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Eric Sofer
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 31 January 2014
Location: United States
Posts: 4789
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| Posted: 20 January 2021 at 8:13am | IP Logged | 1
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As the yoke of bondage is removed from us all today, I am minded of a comment from a blogger I follow. He noted that the news outlets weren't entirely culpable in their decade of reporting over the last four years; there were threats and assaults on reporters of every stripe. There may have been a lack of nerve and integrity, but some of these people were in fear for the jobs, or even their physical well being.
On the other hand, there are some, including on this board, who feel that news of all types has a duty and a responsibility to report the truth, no matter what the results; it's a part of their jobs.
Has this been true? Has it ever been true in history, under any president or city boss? Have some of these seeming buttonheads actually been fighting for their lives and/or freedom?
I believe in freedom of the press, but if there's a dangerous threat, sometimes one's well being must take precedence. What do you think? I'm not looking for defense or shade on one side or another; I'm hoping for factual discussion.
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Jim Petersman
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 26 June 2012
Location: United States
Posts: 625
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| Posted: 20 January 2021 at 8:27am | IP Logged | 2
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When you look at how many reporters were reporting from the Capitol while it was under attack and their equipment was being destroyed, I'd say that there isn't a problem with courage.
The only "problem" with the news is the drive to make money. Implement a new Fairness Doctrine and put reasonable regulations to the internet and a huge source of propaganda and manufactured outrage disappears overnight.
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Brian Floyd
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 07 July 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 8341
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| Posted: 20 January 2021 at 12:28pm | IP Logged | 3
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If they implemented a Fairness Doctrine, FOX News, OANN and Newsmax would immediately close. And that insane piece of trash Tucker Carlson would never work again.
So.....I'm all for it! *thumbs up*
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Rebecca Jansen
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 12 February 2018
Location: Canada
Posts: 4492
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| Posted: 20 January 2021 at 2:55pm | IP Logged | 4
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I'm going to start by criticizing CNN and MSNBC, the 'left leaning' (or at least spoken of by some as being this) news channels. This in no way equates their faults as equal to the 'right leaning' or other news media's faults.
Okay, so CNN and MSNBC criticized Fox News channel for replaying for well over a week a few incidents of looting and vandalism that happened around the time others were in the streets protesting police violence and for 'black lives matter'. They said that could give a false impression of ongoing violence, to manufacture outrage. Totally fair and very valid point. Fox News showed bias in their focus and repetition of those clips, inflating them out of proportion. I've followed news on the Seattle Fox affiliate and haven't see that sort of thing from it, nor on the Portland, Oregon station when I've watched it. I think there is a bit of hypocrisy however from CNN and MSNBC when they would repeat footage themselves of things long after they originally occurred. In order to 'talk' about something, which is part of the problem with most of the news channels today: they all have less news being reported versus various invited figures 'talking' about a few selected stories. The choice of what to focus the most time on is the bias. I would generally rate CNN as an okay, only mildly left-leaning source most of the time. There are no hosts there I won't watch for reasons of bias, there are some I can't even discern a bias usually. MSNBC has more biased hosts but they also, perhaps in that bias, can uncover or focus on some important things not being as noticed by others so I value it. I have full access to both U.S. channels which I don't have Fox News channel.
Okay, onto that Fox New channel... from tuning in while traveling or living in the U.S. I have seen it seem very normal and balanced. I saw Chris Wallace try to moderate one of the recent presidential 'debates', and on the January day of the pro-Trump 'event' at the Capitol building the Seattle affiliate switched to straight re-broadcasting of Fox New channel's coverage... so I saw the News channel then. They called it a riot right off the bat, they connected it to Trump, showed clips of the speakers/inciters earlier in the day... they even broke in to announce their calling one of the Senate seats in Georgia for the Democrat Ossoff! Then, back to the ongoing riot, Laura Ingram, I guess one of their later in the day hosts, was heard from, and I would say at least trying to put some kind of a less condemnatory spin on it. CNN and MSNBC had their hosts from later in the day time slots doing the same as far as I know, I would flip to them a little. Fox showed how there were threats toward their reporters on the scene, and they also included Biden uninterrupted when he spoke and called on Trump to do something responsible. As things went on over the hours however, and other Fox hosts started to 'comment' or 'talk' there got to be more spin, hedging toward not rushing to blame or judge. Fewer of the 'opposing' commentators or political figures on the left were heard from. I'm sure that 'positioning' was unique to it, but not 'positioning' itself as the other U.S. news channels will also form majority positions. Terms like riot and incitement were still used on the Fox coverage, but sometimes with more of a question mark aspect to them. Then the Seattle (KCPQ) station switched off and to it's own transmission and local news department.
I think too often the term News channel is a misnomer in the U.S., it is much more a 'talk' channel, 'discussing', reviewing, opinions. This is pretty easily, even innocently, sometimes not, prone to leading, provoking, and downplaying or not including some information. I remember the early days of CNN, the regular up to the moment top news stories with news readers, the talk or interview programs being entirely separate (Larry King). Then the two began blurring together with some 'special' reports on one subject for an entire time slot, but for the most part morphing into an opinions clashing drama display sometimes termed infotainment. You don't get just 'the news' you get the news with... Wolf Blitzer or some other named 'host'. Another channel was created named CNN Headline News which was more like what the main channel had been; updates on the hour and half hour, an old style 'here's the info' type service. Today that channel seems to be the endless details about murder cases channel. NBC also runs a separate news channel, it's focus is financial news with market updates and company performance reports, and MSNBC will draw upon it for stories involving the economy sometimes.
For awhile I got to see one other based in the U.S. all news channel, named RT News. R standing for Russia. It certainly some unique slants on some stories. It also had news readers or hosts quitting on air in objection to what they were expected to read. Let's just say it's special slant was anti-capitalist in my opinion. We had it way out there in the 500 channel line-up and then it was dropped unless you requested or paid I guess.
The FCC broadcasting communications standards rules used to have a lot more teeth in the U.S. This regulatory body accountable to the public was weakened by both parties for whatever reasons they had, along with many other regulatory and oversight functions of 'big government'. Some would say these were no longer necessarily, people were more discerning and had a right for choice. Having a slant, half-truth telling, outright manufacturing of outrage toward entire groups, these all became much more prevalent. You could now have a show with the point of view of only one 'side' promoted, an opposing viewpoint ridiculed and misrepresented grossly, name-calling even, and a wall of the propagandist's book for sale on a wall behind them the whole time. I watched one of the early Rush Limbaugh shows and one was enough: there was name-calling of the "feminosity" and "environazi" sort, there was the mocking, the wall of his book with a flag design behind, and the sub-heading of "America Held Hostage day No.___" throughout most of the show. Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton were the evil criminal 9and that term was used) conspirators holding the nation hostage. The bit on the environment, the warming temperatures 'debate', was delivered with mocking relish, it had an entertainment quality to it. There was a sort of sly joke delivered pompously and righteously with outrage that there were more trees in the U.S. today than when the country was founded, so conservation of forest land was simply ludicrous. Except I thought afterwards, what if a lot of the viewers can't figure out that there were fewer trees because there were only thirteen states, some quite small, when the country was founded? I decided this wasn't so entertaining. I also decided to not subject myself to deliberate distortion of information from this political commentator again. What person in their right mind would? Michael Moore had slanted, not always fully informing, shows of his own aired for a sort of rough balance it's true, and he was often very entertaining, but his shows always seemed to get cancelled.
I would really like to see many regulations that seemed to work in the past but which have been taken out, like the voter's rights act and the Brady bill in relation to firearms, be restored by 'we the people' of the U.S. Regulation is specifically mention in the U.S. Constitution and amendments after all. Okay, we threw this stuff that our fathers or grandfathers put in place to address something people back then had learned about the hard way, they thought it was needed, we wanted to 'stimulate' and thought throwing these things out would do that... but guess what, those rules and regulations sometimes are very good things. They are protection for large numbers of people, for the country in general, and from the exploitation of a few vested interests. If it wasn't broke and you fixed it so it broke... gee, maybe the engine really did need that particular bolt or fan! There's people that want to go back to a better time, here's pretty much what I'm advocating. Put those things back in place that some ideologue of some 'side' removed or allowed to be removed that have gotten you to such a divided, slanted and unbalanced place. Your mileage may differ though, you may want to re-argue all this old stuff about yelling 'fire' in a theater, or the cancelling of a valid viewpoint as hate speech... well then, enjoy?
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Brian Floyd
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 07 July 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 8341
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| Posted: 20 January 2021 at 8:52pm | IP Logged | 5
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Rebecca, the big difference is that FOX News Channel is NOT a legitimate news site. Their `fair and balanced' tagline (do they even use it anymore?) has always been a load of crap, because they're actually a Right-Wing Republican propoganda machine. They only tell the truth when its blindingly obvious and it suits them. Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson, two of their biggest `stars', are both human garbage. Hannity is already going after Biden on the Coronavirus, and I would not be surprised if Carlson turned out to be a KKK member. He's lost sponsors in the past for the hate speech he's spread, and is definitely a sexist AND a racist.
Being a FOX affliliate doesn't necessarily mean anything as far as reporting the news is concerned. Here in Knoxville, TN, the FOX affiliate doesn't have its own news team. The news team from the local NBC affiliate also does the news for the FOX affiliate. But the FNC is definitely full of die-hard Right-Wingers.
Rush Limbaugh has always been a hypocritic, smug talking head blowhard, and Trump giving him the Medal of Freedom most definitely cheapened the award. I wish it could be taken back.
Edited by Brian Floyd on 20 January 2021 at 8:53pm
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Jim Burdo
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 19 April 2020
Location: United States
Posts: 346
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| Posted: 21 January 2021 at 2:50am | IP Logged | 6
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QUOTE:
| If they implemented a Fairness Doctrine, FOX News, OANN and Newsmax would immediately close. And that insane piece of trash Tucker Carlson would never work again.
So.....I'm all for it! *thumbs up* |
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Those are cable stations. The FCC and the Fairness Doctrine don't apply.
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James Woodcock
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 21 September 2007
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 7602
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| Posted: 21 January 2021 at 7:18am | IP Logged | 7
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I watch three channels for my news (mostly three).
The BBC
CNN
and Fox news
BBC gives me a fairly balanced view (despite what some
people think, I still believe this)
CNN gives me an idea as to what is going on in America,
although they seem to get fixated on a small number of
stories that they do to death.
Fox News lets me see what the radical right think.
Watching that and CNN is like there are two parallel
dimensions operating in the USA.
I also read The Christian Times - again, to see what the
radical right Christian believes, which is mightily
disappointing time after time.
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 132227
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| Posted: 21 January 2021 at 7:26am | IP Logged | 8
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A friend once declared his disgust for Fox News, saying he listened only to NPR.I suggested he listen to BOTH, so he might land in the middle somewhere!
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Michael Casselman
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 14 January 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 1217
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| Posted: 21 January 2021 at 7:31am | IP Logged | 9
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The most aggrevating part of watching the news (and the only part where I think it falls into the 'fake news' category) is when information is given without proper context. I work in the government, and when I see reports about things that are 'near my wheelhouse', I cringe at the one-dimensional coverage because the information in the piece is either derived from raw, limited data or it's obvious fluffery provided by an agency media/communications representative. The information coming from the 'top' of an agency usually lacks the on-the-ground perspective, and unless a reporter actually talked to and understood what's going on in the field of that agency, a lot is lost in translation between what is told to the reporter and what actually makes it on-air or in print..
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Brian Hughes
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 15 June 2015
Location: United States
Posts: 292
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| Posted: 21 January 2021 at 7:56am | IP Logged | 10
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What we should be talking about is a free press, which we do not have anymore. We have corporate press, where the corporations in charge decide what is and is not news. If it hurts the corporation or it's friends, it will not get proper coverage. And if the corporation has particular leanings, the news will have that too, which is the case with every network.
To get ratings and advertising money, the leaning is not enough. The news has to be incendiary. Every person making talking points and giving opinion has to be giving an extreme opinion. Yelling matches are encouraged.
We need an objective news agency that provides the facts without opining in the story. We really don't get that now.
Even NPR and BBC do not provide total objectivity.
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James Johnson
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 March 2009
Location: United States
Posts: 2057
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| Posted: 21 January 2021 at 9:47am | IP Logged | 11
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Now that we have a new administration, can we toss the term, "Fake News" in the trash, please?
I have had enough of it.
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Trevor Smith
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 21 September 2006
Location: Canada
Posts: 3519
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| Posted: 21 January 2021 at 9:51am | IP Logged | 12
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"I suggested he listen to BOTH, so he might land in the
middle somewhere!"
**
Sowing the seeds of Canadianism wherever you go....
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