Why most news stories aren't true stories | Sarah Smarsh | TEDxTopeka

[@ItsFinigan]

She is BANG ON. Her stuttering and flow are a disservice, but the message is SO IMPORTANT.

[@BartAnderson_writer]

Journalist here. Well said. Sarah Smarsh's moving 2018 book "Heartland" exemplifies what she's talking about: that an in-depth story is more nourishing than the sound bites we get on cable news.

[@vpham92688]

Telling a story is about setting a tone, identifing and connecting with the audience. The journey starts one step at a time. The cadence speeds up as the audience starts to synch/ relate to the speaker. Public speaking is art and takes time to master. TED talks brings forth the ideas of thinkers to the stage - sometimes this medium isn't in their wheelhouse. Communication isn't easy on paper, print and in front of people even more difficult. Respect her for doing this. Don't get distracted - focus on the message more so than the messenger. Context is important to the story. The use of inductive logic "argument from analogy" isn't horrible but it can and does work. Thanks for sharing your perspective.

[@Carnivore-Brent]

Just saw this. Thanks for your take Vuong. As I read through the comments prior to yours I kept thinking about how she must have felt reading them and how unempathetic society is becoming. I did sense she was not completely in the flow, but I got the gist and applaud her for trying to make a positive difference...unlike the heartless commenters who only sought to give themselves some satisfaction by being so insulting and childish. Respectful criticism is ok, but the insults were not.

[@elisabethconnelly9238]

I love this, context and truth is wholesome. Thank you.

[@TakisMetaxas]

This talk is content-free and logic-free.

[@TakisMetaxas]

I agree, Richard Joyce, and thank you for your response. But the speaker does exactly what she is complaining about. And she only provides her own opinion as evidence. In that respect, I find the talk content free. Her opinions also are not logically supported. It was disappointing.

[@crystalparker100]

The talk is meant to inspire discussion.

[@Craptastic760]

Isn't the news "supposed" to be about facts, and not feelings? Those feelings are why the news media for the most part has surrendered its credibility.

[@lamontana300]

I strive daily not to get caught up into the noise of media,politics,Worldly occurrences,and whatever else that my mind filters at every moment.Living in the moment is easier said than done though what I practice I become more so in the long term.I've been raised in a supposing democracy though what I've come to realize was that from childhood I've been conditioned into conformity.I've chosen over the last twenty years to detach myself from all that tends to create chaos and turmoil in my life.Living by my standards and expectations rather than by what's socially dictated by others.Freedom at last,no longer giving root to fear for I'm a spiritual being having a human experience.Whatever distracts or creates noise in everyday life may prevent me from knowing truth.The World's justice system is rather pretentious as Governments and the political establishment tend to continually victimize truth.True we are what we eat and beware of what others have been feeding your mind since childhood,break free !!

[@janaemorales9540]

She needs to get to the point. Her presentation is so fragmented, it is hard to stay with her. She is all over the board.

[@toniywaya7696]

I think that's the problem...we are relying on other people to "simplify it for our minds" instead of extracting the point she is trying to pass across. Priority is to understand the content, not be impressed with the presenter

[@lumpyloks]

Great message

[@watching99134]

How blind can this woman be, doesn't she know that subjective value judgments and turning things into "stories" is exactly why so many people are turned off by sources such as the New York Times? (Does she really imagine we all understand the *meaning* of stories in the same way?)

[@neilrothwell8228]

Thank you Sarah, excellent :)

[@tim57243]

She does a proof by analogy, saying that consuming food is analogous to consuming media. Proof by analogy is not proof. In particular, people crave unhealthy food, and introspection does not fix that. Attending to research about healthy diets fixes that. Her suggestion that one introspect to discover the right media to consume is therefore unhelpful. If there is analogous research about healthy media consumption, she should talk about that and give up on the analogy. If there is no such research she should refrain from wasting people's time by posting videos on the topic.

[@MrGarysugarman]

This is our Barbizon School of Journalism.

[@toniywaya7696]

The food analogy is not about what people crave...it's about WHAT IS GOOD FOR THE BODY!!

[@toniywaya7696]

When you speak to a crowd not every1 will get it. In this case you among those who didn't

[@robertoviana514]

Um, ah.....What the heck is she saying?

[@enkisonofanu2301]

Hi Ms. speaker, I think you need to put the emotional aspect of how we feel about a story to the side, and plan your speech or lecture on what and how do we actually know that what we see and hear is, what has taken place. Better if you would have put your thoughts in writing and did a presentation, but, I think the allegorical comparison between the harms that fast food can do to the body and information made for rapid (if not rabid) consumption makes sense. Eat lots of Macers and you become a tub, watch tv and go on facebook you destroy your cognitive function and part of the information processing ability of the brain.

[@eakherenow]

The analogy is sound the delivery is drawn out, repetitive because she is addressing the audience that eats that junk food/junk news.

[@lucystankus]

Sorry to say but the intro was way too long winded.

[@MichelleB2.0]

One would think if you ate the same thing everyday, several times a day, you’d eventually get sick of it. I pray the matrix breaks in 2025

[@JitendraSingh-xp4om]

very pertinent point made about media production and consumption .

[@mtMage3]

Very debatable.

[@tyrannuslapis5107]

would she hurry up and get to the point? this analogy shouldn't take 5 mins.

[@heavestlus8764]

This metaphor of food consumption vs media consumption was made bu Clay Johnson in 2012 book, is speaker aware of her plagiarism?

[@deb1958sec]

Couldn't listen to it all, too many um's for me. Take a interpersonal communication and public speaking classes before you do another one.

[@J-rex980]

Things changed a bit in two years. Id like to hear her opinion now.

[@jasonhenn7345]

it all changed with the whole - O. J. - thing

[@JayCortese1990]

That was an awful long time with many, many words to communicate very little.

[@jasonhenn7345]

solution: NO ADJECTIVES ALLOWED IN NEWS henceforth.

[@MrGarysugarman]

Wow. She was......pretty......that's it.

[@eb3279]

I like what she has to say and the kind of person she seems to be but she needs to practice that speech some more. She also seems to be an example of the values and personality that have, most unfortunately, become obsolete in modern life.

[@joelleenbeangh2158]

We are on a see food diet we see food than we eat it. Weell described, mental energy.Corpofei ??/ what is that. Can i sell it as a commodity ??

[@winisterling]

So, if you are moved by a story, it must be true? Nope!

[@blackhatter011]

She was trained by Justine Turdgrope....aah ahhh umm uuuhhhh

[@joshuaratliff3009]

Sounds like ork mischief to me

[@bobboulger6049]

News -Sensationalism, conflict, confrontation. Little substance just like this talk.

[@IzunaDestruction]

A long speech about nothing. Wasted time. Exactly what you'd expect from a gear of the MSM machine.