Do you Believe the Media is Biased?

[McLite]

^^ agreed.

 

[jamesmonroe]

me too, dont be such jarheads though. the media is somewhat biased conservatively.

 

[allan51]

I believe that the bias of the corporate media is neither liberal nor conservative, but pro-government. They rely on government for so much, for access to press conferences, to access to individual sources, to broadcasting licenses (in the case of TV and radio), to confirmation of information, and the list goes on (somebody help me here, I'm pretty tired). Over the years, it seems that the corporate media has developed a pathological reliance on official government channels to tell them what is going on instead of doing the hard, tedious, time-consuming work of researching independent (or gov't. sources that don't require as much official co-operation, like FOIA requests) Therefore, it is NO surprise that they are hesitant to criticize the people in power, because retaliation could hurt their bottom line by compromising their access to information as well as their revenue from ideologically pissed-off advertisers and readers.

excellent assessment!

 

[Jeanette]

I saw some documentary about a news program called Fox News. That was sick. I can see why a government would want to have milli9ons of people watching one disgusting piece of false propogandha after another, but I was sad when they made this poll in which like two thirds of the people watching these "news" believed them.
I recieved cnn on cable when the iraqi war started. That was a shock as well. Do you have any independent sources of news over there??

 

[rachamim18]

Reply...

5HT: Very good point but it does not apply to all journalists. First, even if the entire White House press corp was biased in favor of the govt., and it certainly is not, that would not incluse the vast majority of journalists who are not members of the press corp. Yes, some of the ramining group does rely heavily on govt. sources but many are clearly anti-Bush, anti-Republican, and so forth.


Jeanette:As many people that watch right wing oriented programminglike Fox, there are just as many who watch blatantly left wing programming. To each their own. Ideally though, people would look at both in order to better understand the opposite mindframe as well as watching objective [or as objectively as possible] sources of information.

 

[CreativeRandom]

Depends how you look at it. The number one news network in America is Fox, which shows that people in America obviously support conservatism. Before Fox, the media was nearly entirely liberal.

However, I have yet to see that Fox is at all conservative. To me it seems like they just show the news without Spin or Speculation. I do not watch it, I would be pleased if someone could tell me why they are conservative.

No, Sean Hannity and O'Reilly have nothing to do with it. Those are opinionated shows, not news.

The media also has a tendency to be against the current government.

 

[Pct]

Depends how you look at it. The number one news network in America is Fox, which shows that people in America obviously support conservatism. Before Fox, the media was nearly entirely liberal

The number one cable news network is Fox. Its not the number one news network all around.

However, I have yet to see that Fox is at all conservative. To me it seems like they just show the news without Spin or Speculation. I do not watch it, I would be pleased if someone could tell me why they are conservative.

No, Sean Hannity and O'Reilly have nothing to do with it. Those are opinionated shows, not news.

If you watched it you would see that its conservative. Sean Hannity and O'Reilly have everything to do with it. They are portrayed as objective and call themselves "fair and balanced" repeadly throughout their shows, but they clearly aren't.

Just so you know, most conservatives consider foxnews to be conservative. Fox News is labeled as "fair and balanced" purposely in response to the "liberal" media claiming it is objective.

The media also has a tendency to be against the current government.

This is true except for foxnews (as long as the government is republican).

 

[Deepsea]

You guys have shown the problem with identifying between a traditional conservatism, and the new-age conservativism. New Age is more or less the religious, or born again crowd. Traditionalists are the conservatives that have always been such, and didn't swap sides after some strange religious rediscovery.

tradistional conservatives tend to be sane, and small government, where as the New-Age ones tend to be spiritually based, and want everything to be based around their belief system.

 

[Pct]

You guys have shown the problem with identifying between a traditional conservatism, and the new-age conservativism.

I dont see how this discussion shows that...

 

[rachamim18]

Well...

Creative: Fox most definitely spins it. I enjoy the network though because it is the only one thus far that has not engaged in bashing Bush for being Bush. It also offers a good pulse on Conservative America. Still, noone can deny that Fox is indeed biased.

 

[5-HT2]

^^^yup. If you asked one of our European fellows, you would find that they think even the more liberal media outlets in the U.S. are conservatively biased. And let's not forget that Europe also has conservatives that are just as right-wing as ours or even more, like Jean-Marie Le Pen. I think that in the U.S., we get exposed to a very thin slice of the ideological plane in mass media, and unfortunately a lot of Americans are so ignorant of the world that they think centrists are actually flaming liberals, and true libertarians are from another planet.

 

[rachamim18]

Well...

You have to be careful how you phrase that. There are a ton of disparate news sources available to Americans if they avail themselves to them. On the whole, I think Americans are not any more ignorant than any other nation. It is just that Americans have no excuse for their ignorance when they have all the tools at their disposal. A person growing up in most any other nation does not have even a fraction oft he resources most Americans have. That is almost criminal.

 

[skavenger]

But a person growing up in almost any other nation has far more inclination to acquire some degree of a clue.

Strange.

 

[rachamim18]

Reply...

I don't see that as true atall. Having traveled extensively I can say with some degree of certainty that people the world over have more pressing concerns, like food, shelter, and so on. I can also offer that outside of a some isolated intellectual circles, the person on the street is no better informed than the average American [and often is less informed].

 

[skavenger]

I hadn't considered that. On second thought most of my experience in other countries and with the people from other countries has been among intellectual/academic circles. My time with people in poverty was spent discussing/planning a pursuit and getting to know them, not really inquiring about their local views. Time to get down in the trenches I suppose.

 

[rachamim18]

Well...

It really is the best way to learn. Not only about this issue. Learning other people's belief system has been one of the most rewarding things in my life.

 

[Jeanette]

Well, I actually think americans are more ignorant. But it's not by your fault, but your media. Political "indoctrination" in schools (textbooks, historybooks a.s.o). This is a huge difference from those americans I know personally, and who's lived over here for most of their lives. they share the same view I do. The media is to blame, probably some network owners affiliated with providing funds for some politicians or something. How would I know? Glad we're not controlled by corporations like that..

 

[rachamim18]

Reply...

I am not paticuarly a good example to use as a stereotypical American. I am dual Israeli/American citizen and have spent more years in Israel then in America. In addition, I was raised outside of general society[if such a thing exists in the mosaic of American ethnic groups]. Still, I have to offer that it is a foolish statement to condemn most Americans to ignorance, especially in a deeper state than other nations/cultures. Again, you think the average punter in the UK or Australia is more in tune with world events? Certainly those people livng in so called "Third Wirld" nations are no better informed...Or those living in closed dictatorships...On the whole, it is srguable that Americans might just be better informed on the whole although with the state of the rest of the world's cultures and nations, this isn't saying all too much.


Although Americans in your circle might very well agree with you, i can assure you that America is a far cry from a monolithic entity.
in fact, it is pretty easy to say that it is exactly the opposite.

 

[CreativeRandom]

The number one cable news network is Fox. Its not the number one news network all around.

Well, the FOX5 D.C. News is number one in their area. Intelligent comment though, your right. Still, perhaps it is the number one news network all around... Can you answer that Pct? No jest, seriously.

If you watched it you would see that its conservative. Sean Hannity and O'Reilly have everything to do with it. They are portrayed as objective and call themselves "fair and balanced" repeadly throughout their shows, but they clearly aren't.

I don't know how "if I watched it you would see that it's conservative" proves any point at all to me. Can you please source any random news article from foxnews.com, and point out any obvious bias? Please understand this is in good nature, I am entirely in the ignorance here.

Sean Hannity and O'Reilly are opinion shows, and have nothing to do with it. I don't say Sundance is liberal because of Al Franken, because it has nothing to do with it. Hannity, O'Reilly, and Franken do not represent how the news is portrayed from their respective stations. Hannity could call himself the almight Jesus lord that requires his dick sucked from every liberal, and I still is not valid to say Fox News is conservative (or fucking loony) just from that alone. These are opinion shows, and you do not confuse opinion with the news.

Just like the editorials in a newspaper do not reflect the news in it. There has been conservative editorials in the Oregon Newspaper, and as well as in the Washington Post, the champion of liberal newspaper media.

Just so you know, most conservatives consider foxnews to be conservative.

I don't know. I don't talk to many conservatives at all. Thanks for the heads-up though.

Fox News is labeled as "fair and balanced" purposely in response to the "liberal" media claiming it is objective.

Okay. Neat. I'm sure it will help me out in a crossword puzzle many years into the future.

I don't mean to be an asshole to piss you off. Please take this in good nature, I do not watch Fox news but so far you haven't really shown me anything proving that Fox news is conservative, and I feel it has less to do with Fox being conservative than you being weak on the argument.

This is true except for foxnews (as long as the government is republican).

Fox News has been chewing the crap out of the current administration, I know that much. I heard that they had an extremely high number of time spent on Katrina. Sorry to break it to you, but the current administration is far from "right-wing".

You guys have shown the problem with identifying between a traditional conservatism, and the new-age conservativism

Good point, but I'd be damned if those right-wing evangelics were the same as me. They aren't conservative, they are just wackos.

where as the New-Age ones tend to be spiritually based, and want everything to be based around their belief system.

I'd wager that thewse people would be liberals if the Democrat party had appealed to them. No proof of this, just a thought. Sheep mentality? Yes, I am Republican (libertarian, whatever) but that doesn't mean you can't be fooled into something smart.

Still, noone can deny that Fox is indeed biased.

PLEASE! Can someone just provide a link to a news article by Fox that is obviously conservative? I can do this for many Washington Post articles that I read almost every day.

It really is the best way to learn. Not only about this issue. Learning other people's belief system has been one of the most rewarding things in my life.

Yep. Just spending 8 hours walking around in a foreign city with absolutely no clue how to get home will definately teach you alot. Just make sure you have money for a cab fare, it gets especially high if you took some trains!

Well, I actually think americans are more ignorant. But it's not by your fault, but your media. Political "indoctrination" in schools (textbooks, historybooks a.s.o).

You don't think foreign medias brainwash their own populations? Damn, I am so glad I didn't live in a place where the government owned the media like the Soviet Union or Saddam's Iraq.

On the whole, it is srguable that Americans might just be better informed on the whole

I do realize I just wrote a paragraph about how informed Americans are, but I gotta say that what you said is kinda sad. Many Americans cannot tell you who the Secretary of State is, what kind of government China is, or who the Senate majority leader is. Reminds me of this one time Howard Stern had someone go around New York City and ask people "What is the capital of New York state?"

Almost no one got the answer right. Most said NYC, haha.