TM2 Dinobot Posted June 20, 2009 Share Posted June 20, 2009 Apparently Obama said something the other day that Fox never reports anything good on him and they aren't to be trusted, or some such thing. I didn't get the full quote. But it got me thinking. Who do you trust most for your news? Both local and World news. I don't have cable, so I don't get Fox national news. I only have the local station, which is fairly run of the mill. I get Fox News Sunday though, and I feel confidant in what I hear on there. I also trust BBC world news, not because they're conservative (they're not) or even because they're liberal (they are) but because they give a grander over view that you don't get with American news that "hey, this isn't all about you". I've actually seen broadcasts where they didn't report once on America, and you can't get that with ABC or anything. CNN, yeah, they've got a lot of stories, but I wouldn't trust CNN to save my life. They have some just plain out bad reporters. I don't want this to turn into a political debate, and this isn't really even about political news, but I was just curious what your main source for news is? Is BBC all they have over in the UK? What about North Raider? Just kind of curious, you know? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buttheadsmate Posted June 20, 2009 Share Posted June 20, 2009 (edited) The BBC are slightly biassed against any sitting-government but once you're aware of that I'd trust it 100%.............. ...........except for the weather forecast. There are 2 main 'terrestrial' news services in the UK ......ITN ,Independent Television News which basically provide news to the 'commercial' channels & the BBC. Satellite allows many of us to get Fox News,Sky News,CNN etc. ...even Al Jazeera . Al Jazeera has its own bias of course but is fascinating when compared to Fox News ....it's as if the same 'item' being reported is completely unrelated when being discussed in real-time. Edited June 20, 2009 by buttheadsmate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndieMate Posted June 20, 2009 Share Posted June 20, 2009 Most of the time, I watch Fox News, since it's actually fair and balanced. MSNBC, or the Ms. National Barack Channel, and CNN I don't watch because they are SO bias! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthRaider Posted June 20, 2009 Share Posted June 20, 2009 (edited) TM2, do you mean for local news or for international news? I have to ask because it seems even our local networks tend to forget the fact that our news isn't supposed to aspire to being America-centric, all thanks to the identity crisis wrought by the Philippines' brief stint as an American colony (this is a long story that could forcefully steer me into the dreaded political discussion anyway) Anyway for basic international news my family usually just switches between CNN (International, obviously) and the BBC, depending on which network's actually screening news at the time and not some interview or documentary. For local news however, the rule of thumb is fast becoming "for unbiased coverage, steer clear from mainstream media period" as even our evening news are starting to develop this diluted "Entertainment Tonight" flavor to them. Not that most people here even complain about it, seems I only abide by this inborn cynicism as a forced side effect of coming from a liberal all-girl's college. Edited June 20, 2009 by NorthRaider Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiniFiend UK Posted June 20, 2009 Share Posted June 20, 2009 For me The BBC if I even bother to watch any national news. I don't trust any of them to be totally truthful. I don't buy newspapers either. I do watch local news to see whats going on in my area and if there is something there that interests me I can then find out exactly whats going on by actually going out and talking to ppl. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mirymate Posted June 20, 2009 Share Posted June 20, 2009 I would trust Fox news over any of the other cable networks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twisted Two-Face Posted June 20, 2009 Share Posted June 20, 2009 Hmm...Channel 6ABC: Action News for me. I trust no one more than them when it comes to reporting news. And FOX is a load of bull. I can't stand their news broadcasting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
battlecat Posted June 20, 2009 Share Posted June 20, 2009 Not American, but there's no avoiding American politics, and my favorite part of The Daily Show is when they lay out the plain facts of a news item and then show how it's been reported on all 3 cable news networks... the difference is astounding (and in case you don't watch, yes, Stewart points out the spin on the non-Fox ones too, despite his own left lean). If you think any of them are reporting unbiased news, it's likely because you agree with that bias. All just my opinion of course. For local news, some Canadian broadcasts have started to take after the U.S. trend of "scare" stories in the last few years, ie. "this product could kill you!" or "Halloween could kill you!" or "watch us sneak past airport security!" or whatever. My favourite recent one was how a wild coyote had made off with somebody's tiny dog that was sitting in a back yard adjacent to a park/ravine. Admittedly, that would suck for the owner, but they actually turned it into an "are your children safe from vicious coyotes??" story, and got the locals all worked up about lobbying the city to kill the entire area population. Didn't seem to matter to the reporter/editor/station manager that coyotes are afraid of people and avoid their scent, and that no one's ever actually had one run off with a toddler. Because it could happen... Still, we have a decent national broadcast on the CBC, which is like our BBC, but probably still not *quite* as global as it should be (because everybody knows, if it's not happening to us, it doesn't really matter as much). Anyway, please excuse all the cynicism -- I've had a serious case ever since attending journalism school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buttheadsmate Posted June 20, 2009 Share Posted June 20, 2009 (edited) I know only too well how CAPS upset people so please forgive the use of them because they're necessary in my post............. I hate the trend over recent years to emphasise the FACTS in any NEWS REPORTING. The pretty news reporter sits there and emphatically stresses every noun & verb as if the viewer was either f**k$ng retarded or over 50 . Example: PRESIDENT OBAMA was TODAY INAUGURATED as PRESIDENT inWASHINGTON DCas the FIRST AFRICAN AMERICAN toHOLDthe POST It totally does my head in & I don't trust their overt yet subliminal motives. edit: I know I'm not paranoid because they're watching me....all the time Edited June 20, 2009 by buttheadsmate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TM2 Dinobot Posted June 20, 2009 Author Share Posted June 20, 2009 I hate Local stations morso than national ones. National, CNN and all those, are biased. Yes. But they're very blatant about it. So you can work around it. The local stations though... those guys are nucking futs! When that plane went down in the river up north, ABC actually found the brother of an ex-collage roomate of one of the passengers! I am not kidding you. Then when a hurricane came in 2 years ago, they had reporters out in a sunny sky (whatever the class 2 we had hit was) and it was drizzling a bit, and they asked him what kind of damage there was, and the reporter actually turned to a tree and said "Well, as you can see a few leaves have blown off this tree" and showed a few leaves on the ground. WTF?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
groundhog7s Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 (edited) I don't trust any of it in the US. I read a study done last year of hundreds of people that work in all sorts of news broadcasting in the states. The results showed that right around 90% of them were liberal in their views and politics. I think that is very evident here, but more importantly it shows that there's all sort of bias. Whether you agree with the side you see or not, what is reported and how it's reported just depends on who is reporting/editing. The media truly influences the masses, proving another point that most sheople follow wherever they're led. Edited June 21, 2009 by groundhog7s Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
entertheninja! Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 I get all my news from ten year old previously recorded "Fox News @ 10:00" VHS tapes. I fear Y2K dearly...I already have a years supply of pantyhose in a box with the rest of my "Y2K Survival Kit" stuff. I'm jokin I get my news from KNPR...NoNoNo Im serious about the first thing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minimadman Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 I get all of my news from my mother. That way I know it will be good and sensationalized. I get no less than 2 phone calls a day from her asking me about one crazy thing or another. Old people are funny. Sorry Rob. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karamazov80 Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 News stories by Reuters News Service and the Associated Press are used by just about everyone who runs a paper. They are about the best source if you just want the facts without spin. So no matter where you go, if you see stories from one of these two places, you'll probably be OK. If you want twitter questions and agends and pretty colors and excitement, stick with Cable News, but I try to stay away from it altogether. Fox News and MSNBC are both unabashedly slanted, and I stay away from both unless I'm looking for a laugh, or to get mad. CNN is just sad, but I'll sometimes put that on in the background if there is no baseball game on or something. The evening news shows are pretty lame, as well. Though you can get the basic news from any of these places, the issue is often in what is versus what isn't covered, and how the news is "framed." Ultimately, you have to make your own judgments about what you think is best, but cable news is so driven by commercial interests and pander so often to the lowest common denominator that I have no use for it. During the week, I stick with the News Hour on PBS if I want news on TV. They honestly strive for subjectivity, are not restrained like the cable channels are by sponsors, and provide people with alternative viewpoints to argue and debate. Another good show is the News Hour's Gwen Eiffel hosted Washington Week, which comes on Friday nights here and provides a nice summary of the big stories of the week. Sunday mornings, you can actually get pretty good news on the networks and CNN via Meet the Press, This Week, Reliable Sources and sometimes international relations scholar Fareed Zakaria's GPS show. Mostly because these shows provide a range of opinions from the ideological and philosophical spectrum that "check" each other. I honestly can't recommend a single show on Fox as being remotely objective, though I enjoy the Mike Huckabee show every now and again. At least that guy doesn't try fooling himself or the audience--he is what he is, and that frankness makes for some really engaging discussions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jatta Pake Posted June 22, 2009 Share Posted June 22, 2009 I'll offer my own opinion because I like the sound of my own voice! Instead of trying to figure out which channel has the least "bias" and watching only that channel, you should be expanding your scope of channels and media. All language and communication are inherently biased, so every method of communication has some slant/twist/etc. You are hurting yourself if you are only getting news from a single source. (I strongly recommend taking a Linguistics course at some point in everyone's life. Brain structure is affected by language and culture). The key is to be an educated critical thinker. You should be able to read The Huffington Post and the DrudgeReport and make your own judgement. Read the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. Watch Bill O'Reilly and Olbermann. A fact is a fact, but ALL media often misreport facts. The key is diversity of sources. Think of it like diversifying your portfolio. You wouldn't stick your life savings in a single stock like Enron. Get your news from a wide range of sources. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karamazov80 Posted June 22, 2009 Share Posted June 22, 2009 Ideally, I would agree with JP. However, very few of us are going to have the time or inclination to first watch all the news from a wide variety of sources, and then synthesize all of that information so that we can come up with whatever our own best interpretation of "news" is, given all that we expose ourselves to. As such, we pick and choose the sources that will give us what we are looking for with the least amount of effort. We use "cognitive shortcuts" like this all the time every day, and it helps to structure and order our day to day lives. Given that, I stay away from the cable news stuff not only because there may or may not be a "slant," but because there is so much useless fluff. I know that child abductions, steroid use in baseball, and celebrity breakups are very important to various people. But frankly, they aren't to me, so I don't want to waste my time listening to some blowhard with nice hair on CNN talking about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
handsomedevil Posted June 22, 2009 Share Posted June 22, 2009 Layla Kayleigh on The Feed. That also happens to be where I get my... Nevermind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ivan Posted June 22, 2009 Share Posted June 22, 2009 I get all my news with/from my balanced breakfast. Here are a few of last week's headlines: Lucky is just happy the revolutionaries in Iran aren't after his Lucky Charms right now. Count Chocula thinks health care reform is unnecessary. Cap'n Crunch is blaming the spread of H1N1 on The Soggies and demands swift retribution. Toucan Sam's plan for stimulating the economic recovery involves advanced olfactory techniques. Tony the Tiger thinks the new iPhone is just great. The Trix Rabbit is convinced Sonia Sotomayor's will be an advocate for equal opportunity of cereal consumption regardless of species. The Quaker Oats Guy talks to me too... but mostly he just calls me a lazy bastard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buttheadsmate Posted June 22, 2009 Share Posted June 22, 2009 Cereal murder is a problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TM2 Dinobot Posted June 23, 2009 Author Share Posted June 23, 2009 Cereal murder is a problem. (I vote we add that smiley and label it as "BHM") Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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