Comedy | February 18, 2010 | 101 comments

Current.com Gives Up Journalism for Lent

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asherp
http://punkpatriot.blogspot.com/2010/02/currentcom-gives-up-journalism-for-lent....
In the photo here, you will see six items featured at the same time on the homepage of Current. for almost the entire day of February 18th, 2010.

You will notice that one of them is different than the others.

You will notice that it is a serious news story about something that actually fucking matters, that happened today.

You will notice that it is ALSO the ONLY USER POSTED STORY on the front page.

That's right. The front page has six slots. 5 slots are filled with non-news items and 5 slots are filled by staff posts, with one-to-one congruity between staff posts and non-news items.
  1. groups:
    Community,   Tech,   Comedy,   Current Tonight,   22 more
  2. tags:
    Current,  MTV,  Journalism,  Lent,  3 more
  3.     
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101 comments // Current.com Gives Up Journalism for Lent

  • ryan8566
    • +1
      ryan8566  

    • as an atheist, i would never believe this was done for 'lent'. but i would suggest
      'current' did this for money, or because the new management just plain sucks,
      or forgot its roots (what made it such a great site), or just doesn't give a shit anymore, or because of firing people who actually cared about us members (are we still 'members'?), simply ignores our questions, or refuses to post on these questions, or answers with what they consider to be a simple...'we are undergoing a transition', i.e. the members (are we still members?), you are simple, or.....anyone want to pick it up from here?

    • 3 years ago
  • xiola
    • +1
      xiola  

    • If only journalism was only given up for Lent... but I don't think it's coming back. I still like Current a lot, but these changes aren't good.

    • 3 years ago
  • metalcookiesxy70
  • ryan8566
  • emsroses
  • ryan8566
  • SleepDirt
    • 0
      SleepDirt  

    • I missed the memo but thanks for pointing it out. Point taken. Maybe current is best leaving the 'journalism' to the users. LOL

    • 3 years ago
  • Argon18
  • ryan8566
  • galwayman
    • +2
      galwayman  

    • I had already noticed this point and that Current does not put on TV any real news stories ever! Thought Al Gore was better then that! Current should not even post some of the crap their inane,and clearly undereducated staff post,rather it is the people who should post serious news only,stories that will never see the light of day,in the controlled by the rich elite mass media,rather then go along with the rich elites plan to lull everyone to sleep so they don't question! Current TV is all about stupid inane crap and I stooped watching it months and months ago! The only decent programming current has done on the oxycontin addiction problem was great so why not do investigative reports on at least some of the important news stories on this site every week?

    • 3 years ago
  • SleepDirt
  • ryan8566
    • 0
      ryan8566  
    • Image
    • galwayman:

      hey, the reality is that the only reason for tuning in to 'current.tv' is thursdays, for infomania, rotten tomatoes (awesome shows, and SuperNews). even Vanguard is totally repeat shows....and as much as i like 'max and jason', they should have to hold a newspaper in their hands during the show...much as i love the show, i have not seen a viral that i have not seen before, ad nauseum.

    • 3 years ago
  • MotherForTruth
  • lolitanimatronic
  • asherp
  • ryan8566
  • PigFarmington
  • asherp
  • KSirys
    • +3
      KSirys  

    • For bansheewail,

      Just in case you didn't see it, I can answer a question you asked...

      "I have no idea what drives the posts to the top. Subjects that used to get lots of traction:Politics, the law, war crimes, military contractors, International politics, the wars, the economy, healthcare reform etc., barely see the light of day."

      As Mario (from current) has told me in the past, our votes push or lower a Post based on votes that we make on the Post. BUT, current decides what goes on the main page and they decide if the Post that's "current" is worthy enough to go on the front page.

      The bad thing is, anything that moderator Afitzgerald posts, always goes on top. No matter how good or interested people are, his posts are always on top for at least a day. Why?? who knows, but it beats me why push someone's content always to the top if sometimes NO ONE cares!

      As I said before, the executive current hired from MTV, was hired to make current more "attractable" and "current' to our viewers... I guess turning current to another MTV is what they would like...

    • 3 years ago
  • bailey78
  • Onyx_Honda
  • Argon18
  • lolitanimatronic
  • asherp
    • +2
      asherp  
    • lolitanimatronic:

      It doesn't seem to have much effect, when staff created videos that have no comments, and no votes end up on the front page, and user created posts and videos with hundreds of votes and hundreds of comments never see the light of day.

    • 3 years ago
  • bailey78
  • ryan8566
  • ryan8566
    • 0
      ryan8566  
    • bailey78:

      bailey78, you know me from my posts that i would never say who has had too much pot, if there is such a thing....but you must also know that we (the members???) no longer have a say in 'news' stories'.

    • 3 years ago
  • Elligirl
  • AndrewH13
  • ryan8566
  • ryan8566
  • AndrewH13
  • bailey78
  • EdJoyProductions
  • AndrewH13
  • EdJoyProductions
  • bailey78
  • AndrewH13
  • NapoleonBlownapart
    • 0
      NapoleonBlownapart  

    • yeah "news that actually has some relevance" needs to be a separate category from "news that is so soft that you could use it as a hemorrhoid cushion". soft news doesn't have to go but it should go somewhere ELSE on the site

    • 3 years ago
  • planetjoseph
    • +10
      planetjoseph  

    • This is what I've been saying. I think the current staff assumes too much what we, the target market, really want to see. stories about Pot and Sex are great, sure, but when thats like 99% of the content it gets old and offensive. Not the content, but the fact that they spoon feed us what they incorrectly assume is the only thing we want. WE WANT NEWS! and compelling stories and intriguing features and something beyond very very shallow pop culture.

    • 3 years ago
  • Seraphina76
  • Incredulous
    • +4
      Incredulous  

    • been noticing this BS for a while...wtf Current? If we wanted to read that crap we wouldn't be on this site. Tell your stupid CEO he doesn't know what the hell he is doing.

    • 3 years ago
  • bailey78
  • artemis6
  • ryan8566
  • brente
    • +1
      brente  
    • Image

    • I miss being able to watch what is playing on currenttv on current.com.
      Elli-I've been skipping to the news section too.
      Jonray- plus one

    • 3 years ago
  • hunzedog
  • hunzedog
  • hunzedog
    • +6
      hunzedog  

    • i feel the pain. i make viewer created content. just like they ask for in the commercial. i get lots of hits and lots of comments. most are positive. but do i get any love from current....? not much at all.

      i know im not very good but shit....thats what this place used to be about. the not so good everyday person and what they think about the world. not this commercial on top of commercial on top of commercial on top of commercial................... and even thought i created myself what i put on here they still put commercials all over it....is that fair ?

      i dont know . but i would like to see a current two... a current that could get back to showing whats happening in the real world.

      a tv show that has some real viewer created content............

      it seems like current got to big for the people,,, and i think the people are what made current special to begin with.............

      i think computers are the future of politics. we dont need expensive representatives in washington pretending to represent us anymore.
      more and more we are showing the government the power of the people using computers as a tool to get our voices heard.

      i think someday we will govern ourselves online.. i will be there..side by side with billions of others who want to make this world a better place......

      i will be there........in that social media movement.................will current ?

    • 3 years ago
  • WindyTimmy
    • -5
      WindyTimmy  
    • Image

    • By simply veering away from the homepage and going to the Current News section you can bypass all the bullshit stories. If we all practiced a bit more intuition we could avoid bogus articles such as "Semen Therapy" and "Current.com Gives Up Journalism for Lent." Current.com's not even catholic.

      Also, if you don't like it, get your news somewhere else and quit bitching. You're a part of the problem, not the solution.

      Word son. Word.

    • 3 years ago
  • ryan8566
  • tommytripper
  • keithponder
  • peterzylstramoore
    • +6
      peterzylstramoore  

    • I think users should get to vote one article per day to be the featured and current news stories. That same mechanism could be used to determine which articles are part of current news. The articles that recieve the most votes would then be the one's highlighted.

      That way we can still control the content on current rather than the current staff that is more beholden to attracting advertising.

    • 3 years ago
  • KSirys
  • asherp
  • ryan8566
  • yargarita
    • 0
      yargarita  

    • All I have to say is that if you want something done right or changed. You have to do it yourself! It is so easy to complain or say that something is no longer what it used to be. So do something about it. Bringing this issue up is great but now what?

    • 3 years ago
  • asherp
  • sUnBeAmBeAuTy
    • 0
      sUnBeAmBeAuTy  
    • asherp:

      Why don't you just start a new group and name it REAL NEWS and put in your description that you want the news that's actually happening or is taking place somewhere in the world, not opinions, polls or some BS that just been posted to get attention and end up on TV. Maybe if gets enough people turn to your group for the news that they want to hear it will end up on the front page. I must say some of the stories I have seen in the News lately are fun to read about but they should just stay in the comedy section where they belong. It could work ..maybe

    • 3 years ago
  • Nettle
  • sUnBeAmBeAuTy
    • 0
      sUnBeAmBeAuTy  
    • Nettle:

      You're kidding right, Are your panties in a twist over letters that makeup a word, LAME don't be so easy it just a name. It may not be fancy or catchy like... Nettle. but at least its original show me some else on current with lower and uppercase letters, that's right no one (well there could be).... I'm joking I really don't care but I had fun pretending like I did, I seriously laughed the whole time I typed this It's just funny you would waste a post on something stupid like my username and funnier that I'm responding, so I'll flick a tear for the negative impacted its had on your life, but that's about it!

    • 3 years ago
  • Nettle
    • 0
      Nettle  
    • sUnBeAmBeAuTy:

      It was easier to tell you your name aggravates me because of the alternate upper and lower case levels (which is an eyesore) than to tell you that your argument against Asherp was illogical and stupid. There are a lot of groups that have real time political news, but it actually doesn't matter much because they'll never feature any user created group on the front page. You don't have a lot of activity on the site, so you might not be aware that it didn't use to be like this all the time.

      You completely missed the point of what Ash was saying and I giggled heartily. I guess I shouldn't expect much from someone who thinks upper and lowercase letters in a name is fancy and catchy.

    • 3 years ago
  • sUnBeAmBeAuTy
    • 0
      sUnBeAmBeAuTy  
    • Nettle:

      First my post to Asherp was a suggestion, you no know one of those things where you can take it or leave it. As far as my comment to you maybe you should have read the context word to word so you could have fully understood it, What I said was" it(my username) may not BE fancy and catchy like... nettle". It's just sarcasm and it blew over your head. It seems like you find something to complain about and run with it, which in my opinion is small minded and predictable. I am happy that you have something say about my post since that why I toke the time to project my thoughts on to current, you know for the "feedback". Whatever yours is good bad and indifferent it'sok, I respect what you have to say. Yes I am kind of new to current but I don't think it lessen my voice. I' am fully cable able of reading the context in a article and understanding it. Not that that's what you were saying or anything... Let me drive my point home, I don't care if you don't like my username, I rather it be you thought I was a complete idiot for opinions but targeting my name is just dig to get me fired up or you have some kind of issue where you think it doesn't matter what you say as long it gets attention, so you become petty and attack silly things like usernames. I still find it hilarious that this is issue and I am sure you'll have something else to say about it. I feel like you're up for any argument no matter what the topic.

    • 3 years ago
  • Nettle
  • ryan8566
  • pigmonkey
  • achromatic
    • +2
      achromatic  

    • lol, at least they didn't tear a story like this down even though it's not exactly a flattering story...wonder what their feedback is

    • 3 years ago
  • bansheewail
    • +9
      bansheewail  

    • I think the larger point is that the "old" democratic Current became too " activist platform" oriented for their big advertisers to tolerate. It is a business, after all. The news line-up is completely producer controlled. I have no idea what drives the posts to the top. Subjects that used to get lots of traction:Politics, the law, war crimes, military contractors, International politics, the wars, the economy, healthcare reform etc., barely see the light of day.

      There is also a chance that the "lurker" population has grown. When Bush was in office and through the Obama election, we the liberal minority with our laptops in coffee shops informed eachother about the changes we wanted to see in the world. We were inspired. We talked. We mobilized. We won. Now, we're lazy. The shoe is on the other foot. The Conservatives out of power (sort of), pissed and motivated. Fear and hate will get you off your ass, apparently. They could be controlling the content here on Current to a degree. That's why the overall content is less interesting than it used to be. Because, boring, uninformed people are voting en mass on the articles that matter to them. I mean "Semen Therapy for Breast Cancer", really??? And the capturing of Osama Bin Laden's #2 guy didn't make the "Current News". Maybe, Current is headed the way of Mtv. Mtv used to show music videos, remember. Now, it's "reality" TV 24/7. Next year, Current will be 100% cartoons, Super News everyday all day!!!!

      I totally agree with the "actual news" crew. I am sick and tired of having to sift through the sensationalized "info-tainment" to get to the real news. It's difficult to see into the future when you are looking through spectacles made of bullshit.
      Dumbing down the news for a younger audience doesn't do any justice to the work that the actual journalists arte puting in to bring these stories to us.
      When Nickleback debuts their new Mtv-stylized video short(pod-eo) in the top ten of the News Channel on Current, we will know it's over. Current R.I.P.

      Bansheewail, over and out.

    • 3 years ago
  • KSirys
    • +2
      KSirys  
    • bansheewail:

      Bansheewail,

      I can answer a question you asked...

      "I have no idea what drives the posts to the top. Subjects that used to get lots of traction:Politics, the law, war crimes, military contractors, International politics, the wars, the economy, healthcare reform etc., barely see the light of day."

      As Mario (from current) has told me in the past, our votes push or lower a Post based on votes that we make on the Post. BUT, current decides what goes on the main page and they decide if the Post that's "current" is worthy enough to go on the front page.

      The bad thing is, anything that moderator Afitzgerald posts, always goes on top. No matter how good or interested people are, his posts are always on top for at least a day. Why?? who knows, but it beats me why push someone's content always to the top if sometimes NO ONE cares!

      As I said before, the executive current hired from MTV, was hired to make current more "attractable" and "current' to our viewers... I guess turning current to another MTV is what they would like...

    • 3 years ago
  • Tim_Hjersted
  • grah0
  • revolutioninamerica
  • MirrorLake
  • EdJoyProductions
  • bailey78
    • 0
      bailey78  
    • EdJoyProductions:

      What do you mean Oooops ? you don't get an Oooops just because. You have to ask for an Oooops they arn't cheap Ya know. Plus do you know how long it takes to straghtion out an Oooops? why it can take sevarel moments to do so.

    • 3 years ago
  • EdJoyProductions
    • 0
      EdJoyProductions  
    • bailey78:

      It is my usual response to something obnoxious and problematic when I am too lazy to go into details. ; ) Like when you write
      ( o ) ( o ) BOOBIES where is doesn't really belong (which rules). :*

      Oh and many Oooopses never get straightened out. A million years ago, when I had a Commodore 128 and I had an online service called Quantum link, it was a great place to chat because all of the members were literate and mostly intelligent. Few people had computers in th 80s so the ones that did were fairly bright. When AOL came along, I saw a substantial drop in IQ. As more people possessed computers the content became more common denominator. Quality always suffers, things do not get better as a rule, usually worse over time. Current is no different. Don't get me wrong, I like Current, but it will never be a paragon of wisdom disemination because the nature of the beast will not allow it. But I do sometimes see stories that I never would have known about through any other medium and that makes it valuable to me.

    • 3 years ago
  • bailey78
  • EdJoyProductions
  • Kamilo
    • -2
      Kamilo  

    • When that eccentric prince become the next governator and snowman tackling is finally accepted as an Olympic sport you will eat your words!

    • 3 years ago
  • samantha420
  • Guyatthebusstation
    • -1
      Guyatthebusstation  
    • Image
    • samantha420:

      and OP

      >implying hyatt and comcast didn't want gore to leave after shitty ratings.

      >implying MTV didn't first come up with the old current format with UNfiltered

      >implying Current ever cared about users more than ad revenue.

    • 3 years ago
  • JanforGore
    • +7
      JanforGore  
    • samantha420:

      Yes, and even when "members" are featured on the homepage it usually has to include one of the staff favorites regardless of what they post. But I think that is because they specifically look for cut and paste postings and not ones where actual opinions are included. You have to keep the sponsors happy, is that it? Can't have people with passionate opinions actually getting any chance to have others reading them. This is not the vision of Al Gore as he stated when this station was started. If I want to look at entertainment tonight material I can just tiurn on entertainment tonight. Perhaps a letter to the owners/chairman would be in order here to tell them just what it looks like here of late.

    • 3 years ago
  • wayseeker
    • +4
      wayseeker  

    • I agree. Current seems to be looking more and more like those gossip rags you try not to look at while standing in the check out line. Thanks for saying what we've been thinking. Maybe someone out there is listening.

    • 3 years ago
  • KSirys
  • KSirys
    • +5
      KSirys  
    • Image

    • This is happening because an executive from MTV came to current.com to "help" the format of how news was run here.

      Now you know why many folks are leaving current and trolls are appearing more and more!

    • 3 years ago
  • bailey78
  • DRudeBoy
  • Elligirl
    • +7
      Elligirl  

    • I have to agree. I skip right past the main page to click the "news" section. That should be the main page, not teasers of the different sections, imo.

    • 3 years ago
  • Sublime_Emperor
  • JonRaymond
  • 402Chicago
  • yepyep
  • aaronights
    • +13
      aaronights  

    • I am inclined to agree. This Current website is having a huge identity crisis. It can decide if it wants to be a user submitted/news portal, or a way to push videos and articles made by its staff. Its current (heh!) format just doesn’t work, users are competing against staff to be featured, but the staff content gets shoved in the featured spot locked there, rarely letting user created content in. It also doesn’t help that most of the staff made videos are often just light side articles rather than being important news or other content that should have the top spot. The staff needs to sit down and decide what to do. Because the hybrid format Current.com has now just isn’t working for anyone.

    • 3 years ago
  • 02
  • Dejan_Croatia
  • Argon18
    • 0
      Argon18  

    • Maybe the "serious" journalist all went toSri Lanka on assignment so they are filling in with whoever they can?

      It might just be some of ther others ideas of what "news" is.

      It just happened to conincide with the start of Lent but wasn't connected to it.

    • 3 years ago
  • bluestranger
  • Dagum
    • 0
      Dagum  

    • I thought Current was atheist, but from looking at the featured stories on the homepage it looks like they have given journalism for lent..

    • 3 years ago
  • asherp
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