Is the Mainstream Media Fair and Balanced?

I find print media being better than TV media. Too bad not many Americans likes to read many facets of a story in prints than to take quick capsules from TV.

 

Having worked in media for a bit here's what I can say:

The reporters, newscasters, journalists themselves are liberal....

The corporations, owners, and senior execs tend to be conservatives.

Imagine how that affects what you read!

 

Youtube is awsome. It allows you to watch/listen hourlong documentaries you just read about on message boards.

 

Perhaps if we had public prayer on every news cast to pray for the safety and fair play of our news people, we would have a much more unbiased program.

 

If you want fair and unbiased media - then you must start going to fair and unbaised sources. If people really wanted the truth, the media would give it to them.

But that's not what people want. They want something reassuring, digestiable, and that fits in with their world view.

And the media must also make sure to strip anything away that might cause a blacklash and come filtering down the parent company to their company to execs to production to their boss's and their a**. Get it?

 

yep, and that's what the media will feed them. it's all about ratings and money.

 

BS

The same liberal media went after Clinton hard, much harder than W.

IMO, the maintream media tends to go after those in power; The conservative politicians have bee in power for the past several years.

 

I think I'm one of the few that will defend the mainstream media as fair and balanced on the whole. Sure there are conservative and liberal journalists and editors but I think the fact that so many conservatives complain that mainstream media is liberal and so many liberals complain that the mainstream media is sold out to conservative interests shows that on the whole it is balanced. What I will criticize the mainstream media for is the shallowness of its coverage. Unfortunately we live in a short attention span society and the old dictum "if it bleeds it leads" still holds. To me those are far bigger problems than how fair or balanced the media is.

 

I thought you'd like that.

 

This posts is specious on so many levels its hard knowing where to start. Taking it in order while there are scripts written and a general outline for nightly news those things can be changed almost anytime to address breaking news. Prayer in school is no guarentee that journalists will be any more or less liberal. There are many religious people who are very liberal and there are many people who attended private shools that had prayer who are liberal. As for being irresponsible there are many religious people who are highly irresponsible and one the most is Pat Robertson who puts on a psuedo news show.

Finally this is a pet peeve of mine. There is and has always been prayer in public school! Nothing in the law says that someone can't pray in school. Believe me a lot of kids are praying before they take algebra tests. What isn't allowed is for their to be official prayers and prayers led by teachers and staff in an official capacity. Students themselves are allowed to pray and even teachers can lead prayers as long as it isn't being done officially. This whole prayer in school thing is just a strawman.

 

Whoops sorry my bad.

 

Mainstream media has been ass kisser for a while, compare to what it used to be and what it should be. It has become more and more like a messenger for administrations and capital hill, and lese and less independent voice.

The WORST of all is FOX. Not only its show hosts EXTREMLY biased, but also they are EXTREMLY rude, intorelate of different opinions. A couple of hours every month are enough to convince me that nothing has changed and FOX is not worth my time at all.

If you want better understanding of everything, read some foreign sources. It is not that they are always unbiased, but they certain make your overall exposure more balanced.

 

The crux of the problem IMO is credibility. The fact is we tend to listen to/read the news sources that give us what we want to hear. Conservatives listen to Fox News etc. etc.; Liberals listen to CNN, etc. etc.

Personally, I listen to and read many different news media, but subconsciously I identify each reporter with his/her slant. Then I listen carefully because I know I'm not going to get the whole truth -- just the facts that reporter wants to cite. Some reporters and media I don't believe at all....ever....because of blatant indiscretions (fiction disguised as fact).

I do know something about the news business -- how it was and how IMO it should be. I scarcely recognize my old profession because it is so different now. It is so corrupted by opinion and personal bias -- left and right -- that credibility has vanished.

Personally, I don't believe any of the news media separately but I do as an aggregate, but it's a lot of work getting all the facts.

 

Anyway, it's impossible for the Media to be fair an balanced. Why - because everyone has a different sense of what's fair and balanced. Therefore no matter what the media does, someone will perceive it as such and such.

Liberals see the media as too conservative. Conservatives see it as too liberal.

Doesn't that tell you something?

 

Good post. I was looking over some old Time Magazine's from the late '60's that I'd stuck at the top of a closet at my parent's house during a move. The difference in quality and quantity of news coverage then, as opposed to today, couldn't be more striking. It's almost an entirely different publication, except for the familiar Time on the cover.

What scares me is that we have an entire generation growing up (heck, who have grown up) thinking that the news coverage we see today is just how it's done. They haven't experienced the kind of news coverage we consumed voraciously, taking it for granted, and believe the flash and graphics lampooned so well on The Daily Show and Colbert Report actually has substance. Sure, there are nuggets here and there, but you have to look hard. It's a sad state of affairs.



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