Media Bias

[BigRedBuster]

3 minutes ago, Guy Chamberlin said:

But it trips up one side considerably more than the other. 

And, that side started claiming the fact checkers were horribly biased.  

[Enhance]

IMO media organizations that "lean" left or right... I don't care. And anybody who does care is just being myopic. If you're within generally average realms of objectivity, then as far as I'm concerned, you're doing pretty well. It is absolutely impossible for anything done by humans to be infinitely objective without failure.

 

The ones you need to worry about are the ones that don't "lean" left or right but have planted themselves in the left or right. Which, ironically, seem to garner way more attention than they deserve. I'm talking the Breitbart's of the world, but certainly Fox News and then to a lesser (but still worth mentioning) degree CNN.

[BigRedBuster]

After I mentioned it a month or so ago, has anyone started watching BBC World News when wanting information on the war?

 

If so....thoughts?

[knapplc]

1 minute ago, Enhance said:

IMO media organizations that "lean" left or right... I don't care. And anybody who does care is just being myopic. If you're within generally average realms of objectivity, then as far as I'm concerned, you're doing pretty well. It is absolutely impossible for anything done by humans to be infinitely objective without failure.

 

The ones you need to worry about are the ones that don't "lean" left or right but have planted themselves in the left or right. Which, ironically, seem to garner way more attention than they deserve. I'm talking the Breitbart's of the world, but certainly Fox News and then to a lesser (but still worth mentioning) degree CNN.

 

 

I would agree, but my experience is print is better *generally speaking* than TV. I don't consume TV news at all. 0%, to the point where when I'm traveling or at someone's house and it's on, it's just jarring. I don't know how people watch it. But that's coming from a stance of someone who's been cut off from TV media long enough that the change from what it was is big. 

 

I think if you've been watching CNN or Fox this whole time, and it gradually moves further left or further right, the change isn't as noticeable. For me it's like being smacked in the face.

[JJ Husker]

4 minutes ago, Enhance said:

IMO media organizations that "lean" left or right... I don't care. And anybody who does care is just being myopic. If you're within generally average realms of objectivity, then as far as I'm concerned, you're doing pretty well. It is absolutely impossible for anything done by humans to be infinitely objective without failure.

 

The ones you need to worry about are the ones that don't "lean" left or right but have planted themselves in the left or right. Which, ironically, seem to garner way more attention than they deserve. I'm talking the Breitbart's of the world, but certainly Fox News and then to a lesser (but still worth mentioning) degree CNN.

Problem is there a darned few who only lean one way or the other. The majority seem to be firmly planted on one side. Along with Fox News, Breirbart and CNN (not to a lesser degree imo) you forgot MSNBC and OAN (prob shouldn’t count them at all but a certain segment does). There are many others firmly planted as well. The ones that are tough to find or list would be those that only merely lean and that’s a huge problem imo. Most Americans don’t go looking for unbiased or minimally biased sources. They flock towards what they want to hear. That’s a big piece of the puzzle as to how we got here.

[BigRedBuster]

9 minutes ago, knapplc said:

 

 

I would agree, but my experience is print is better *generally speaking* than TV. I don't consume TV news at all. 0%, to the point where when I'm traveling or at someone's house and it's on, it's just jarring. I don't know how people watch it. But that's coming from a stance of someone who's been cut off from TV media long enough that the change from what it was is big. 

 

I think if you've been watching CNN or Fox this whole time, and it gradually moves further left or further right, the change isn't as noticeable. For me it's like being smacked in the face.

YES...I read way more news than I watch.  Literally, the only news I watch is morning news (local) in the morning drinking a cup of coffee.  Then, local news in the evening sometimes.  

 

About the only other time I watch anything national is if something big is happening.  Then, I admit I tend to turn to CNN because they have the best field reporting and I don't feel that's majorly slanted.  Especially if it's something like a hurricane or other natural disaster.  The minute they start showing an opinion show????  It's off.  I have absolutely no desire to sit and listen to a bunch of nutjobs telling me what I'm supposed to think.

 

On international stuff, I do like BBC World News.  It's interesting not getting an "Americanized" view.

 

I then spend a lot of time reading.

[knapplc]

4 minutes ago, JJ Husker said:

Most Americans don’t go looking for unbiased or minimally biased sources. They flock towards what they want to hear. That’s a big piece of the puzzle as to how we got here.

 

This is an unfortunate human trait, and speaks to our own culpability in the problem of media bias. These media outlets are biased because consumers want to consume that product. 

 

If everyone stopped watching the hysterical infotainment shows on Fox & CNN, they'd stop making them. Unfortunately with the demise of the Fairness Doctrine, this problem won't be fixed anytime soon. 

[nic]

2 hours ago, BigRedBuster said:

I get so tired of the mantra from the right about how horrible the news media is...well....of course not Fox, OAN and Newsmax.

 

But, it's friggen simple and you spelled out how to get around it.  Read news reports from a number of different sources.  Try to pick the ones that you think are going to be at least the least biased and read several.  It's simple.

 

But, that's not what people do.  They listen to one "news" source that happens to agree with their view of the world and to hell with all the rest because they are all horribly biased.  

 

And...STOP WATCHING NEWS OPINION SHOWS ALL TOGETHER NO MATTER WHO THEY ARE!!!

I agree. We had a couple over for dinner way back in 2020. I don’t remember why this came up but the husband said that FOX news was getting too liberal so they started watching Newsmax. 1) It was first I had heard of Newsmax 2) I thought they were being sarcastic so I laughed out loud. Then I saw the looks on their faces and realized they were being serious. I just said that I was pretty sure FOX was still very conservative and left it at that. 

[Guy Chamberlin]

Yeah, especially when something like Ukraine happens, I'll mosey over to CNN to get the latest.

 

They will indeed give you the latest. That's what makes it news and there is some value in that if you want to stay informed. Images can be manipulative, but they also literally give you the picture you need to better understand.

 

But being 24 hour news stations, CNN and Fox generally rely on 22 hours of speculation and repetition. I can't watch for long at all.

 

The few times I've ventured into broadcast network and local evening news -- mostly accidental -- I've found it refreshing. They only have a half-hour to work with and the whole discipline is boiling things down to what you most need to know. This is why self-contained and prioritized news summaries like the BBC and PBS are still useful news sources. 

 

 

[knapplc]

8 minutes ago, Guy Chamberlin said:

Yeah, especially when something like Ukraine happens, I'll mosey over to CNN to get the latest.

 

They will indeed give you the latest. That's what makes it news and there is some value in that if you want to stay informed. Images can be manipulative, but they also literally give you the picture you need to better understand.

 

But being 24 hour news stations, CNN and Fox generally rely on 22 hours of speculation and repetition. I can't watch for long at all.

 

 

Is Headline News still around? When the Gulf War happened we had that on in the apartment all the time. Just continuous loop of news, a smattering of interviews, but not much time for hysterics because they repeated the same show every 30 minutes. 

 

Last time I saw Headline News was maybe the late 90s? I presume if it's still around it's changed quite a bit. Nobody ever talks about it.

[nic]

10 minutes ago, knapplc said:

 

Is Headline News still around? When the Gulf War happened we had that on in the apartment all the time. Just continuous loop of news, a smattering of interviews, but not much time for hysterics because they repeated the same show every 30 minutes. 

 

Last time I saw Headline News was maybe the late 90s? I presume if it's still around it's changed quite a bit. Nobody ever talks about it.

I was just going to say I miss CNN Headline news. I could turn on the Tube for 30 minutes, catch up on the news and walk away. I also remember watching it during the Gulf War. I think there would be a market for that format again. 

[Guy Chamberlin]

17 minutes ago, knapplc said:

 

Is Headline News still around? When the Gulf War happened we had that on in the apartment all the time. Just continuous loop of news, a smattering of interviews, but not much time for hysterics because they repeated the same show every 30 minutes. 

 

Last time I saw Headline News was maybe the late 90s? I presume if it's still around it's changed quite a bit. Nobody ever talks about it.

 

Wow. I totally forgot about CNN Headline News.

 

Now you made me look it up. Turns out it was spun off and turned into something awful and waaaaayy off-brand.

 

https://www.distractify.com/p/what-happened-to-hln-news

[JJ Husker]

1 hour ago, BigRedBuster said:

YES...I read way more news than I watch.  Literally, the only news I watch is morning news (local) in the morning drinking a cup of coffee.  Then, local news in the evening sometimes.  

 

About the only other time I watch anything national is if something big is happening.  Then, I admit I tend to turn to CNN because they have the best field reporting and I don't feel that's majorly slanted.  Especially if it's something like a hurricane or other natural disaster.  The minute they start showing an opinion show????  It's off.  I have absolutely no desire to sit and listen to a bunch of nutjobs telling me what I'm supposed to think.

 

On international stuff, I do like BBC World News.  It's interesting not getting an "Americanized" view.

 

I then spend a lot of time reading.

This is pretty much me also. I don’t watch any national news or cable news unless something big is going on. Occasionally I will catch the local news in the morning or at supper time or in the evening but I’m even averse to that. I’d prefer to not know how jacked up the world is because it is invariably bad news of some sort. I tend to be happier the less news I take in.

 

I have shifted more towards reading my news from the news feed on my phone. That helps but you still have to be wary of the source. Occasionally I will watch BBC because it is interesting to see an outside POV. Lately I have also watched NewsNation a few times and they seem to be at least trying to not have a bias or opinion.

 

I used to watch quite a bit of Fox News and CNN. I actually feel fortunate I got away from it and now avoid them like the plague. They are so destructive.

[JJ Husker]

1 hour ago, knapplc said:

 

Is Headline News still around? When the Gulf War happened we had that on in the apartment all the time. Just continuous loop of news, a smattering of interviews, but not much time for hysterics because they repeated the same show every 30 minutes. 

 

Last time I saw Headline News was maybe the late 90s? I presume if it's still around it's changed quite a bit. Nobody ever talks about it.

Yeah that was the shiznit back in the day, especially during the shock & awe gulf war. I guess I did not realize it was not still a thing. I do think the advent of that 24 hour news cycle is a big reason why Fox News, CNN etc. are why they are the way they are today. Constantly pushing the latest emergency until a bigger emergency comes up. It can be addictive.

[Lorewarn]

2 hours ago, Enhance said:

IMO media organizations that "lean" left or right... I don't care. And anybody who does care is just being myopic. If you're within generally average realms of objectivity, then as far as I'm concerned, you're doing pretty well. It is absolutely impossible for anything done by humans to be infinitely objective without failure.

 

The ones you need to worry about are the ones that don't "lean" left or right but have planted themselves in the left or right. Which, ironically, seem to garner way more attention than they deserve. I'm talking the Breitbart's of the world, but certainly Fox News and then to a lesser (but still worth mentioning) degree CNN.

 

 

In one of Jon Stewart's legendary conversations with Bill O'Reilly, he broke this down well. Basically, he said that of course his worldview (and the worldviews of people in journalism) will effect the way they see things. But there's a distinction between that and ideological or 'activist' news entertainment. They're different categories alltogether, which is why even if NPR is left leaning (because journalists are left-leaning folks generally) it's nowhere in the ballpark of Fox News/Breitbart/Jezebel/Young Turks.