 807 00:52:40,679 --> 00:52:45,679 care about. I think, just imagine how just alleviating all 808 00:52:45,760 --> 00:52:48,920 loneliness in society if that was the timeline that Facebook 809 00:52:48,960 --> 00:52:51,679 wanted to make possible for people. Or imagine a different 810 00:52:51,719 --> 00:52:54,400 conversation where let's say you wanted to post something super 811 00:52:54,440 --> 00:52:56,920 controversial on Facebook, which is a really important thing to 812 00:52:56,960 --> 00:53:00,199 be able to do, to talk about controversial topics. Now, 813 00:53:00,199 --> 00:53:03,159 when there's that big comment box, it's almost asking you 814 00:53:03,480 --> 00:53:05,639 do you want what key do you want to type? 815 00:53:05,840 --> 00:53:08,199 Now there is, it's scheduling a little timeline of things 816 00:53:08,199 --> 00:53:09,719 that you're going to continue to do on the screen. 817 00:53:10,639 --> 00:53:13,519 And imagine instead there was another button there saying, well, 818 00:53:13,519 --> 00:53:15,360 what would be most time will spent for you? And 819 00:53:15,400 --> 00:53:18,800 you clip host to dinner and right there underneath the 820 00:53:18,840 --> 00:53:21,119 item it said who wants to RSVP for the dinner? 821 00:53:21,400 --> 00:53:24,280 And so you'd still have a conversation about something controversial, 822 00:53:24,480 --> 00:53:27,039 but you'd be having it in the most empowering place 823 00:53:27,079 --> 00:53:30,119 on your timeline, which would be at home that night 824 00:53:30,280 --> 00:53:31,960 with a bunch of friends over to talk about it. 825 00:53:33,679 --> 00:53:37,840 So imagine we're running like a find and replace on 826 00:53:38,000 --> 00:53:40,480 all of the timelines that are currently steering us towards 827 00:53:40,519 --> 00:53:45,039 more and more screen time persuasively and replacing all of 828 00:53:45,079 --> 00:53:47,880 those timelines with what do we want in our lives? 829 00:53:48,920 --> 00:53:52,960 It doesn't have to be this way. Instead of handicapping 830 00:53:52,960 --> 00:53:55,960 our attention, imagine if we used all of this data 831 00:53:56,000 --> 00:53:57,440 and all of this power in this new view of 832 00:53:57,480 --> 00:54:00,800 human nature to give us a superhuman ability to focus 833 00:54:01,280 --> 00:54:04,320 and a superhuman ability to put our attention what we 834 00:54:04,360 --> 00:54:08,079 cared about. It is superhuman ability to have the conversations 835 00:54:08,079 --> 00:54:09,639 that we need to have for democracy. 836 00:54:10,239 --> 00:54:13,159 Speaker 3: I don't know. I found that an interesting clip about 837 00:54:13,320 --> 00:54:16,079 how you and I are being manipulated in a world 838 00:54:16,119 --> 00:54:21,800 of disinformation, outrage, or just temptation to go and lose 839 00:54:21,840 --> 00:54:25,079 ourselves and the soup out there, and I thought it 840 00:54:25,159 --> 00:54:28,719 might be an interesting way to finish the conversation today. 841 00:54:28,800 --> 00:54:31,519 Thank you for listening, Thanks for being here, Thanks for 842 00:54:31,559 --> 00:54:33,760 being a part of the community. I'll see you back 843 00:54:33,760 --> 00:54:35,199 here next week. Take care. 844 00:54:35,400 --> 00:54:38,920 Speaker 1: Follow the Thinking Atheist on Facebook and Twitter for a 845 00:54:38,960 --> 00:54:42,599 complete archive of podcasts and videos, products like mugs and 846 00:54:42,599 --> 00:54:46,280 t shirts featuring the Thinking Atheist logo, links to atheist 847 00:54:46,320 --> 00:54:50,000 pages and resources, and details on upcoming free thought events 848 00:54:50,000 --> 00:54:57,119 and conventions. Log onto our website, The Thinkingatheist dot com.