extremist
- Thread starter Al Wohlstrom
- Start date
Good luck on that one, Keith.
I will say (and as anyone who actually WATCHES the network for more than 3 nanoseconds will find out for himself), FOX c-o-n-s-i-s-t-a-n-t-l-y aires voices from both sides of any issue on its 'talking head' shows.
Prior to FOX doing that, no network ever did that I can recall.
And then they went and spoiled it all by airing that drivel about Birmingham UK....:thumbsdown:
Jeff Young
GT40s Supporter
What?
CNN -- Crossfire (Pat Buchanan)
ABC -- This Week with David Brinkley (George F. Will)
NBC/CBS -- Meet the Press and Face the Nation
and so on.
Good lord.
CNN -- Crossfire (Pat Buchanan)
ABC -- This Week with David Brinkley (George F. Will)
NBC/CBS -- Meet the Press and Face the Nation
and so on.
Good lord.
Jeff Young
GT40s Supporter
Keith, anyone who tells you that either Fox (the right) or MSNBC (the left) are anything but advocacy journalism with a clear slant is delusional. Neither of them are fair and balanced/center, etc.
Teh only difference between the two is that MSNBC acknowledges its bias. Fox does not. they scream "fair and balanced" at you all day long.
Jeff Young
GT40s Supporter
Sorry? Not sure what you mean Randy.
Pete McCluskey.
Lifetime Supporter
From my perspective, any reporter that agrees with my view I think is unbiased .
But I am interested in Jeff's answer.
Jeff Young
GT40s Supporter
Fair questions.
I certainly have a bias and am not dead center. Never claimed I was. Not sure anyone can, or that anyone can even identify the dead center. I have some fairly aggressive leftist views on health care (I believe in a single payer system), less so on economic regulation (probably have too much stuff that affects day to day business), perhaps more so on Government involvement in fiscal and monetary policy to smooth business cycles. I'd probably rank close to libertarian on pure social issues, not so much on economic ones. I do believe in an active foreign policy and a strong military.
So I certainly come at the news with those biases, and naturally gravitate (like all of us) towards news sources that agree me with. I think the important thing for individuals is to recognize their biases and attempt to sift through the chaff to find what is important. That doesn't mean we will all agree on an objective truth, but it does mean that some of us on both sides recognize that posts like the lead in this thread are not news, or even legitimate political discussion, but just an attempt to divide and hate.
I think the same is true of "news." And you must divide the news into two camps -- reporters who collect informaiton and the large companies that own them and drive "policy."
I think all news sources will have some bias. I think like with individuals, the goal for news is to try and minimize bias and present things as objectively as possible.
I do think the following is 100% correct. I think some news figures on the "right" saw an opportunity -- a business opportunity mind you, not one for the greater good of the "news" -- to claim that the media in the US is all liberally biased and that only THEY were purveyors of the truth.
Of course, those folks - Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Andrew Breitbart, Fox News -- are some of the most blatantly biased and non-objective sources out there. They are effectively advocacy journalism, not even trying to present an objective view of things while at the same time claiming only they are "fair and balanced."
This phenomenon has warped and divided us as a people in the US, something I think you guys in the UK see here in this forum. Americans don't even discuss politics from the same set of facts anymore. There are right wing facts and left wing facts.
This is bad, and wrong. While the left has had some part in it (MSNBC is clear advocacy journalism), the phenomenon came from the right and its main purveyor -- Fox News -- presents a warped view of reality to a large portion of the American people (all with the real purpose of lining Rupert Murdoch's pockets and nothing more) who lap it up without question.
It's a shame really. The tradition of Walter Cronkite and Edward Morrow, and David Brinkely and others attempting to fairly present the news is gone. Instead we have talking heads screaming at each other about stuff that in the grand scheme of things (Benghazi, etc.) doesn't really matter.
Not replying, just clarifying, Walter Cronkite and Edward Morrow, and David Brinkely, all pretty far left liberal
Jeff Young
GT40s Supporter
In the new twisted political landscape of Faux News as "fair and balanced," maybe.
In the real world, whatever their political beliefs, these mean strove to report the news as objecitvely and with as much integrity as possible.
The complete antithesis of what makes up almost all of right wing media (which is pretty dominant these days), and some of the left (MSNBC).
In the real world, whatever their political beliefs, these mean strove to report the news as objecitvely and with as much integrity as possible.
The complete antithesis of what makes up almost all of right wing media (which is pretty dominant these days), and some of the left (MSNBC).
Jeff Young
GT40s Supporter
Stunning analysis Larry. Thought provoking and enlightening.
Trust me, I don't expect to ever get through to you. You are too far gone. But do expect to get called on the bullshit when posted (no shows with both sides presented on the major networks...good grief...do you even LIVE in the United States?).
Trust me, I don't expect to ever get through to you. You are too far gone. But do expect to get called on the bullshit when posted (no shows with both sides presented on the major networks...good grief...do you even LIVE in the United States?).
'Glad you thought so...
