Who does the media dislike bitcoins?

[Thedojo]

I am new to bitcoins (obvious since i'm in the newbie forum). I have a question though, it seems like any time media outlets cover bitcoins in any story they do so in a negative light. A recent example would be this article on gawker.

http://gawker.com/5994625/bitcoin-mining-somehow-found-a-way-to-be-environmentally-destructive

I never would have thought about environmental concerns when it relates to a digital currency.
I find that part interesting, the instances in the article that seem unprofessional are these excerpts

"Bitcoins, the currency of the future (the future dominated by the dickhead Winklevoss twins), while an annoying Libertarian fantasy, would at least not end up destroying the environment, right? How much harm can it do, really?"

Another example

http://gawker.com/5994311/bitcoins-roller-coaster-day

"Bitcoin finally crashed! And then it didn't. After two weeks in the spotlight, the anonymous techno-libertarian dweeb-currency rocketed past $250 yesterday—only to lose more than half its value over just a few hours today."

I guess I don't understand the hatred, this particular outlet seems really frustrated with the libertarian crowd, but I have seen many people interested in bitcoins. I think they try to paint an image that we are all living off the grid clinging to guns and just foaming at the mouth to take down society and disrupt government. I think it's very narrowminded and a shame, but I wanted to get some insight from the rest of the community.

[Mike Christ]

"It's new and scary and how dare they endanger my American freedoms."

I'm guessing this is about the gist of it.  Industry is environmentally destructive; last time I checked, nobody was trying to shut down Ford, and those billions of car's exhaust every day going back and forth to work when a magnet train could do the same thing with less emissions and it would even be cheaper than fucking around with a car but ohh no lets not sacrifice our "Freedoms"--but Bitcoin?  Now that's just going too far! 

[fbameriel]

Everything new seems terrorizing to most people i guess..

[UltimateReaper]

It's obvious isn't it?

From what I've read, (And I've been doing a crap ton of reading) most of these people who comment on bitcoin don't really understand it or are not completely informed. They don't know what they are talking about. I guess I'm pretty n00bish right now, but I've known about bitcoin since practically the beginning. I should have paid more attention, then again, I wasn't in a position to do anything anyway at the time.

The media is negative because of the "anonymity" associated with bitcoin, and it's relation to possible tax evasion, drugs, etc.

Basically, they are speaking out of their behinds.

[DannyHamilton]

Media tends to be negative about most things most of the time (not just about Bitcoin).

I suspect this is generally due to the fact that negativity tends to attract views which increases advertising revenue.  Also it is easier than taking the time to actually learn the details and nuances about the topic being covered.  If the topic happens to be a personal hobby or interest of the author they'll be a bit more educated on the matter and less likely to write trash.

[willhash4food]

The media (including online articles) are all attention whores. This behavior is sustained by the willingness of the majority to easily fear and negatively react without caring to understand. So much for the information age. It appears more like the reality TV age, where drama is regarded with such high importance.

[Warwick]

Simple: People fear what they do not understand - Its just like here at work I try and tell people about bitcoins and they always compare it to monopoly money or something like that.....they do not understand how it works and at its most simple explanation sounds weird to most (older )people.

[bezzeb]

I agree with most of what the others have said and only want to add that western media (and probably all media since the beginning of history):
1. Loves the winners.
2. Hates the losers.
3. Serves those who rule.

During the brief skyrocket to $250, they loved Bitcoin.  Then the bubble popped on schedule as news of Cyprus faded from the public's fruit-fly sized memory, and here we are with predictable venom in every article.  Just wait for the next banking scandal and expect another nice BTC bump.  Despite the media's idiocy, Bitcoin will just keep chugging along doing it's thing, nobody can stop it.

[Grox]

I think they just don't like trying new things and immediately dismiss it.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/steveforbes/2013/04/16/bitcoin-whatever-it-is-its-not-money/

Here is an article written by the chairman of forbes. He mentions "We don’t really know how this coin is created.You can’t have a functional money without a basic transparency." Correct me if i'm wrong, but can we not trace every Bitcoin to its original address that mined it? He doesn't seem to know much about bitcoin. The rest of the article seems to be assuming that the currency will always be volatile.

[gisfrancisco]

and it's anonymous,the media is just parroting what the gov't says.

[avantgarden]

Not all media dislike Bitcoin. Look at Keiser report.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbSOHwCOnG0

[yvon]

The media is also controlled by the Gov't.  Initially anything new and exciting is always
going to have sceptics and naysayers.  It's just a part of the process no matter what it
is. 

But I feel especially since this is currency and it is a direct threat to the Gov't
establishment and it cannot be controlled and manipulated people are only going to
point out anything they see as supporting the "negative" light they want it to have. 

The promise of this currency is TOO REAL for it to be stopped. 

The power has been swayed back to what is right and just in economics.

[csw]

Mainstream media sucks, this one fits perfectly what they're doing when talking about bitcoin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qimKQ5IG42s