Thread: "Fair and Balanced"?

I agree whole heartidly with you Tsu, as an outsider to the United States, I have noticed something else that you didn't mention: the prevalence of stories that, how ever unintentional/intentional it may be, provokes fear in the masses.

Anything for a story I guess.

I'm just glad that Canada doesn't have this kind of problem, we only really have two national news broadcasts: Global News, and CTV National News (And its 24hr Headline News channel counterpart), and the only difference between the two is whether or not you like the Anchors.

I agree. Fox News caters ta pro-government conservatives too much and CNN caters ta the liberals. It's gotten ta where the networks only care 'bout the ratings instead of reportin' the news, but whether u believe it's unfortunate or not; that's what happens in a free society. The only way that this problem could b adressed is if our society stops contributin' ta the ratings of those networks (somethin', of which, would b quite difficult ta do) and/or demand that the networks start givin' fair and unbias reports (in which they probably wouldn' listen). So this situation is very precarious and doesn' leave much of a selection on the table. The only answer I can think of is for some1 ta create a network that is completely unbias in its reportin'. And if that network gets enough ratings, that would put the other networks on their toes and put a stop ta all of the nonsense.

what tsurara said IS CERTAINLY TRUE (a least at where I live).
Here they try to cover up everything, and I'm not afraid to tell you Malaysia's government racist. Seriously, just ask any SANE Malaysians and they'll tell you its true . . .

Grumble Grumble Grumble

The thing is, any source of information has to be taken with a grain of salt. The facts are almost never stated in terms of black and white, and usually are in many different shades of grades. Even information after the fact is never clear cut. If everyone knows what happened, then why are there so many different history books that cover the same events?

There is a partial solution to the issue of biased news reporting. There's this wonderful new information sharing technology (called the Internet) that allows you access sites by different groups posting all around the world. With this access, you now have the normal issues of deciding on the quality of the information offered, the motivation of the poster, and if the information adds to your knowledge, or contradicts something that you already know to be true.

Well, relating to this topic I'll ask you one thing.

"What kind of news sells?"

Look at the daily newspapers and the majority of the news on television these days. The majority of those stories have a negative overtone you could say. Why is this? Because Bad news sells.

Humanity is instinctualy drawn to it's own destruction. It's like the horrid scenes of an accident before you. You know it's terrible but you can't turn away. The media shows these happenings because it keeps us 'tuned in' and 'reading'.

Because of that point it can be inferred that the news between the liberals and the Conservatives (If I grasp your topic's theme right) is a precursor to what we predict could come in the form of disaster. Who gets in office and who gets what share of 'which' can decide what we'll see in the future. And because people eat that right up, they get off by holding back such information behind the scenes (The news that isn't shown).

i hope that made sense.

one time i heard Marylin Manson say " the media promotes fear and consumption" and as gay as it sounds, i'd have to agree with the man/girl/flower thingie...


news has never really been news, it's been gossip. whether or not it has a suit on, it's still gossip/other people's business. i mean, the big story in LA right now is a cougar lose in the mountains that killed a dog (that part made me cry, HE DIED DOING HIS JOB!), so now they're going to be talking about that until some lady gets kidnapped or some fire happens in Malibu... again... (it does suck for them there, keep them in your prayers/crossed fingers/good thoughts!)

so, i watch it becuz Simpsons or something comes on right after... and it is also good to keep up with current events. it helps with conversation topics, which improve your social skills... which benefit many things!

Originally Posted by tsurara

Recently there have been quite a few debates about the fairness of the news media, particularly in the United States, communist Asia and the Middle East. The "terrorist" organization Hamas owns it's own network and uses it to broadcast everything from anti-Jewish messages to video of children in suicide bombing gear. Al Jazeera has been accused for years of skewing the news against the United States and the West in general. North Korean television broadcasts NOTHING that isn't sanctioned, funded and supportive of Kim Jung Il's government. China has recently banned anime and foreign cartoons from some networks in hopes of fostering China's own animation industry and preventing the spread of "dangerous" pro-western ideas...

Having spoken to someone from Egypt on the subject and having done research on it I would say that once you get outside of "democratic" countries having the government control the content of the news is standard. The problem that creates is that the people living there know and accept that. As a result when something is printed in a "democratic" newspaper they will believe that it is sanctioned by that government as well when usually nothing could be further from the truth. The implications of that and potential for misunderstandings are mind boggling.

Originally Posted by tsurara

Enter Fox News... Rupert Murdoch's right-wing news network brainchild. With the slogan: "Fair and Balanced", there have been accusations across the board that Fox News is nothing but a mouthpiece for pro-government, ultra-conservative propaganda.

By people who either don't watch it or believe that being "fair and balanced" means having the right opinion. Fox does their best to be fair and balanced by providing both sides of situations. It is more a statement on other news networks when decidedly moderate people on Fox are considered conservative by other news standards. But then when you are that far to the left anything toward the middle leans to the right.

Originally Posted by tsurara

Meanwhile, in response, fingers are pointing at CNN and networks like Comedy Central for pushing what is percieved to be an unfair pro-liberal bias. And with Fox shaping up to be the conservative network of choice: I think CNN really HAS taken a turn to cater to the remaining audience.

CNN has compromised itself again and again on it's standards and legitimacy. I haven't believed almost anything they have said since after Iraq fell and they found records of massive torture and CNN went, "oh we knew about those but we didn't say anything because then no one would let us interview them". Yet just two weeks earlier they had been telling everyone they didn't exist. Yet somehow they have Glen Beck... who I do believe. Perhaps it's because he has a no interference deal with them.

Originally Posted by tsurara

Is this what the news is for? Are this huge media conglomerates getting rich on telling us what special interests want us to hear?
Are we being lied to? Are we being manipulated?
How can we fix it?

Heck yeah, the news has always been about telling people things to make money. Are we being lied to, often. The only way to fix it is to set a higher standard of what you will believe and not give your money to the ones who don't match it.

Originally Posted by aceman67

I'm just glad that Canada doesn't have this kind of problem, we only really have two national news broadcasts: Global News, and CTV National News (And its 24hr Headline News channel counterpart), and the only difference between the two is whether or not you like the Anchors.

Guess again. The instant the only difference between two sources is their face you have a problem. Canada has some strict regulations on whether certain things can be reported and have blacklisted outside sources that don't match it. You are receiving a government censored view of the truth. Congratulations. It's not as bad as the middle east news (thank heavens) but I would be concerned all the same if I was you.