American news

[pvenne 0]

well, I think controversial posts are the best ones to keep checking, so as long aas I continue to have free time on my hands I am going to continue bringing debatable issues into the spotlight here. I would say that network cables have a bias, but that the bias they have is balanced between the bias of network CEOs (conservative) and of their reporters (liberal). And I think cable news programs are biased all in one direction, usually conservative...that is, the reporters and those for whom they work share the same common biases. what does everyone think? And do you think there should be a clearer definition provided at the beginning of each news program on cable that tells whether it is a news program or an opinion show that could be confused for one? lets see how this one turns out, the gay marriage hting drew five pages of responses in one day...this should be interesting.

[rusthebuss 1]

well, I think controversial posts are the best ones to keep checking, so as long aas I continue to have free time on my hands I am going to continue bringing debatable issues into the spotlight here.  I would say that network cables have a bias, but that the bias they have is balanced between the bias of network CEOs (conservative) and of their reporters (liberal).  And I think cable news programs are biased all in one direction, usually conservative...that is, the reporters and those for whom they work share the same common biases.  what does everyone think?  And do you think there should be a clearer definition provided at the beginning of each news program on cable that tells whether it is a news program or an opinion show that could be confused for one?  lets see how this one turns out, the gay marriage hting drew five pages of responses in one day...this should be interesting.

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Majority of media swings to the left.

[pvenne 0]

Majority of media swings to the left.

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majority of journalists swing to the left, reporters too. thats different from "the media" which takes their bosses into account as well, and the majority of media CEOs are rightists.

[ironchapman 1]

I find that network news is typically biased towards the left, but cable is a little more balanced with FOXNews and MSNBC (sometimes).

[Viper 0]

I find that network news is typically biased towards the left, but cable is a little more balanced with FOXNews and MSNBC (sometimes).

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Hit it on the head.

[MJLO 669]

My favorite newscast by far is MSNBC. But the reporting they do tends to swing to the left.

What was funny, was one night, after one of the presidential debates, I was flipping thru the channels and all the commentary on the networks and CNN was, Kerry won Bush sucked. Then I flipped to fox and the commentary was, Bush won Kerry sucked. It's very obvious.

I am of the opinion that they should only report the news, and not comment on it.

[monsoon 0]

There is no right or left to american news outlets in this country. All of the news from the major outlets are controlled by 6-7 major corporations which have no interest in changing the status quo in this country. So instead of hearing anything really important, we are fed a steady diet of tabloid trash on what celebrity is sleeping with who or talking heads that pretend to know what they are talking about but gloss over everything.

The biggest sham that I have ever seen was the coverage leading up the the Iraq war. Instead of holding the politicians responsible for the decisions they were making we got news about Freedom Fries. Remember wars are good for ratings.

The only decent news in the USA is what you can find on PBS or if you are lucky snippets from BBC World. (which unfortunately isn't that available in the US)

[peaceloveunderstanding 0]

indeed. I agree 100%.

[pvenne 0]

There is no right or left to american news outlets in this country.  All of the news from the major outlets are controlled by 6-7 major corporations which have no interest in changing the status quo in this country.  So instead of hearing anything really important, we are fed a steady diet of tabloid trash on what celebrity is sleeping with who or talking heads that pretend to know what they are talking about but gloss over everything.

The biggest sham that I have ever seen was the coverage leading up the the Iraq war. Instead of holding the politicians responsible for the decisions they were making we got news about Freedom Fries.  Remember wars are good for ratings. 

The only decent news in the USA is what you can find on PBS or if you are lucky snippets from BBC World.  (which unfortunately isn't that available in the US)

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replying to this post and to others: fox news is less balanced than network news, period. and to this post, you are right, public broadcasting is the only 'real' news. all other crap is based on controversy because lets not forget that controversy sells and news is a business and businesses like things that sell. profit motivates newsrooms, and controversy brings profit...but in terms of biases, Fox news is the worst thing on earth, I feel sorry for those who think otherwise because you are already too far to realize how brainwahsed you are.

[Recchia 0]

There is no right or left to american news outlets in this country.  All of the news from the major outlets are controlled by 6-7 major corporations which have no interest in changing the status quo in this country.  So instead of hearing anything really important, we are fed a steady diet of tabloid trash on what celebrity is sleeping with who or talking heads that pretend to know what they are talking about but gloss over everything.

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Right on!

[Ruso 0]

There is no right or left to american news outlets in this country.  All of the news from the major outlets are controlled by 6-7 major corporations which have no interest in changing the status quo in this country.  So instead of hearing anything really important, we are fed a steady diet of tabloid trash on what celebrity is sleeping with who or talking heads that pretend to know what they are talking about but gloss over everything.

The biggest sham that I have ever seen was the coverage leading up the the Iraq war. Instead of holding the politicians responsible for the decisions they were making we got news about Freedom Fries.  Remember wars are good for ratings. 

The only decent news in the USA is what you can find on PBS or if you are lucky snippets from BBC World.  (which unfortunately isn't that available in the US)

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Exactly. I dont think it is about left and right anymore. If anything, FOX news are a good example of an extremist network.

For those who are still lving the Cold War, CNN is considered leftist, communist, right???

[Ruso 0]

I just remembered the freedom fries things. Hilarious and ridiculous.

Yeah, how can they be worried about being leftists, when they are presenting shows in which the main concern is who is going to be Meg Ryan's next husband.

[Snowguy716 0]

You know, for as much as I "hate" Foxnews, I give them credit for not sending 1 million signals out to the American public and asking the public to make sense out of it.

But I must agree with monsoon, PBS and the BBC are the best for unbiased news. (On most issues. On the issue of climate change, BBC is very biased in favor of scientists.)

I think it is also great that in countries where the media is heavily regulated by the government (Singapore and China for example), the BBC actively goes in and tries to reach these people.

Otherwise I agree that many reporters slant to the left. It's these "shows" on CNN and FoxNews that you have to watch out for the real bias, however.

[RiversideGator 0]

It is obvious from this discussion that "unbiased" news is news with a political slant similar to yours.

[Cotuit 0]

You know, for as much as I "hate" Foxnews, I give them credit for not sending 1 million signals out to the American public and asking the public to make sense out of it.

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The job of the media is to present the facts and allow the public to make sense of it. The job of the media is not to tell people what they should think.

(On most issues.  On the issue of climate change, BBC is very biased in favor of scientists.)

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Biased towards scientists on climate change? What should they be reporting on, the conclusions of people who have gone out in the field and collected data, or someone who just thinks something is so?

[Cotuit 0]

It is obvious from this discussion that "unbiased" news is news with a political slant similar to yours.

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AirAmerica slants my way, but I wouldn't deny that they have a bias.

[Cotuit 0]

There is no right or left to american news outlets in this country.

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Indeed, "American News Outlets" is almost an oxymoron. Infotainment is not news. Speculation is not reporting.

[Snowguy716 0]

It's not so much that as much as you'd find the BBC saying something like

"One scientist at the ABC Institute has concluded that within 100 years, the planet will have warmed so much that all humans will have to live on Antarctica and hte rest of the planet will be a desert wasteland."

And then 2 weeks later that "scientist" is removed from his post for exaggerating the effects of climate change.

To state the consensus idea is one thing.. to report scare stories based on ONE scientist's word is no better than discrediting climate change altogether because a Buddhist monk told you not to believe it.

[monsoon 0]

If you are fortunate, you get either LINK TV or Free Speech TV. Unfortunately most of the USA does not have access to these two channels unless they put up a dish.

[Ruso 0]

It is obvious from this discussion that "unbiased" news is news with a political slant similar to yours.

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BBC is leftist???? Maybe communists that want to invade America....

[monsoon 0]

This makes for interesting reading on the subject.

The Media Wanted the War

I tend to agree as the digusting displays of NBC's David Bloom imbedded with the troups made the Iraq War out to be some nobel endeaver similar to landing a man on the moon. I will never trust our national media again. Where were the embedded reporters while the almost 1900 of our troops were killed and tens of thousands more injured?

[GRS328 20]

^^ While this does make for an interesting read, how can we be discussing unbiased journalism and including published material from The Huffington Post?

[monsoon 0]

Its the links to other sites that count.

[RiversideGator 0]

AirAmerica slants my way, but I wouldn't deny that they have a bias.

Air America (like Rush Limbaugh) is more news commentary than news coverage.

I tend to agree as the digusting displays of NBC's David Bloom imbedded with the troups made the Iraq War out to be some nobel endeaver similar to landing a man on the moon. I will never trust our national media again. Where were the embedded reporters while the almost 1900 of our troops were killed and tens of thousands more injured?

The Iraq War is a noble endeavor. We have freed millions from a tyrannical dictator who murdered hundreds of thousands of his own people. As for the casualties, I hear about them on the news every day.

[monsoon 0]

....

The Iraq War is a noble endeavor.  We have freed millions from a tyrannical dictator who murdered hundreds of thousands of his own people.  As for the casualties, I hear about them on the news every day.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That is in the eyes of the beholder. Certainly to the innocent Iraqi's that were killed by USA bombs it doesn't matter. And the hundreds that are killed each week by the insurgency we created don't help either. Now the latest is the USA supports the establishment of an Islamic based government, with its own tyranical controls. The media has completely failed us on this matter and starting a war is never a noble cause. The noble cause is to solve the problem without war as that is the much more difficult thing to do. But of course you don't get ratings from that.