Between opinions disguised as news and stories of people being stupid the television news is just full of crap anymore. With the consolidation of the news stations, we’re hard pressed to find quality, unbiased information.
I caught this interview with Dan Rather on the Bill Maher show this weekend. Yes, Bill Maher is a liberal, over-the-top comedian (and some say Rather is a staunch liberal as well), but as we are bombarded with glossy media storms almost daily while the important (but maybe dull) news passes right by, the issue should be a concern no matter the party. The whole interview is interesting, but from 3:30 to 7:00 is the most poignant.
Where do you get your news these days – besides opinion-based FOX News and MSNBC?
What those two have spoken about re the news I feel about the internet.
ReplyDeleteThis week we've seen a company that has yet to have an income stream being valued at $105 Billion. Well you can say goodbye to your privacy. It's the same with google. Worse if anything. At least FB and the Harvard people haven't come out with a heap of moralizing shite. Does anyone really think for one moment that google gives a hoot about anything beyond the bottom line.
Apple is a different kettle of fish, they are simply a cult. So not really in that family. But the others have inveigled themselves into lives so much that you'd wonder. Especially since the propaganda swings on the hinge of public service that happens to make a bit of money on the side and not the reality where the money IS the reason.
I thought that one couldn't use grey language on Yankee TV. That was a bit of a revelation quite frankly.
I stay in my bubble. Ben gets his from Drudge Report.
ReplyDeleteknock-out at the eurovision is on tv from Baku Azerbaijan. Europe closed for business. Denmark entry has a teeny-weeny xylophone. What more could you want in a tv show.
ReplyDeleteArgh, I can barely stand to watch the news. I try to listen to the radio at times.
ReplyDeleteAl-Jazeera
ReplyDeleteRadio...mostly before I get up or when I go to bed...I try not to watch TV propaganda!
ReplyDelete@Vince - That FB is something isn't it? I have an account, but go back and forth on if I want to keep it up or not. It's good for the nosey side of me who wants to know "what's going on" but the private side of me worries a little bit about it all. The amount of money there is in it is mind blowing.
ReplyDeleteAs for the colorful language... Real Time is on HBO which is a premium cable channel. I pay extra for the profanity, sex and violence. ;) Actually, I think even our regular cable shows after a certain time (9 or 10 PM) are allowed a bit more freedom with what they show.
@Vince - Oh, and I always forget what eurovision is...is it a talent contest show?
ReplyDelete@BD - Sometimes I think I should just stay in my own bubble too. But again, my need to know what's going on always gets in the way. I've not heard of the Drudge report. I'll have to check it out.
ReplyDelete@Mami - I feel the same. I know a lot of people who listen to public radio - but I've a hard time listening to talk radio. I'm too visual - need to see it whether is be the newscaster saying it or reading it in the paper/online.
ReplyDelete@Jane - I have heard that Al Jazeera is quite good at reporting unbiased news. I've not ever checked it out before.
ReplyDelete@M - Jason has gotten me a subscription to "The Week" magazine for the last few years that has been pretty cool. It comes every Friday and is about a 30 page look at important things that have gone on in the world - summarized into a quick read. They devote one page to the stupid stuff, but the rest is very informative and most of it was never even shown on the evening news. They also just state the facts in the summary and then include the opinions on both side of the argument. I think the opinions are fine as long as they are labeled as opinions and not the actual news.
ReplyDeleteAHHHHH, now I see where you are going with this. Oh kay-zzies then a-la Jim Carrey, here goes.
ReplyDeleteIf there is a commercial aspect however small then you'll get dumbing down.
If you can get France24. BBCNEWS. Al Jazeera. The latter is good mostly due to the need to be utterly unbiased in an area that's a petrol station with a dumb ass walking about with a oxyacetylene torch. This is a good site http://www.foreignaffairs.com/. And anything out of even the right wing think tanks will be researched up the Wazoo. And frankly the better the writing the easier to flick out the opinion. Of course, there is always the 'fact' that opinion is what the fellow whom you disagree holds.
Oh, they mentioned 50 nationwide broadcasters down to 5. There is a connection between lack of variety and quality
@Vince - Exactly! The largest news outlet is NewsCorp - looking at the number of outlets under their umbrella is astonishing. When one knows that they heavily donate to one political party, it makes you wonder how objective they really are. I will disagree, in part, to the research behind it too - they may research it, but a lot of the time on certain stations (whether right or left) what is actually reported are exaggerations or half truths in order to make the "other side" look wrong. That's not news.
ReplyDeleteWe do have an hour or two of BBCNews on BBC America that I keep threatening to check out.
I will have a look at the website. I find that what our coverage lacks most is the international news - if it's not happening here then it doesn't seem to matter, unless of course it's bombing and death tolls in the the Middle East - then there is all sorts of coverage.
And what it probably boils down to is that it's important to rely on multiple news outlets in order to see all sides of an issue or story.
ReplyDelete