0
NCclimber

News: What we want or what we're being served?

Recommended Posts

On the recent CBS Sunday Morning Show I caught the following segment on the Anna Nicole Smith death.

Here is what struck a cord:
Quote

I don't mean to sound harsh — a woman is dead, her young daughter is motherless — but the attention paid to this tabloid star's demise is embarrassing.

It's a vicious cycle; does the attention and hysteria make the attention and hysteria more valid?

Are we watching because we're interested, or because that's what we're being fed?

I can see the newsroom frenzy: Let's see, there's the war in Iraq, but that's a downer; nothing's new in New Orleans; and Scooter Libby's trial —what is that all about anyway? Back burner that. We'll go live to Florida. Any video of Anna Nicole's body being moved?

It's the sad result of what Newsweek calls the "Girls Gone Wild Effect." Maybe it's time to stop rubbernecking the human train wrecks, and pay more attention to people who actually contribute something positive to our lives.

If every generation gets the celebrities it deserves we're in trouble — with all due respect.



What is really disheartening is/are the posted responses.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/02/11/sunday/main2458378.shtml

Seems like the vocal lowest common denominators are driving this train.
Is there anything we can do about it?

Besides looking for our news outside the mainstream?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
No there isn't anything anyone can do about this. It's all about money. Can't have a news station if there isn't enough people watching. So they pretty much have to cater to greatest amount of people. This is what they are interested in seeing on the news. The news is entertainment for the masses.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

Lots of people watch CNN, it is best to keep an eye on the ultra liberal left.

Besides it is fun seeing the news distorted anyways.



Ultra liberal left? Uh no. (you are thinking of MSNBC)Is Fox News the Ultra conservative right?

Anyway, I was talking about the Headline News channel, not regular CNN.

--------------------------
Chuck Norris doesn't do push-ups, he pushes the Earth down.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

Lots of people watch CNN, it is best to keep an eye on the ultra liberal left.

Besides it is fun seeing the news distorted anyways.



That's another tactic used on the right to make their positions seem "mainstream". The demonize news outlets as being "ultra liberal left" when in fact they're more centrist. Liberal left media doesn't even get mentioned.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
As I see it (yes, I know that's ripe for criticism), the national mainstream media leans left. The signs are pretty subtle.

From time to time, I'll come across some righty pundit, drawing attention to studies in a given timeframe, that looks at how often a Dem. is labeled as a liberal and a Rep. is labeled conservative. The results are heavily skewed towards "conservative republican".

Then there is issue of which stories (and which parts of stories) get coverage. Again, there seems to be subtle anti-conservative bias. Where these biases are quite evident is on NPR. I don't see any leaning on PBS, but NPR... boy howdy... the top of the hour news is good, but many of the stories/pieces have a serious slant.

Unfortunately, these suble biases have given a tanker-load of fuel to the overtly right leaning news outlets like FoxNews, which has done a spectacular job of polarizing the debate.

As a result, we all lose.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
As I see it, the national news media leans a little right, the signs aren't so subtle.
I recently heard that Sean Hannity looked at a dark-haired woman, so he *must* be on the trail to liberalism. Tim Russert and Tony Snow went out to a regular bar together, and it is reported they drank *beer!* Imagine that.
Pat Buchanan, John Stossel, Brit Hume, Alan Keyes, Robert Novak, and Chris Matthews have all agreed to undergo sensitivity training for their constant bashing of gays...nice to know these broadcast cats are on the prowl for a more balanced media.
Fox television dared to have a black man report the news, and they even coupled up with CNN's Wolf Blitzer for a special Brit Hume report. Paula Zahn is married to a liberal, supposedly, maybe that tempers her from being more right wing than she otherwise would be.
Tucker Carlson is a touchy-feely guy (as long as he gets to torture them).
Ann Coulter surely is fair, right? After all, she used the term "Christian Conservative 79% less than she used the term "Athiest Left," "liberal left" and considers the word "Jew" to be an insult.
Then there is the more methodical approach which of course must be fake because a "liberal" school (Berkely) undertook the study.

We could go on and on, but my cheek is starting to hurt, and my tongue is getting tired.
Yup...the media sure has a liberal bias. I'd argue that the television shows produced with a very liberal bias are done so as a counterpoint to the ridiculously rightist news media, which is inexorably embedded in the conservative movement.
Hmm....news is conservative
production shows are about evenly balanced between conservative and liberal bents...
Dixie Chicks win Grammy's from the liberal music industry, but the conservative radio industry won't play their music.
In the end, it sure seems to me that the control of information is not just slightly conservative, but grossly conservative. Even if one is a rational, reasonable person, I don't see how anyone could begin to believe the media control is even marginally liberal.
Unless one worships Ann Coulter.:S

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

Quote

Lots of people watch CNN, it is best to keep an eye on the ultra liberal left.

Besides it is fun seeing the news distorted anyways.



That's another tactic used on the right to make their positions seem "mainstream". The demonize news outlets as being "ultra liberal left" when in fact they're more centrist. Liberal left media doesn't even get mentioned.



Sorry, but you're wrong - MSM freely admits they're left of center. Some, of course, are further left than others. I'll try to find the source I'm thinking of and post the link.
Mike
I love you, Shannon and Jim.
POPS 9708 , SCR 14706

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Actually, there's a more recent report that looks at the last 10 years of news reporting that shows that the majority of the outlets are liberal-leaning.

Hell, one of the heads of ABC was on Fox *admitting* the liberal bias in the newsroom!

Ah..found the report I was thinking of: http://www.newsroom.ucla.edu/page.asp?RelNum=6664

A snippet:

Quote

Of the 20 major media outlets studied, 18 scored left of center, with CBS' "Evening News," The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times ranking second, third and fourth most liberal behind the news pages of The Wall Street Journal.

Only Fox News' "Special Report With Brit Hume" and The Washington Times scored right of the average U.S. voter.

The most centrist outlet proved to be the "NewsHour With Jim Lehrer." CNN's "NewsNight With Aaron Brown" and ABC's "Good Morning America" were a close second and third.

"Our estimates for these outlets, we feel, give particular credibility to our efforts, as three of the four moderators for the 2004 presidential and vice-presidential debates came from these three news outlets — Jim Lehrer, Charlie Gibson and Gwen Ifill," Groseclose said. "If these newscasters weren't centrist, staffers for one of the campaign teams would have objected and insisted on other moderators."

The fourth most centrist outlet was "Special Report With Brit Hume" on Fox News, which often is cited by liberals as an egregious example of a right-wing outlet. While this news program proved to be right of center, the study found ABC's "World News Tonight" and NBC's "Nightly News" to be left of center. All three outlets were approximately equidistant from the center, the report found.

"If viewers spent an equal amount of time watching Fox's 'Special Report' as ABC's 'World News' and NBC's 'Nightly News,' then they would receive a nearly perfectly balanced version of the news," said Milyo, an associate professor of economics and public affairs at the University of Missouri at Columbia.

Five news outlets — "NewsHour With Jim Lehrer," ABC's "Good Morning America," CNN's "NewsNight With Aaron Brown," Fox News' "Special Report With Brit Hume" and the Drudge Report — were in a statistical dead heat in the race for the most centrist news outlet. Of the print media, USA Today was the most centrist.


Mike
I love you, Shannon and Jim.
POPS 9708 , SCR 14706

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
If we're talking about "news reporting" I can accept that it's become more left than it has been. Being at 70 out of a 1-100 is still more right than being at 50.
However, with cable broadcasts thrown into the mix, there is no comparison. Glenn Beck, Paula Zahn, Nancy Grace, Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, etc are still considered "news" when they're right-wing aggressionists by way of their language and facial expressions.
Those shows more than compensate for any greater leftist-leanings the news shows may have recently taken, IMO.
All that said, the media NEEDS to become more liberal leaning, simply to offset the time-warp we currently have in the White House.B|

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

Glenn Beck, Paula Zahn, Nancy Grace, Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, etc are still considered "news"

All that said, the media NEEDS to become more liberal leaning, simply to offset the time-warp we currently have in the White House.B|



NUTS - news media needs to not have a lean no matter who's in office.. most news sources seem to be fine (a little left or right, not a ton). Exeptions are like NPR and editorial shows who are pretty forthright about their leanings.

Little hint, if the shows take "callers" or read "viewer e-mail" it's a good bet they aren't considered "news" except by some alarmist trying to underpin some weak argument.

(I believe Hannity and O'Reilly are not "news", they are editorial. I don't know about the other 3 at all. i've seen snips of Grace in a news brief and she scares me a little bit)

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

0