I was talking to a conservative... and he has some interesting opinions on "news"?

Question

He was saying that "conservative opinion shows" were a counterbalance to the "liberal media"...

but one is almost pure opinion, while the other is actual news?

is this where conservatives are now? they believe one man's opinion over he facts of pictures, quotes and studies?

now granted... all conservatives are not like this... but I found it to be an odd statement... if you're taking someone's opinion over facts... then you could be convinced of anything...

and "facts and studies" can of course be skewed, but if you're looking at several different sources on different studies... shouldn't you believe that over opinion?

It seems like some conservatives take "opinion shows" as indisputable fact... even if the opinion show doesn't support it's own arguements... and then they call everyone else that doesn't agree with them "naive" even though they have no facts to back up their opinion...

granted this happens to some degree on both sides, but 9-11 conspiracy theorist seem to have more facts and studies that support their opinion (which I don't believe by the way) than many conservatives do now days... and if you show them a fact, they dismiss it as "liberal media" if it disagrees with their own opinion...

what do you guys think? Is this a dangerous way of thinking?

regerugged: then how come whenever I talk to someone that watches the shows that you defend... 90 percent of the time, they don't cite anything, know where to cite it or where the information came from?
I wouldn't call that informed...

you talk a good talk, yet I've not seen current numbers that support you... in fact, from the numbers I've heard, Fox is dropping after peaking last year? This is a look at last month... CNN is making up ground... just saying... and Fox only garners about 30 percent of the total market...which is, imagine that, close to the same percent that approves of Bush... hahaha

http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/original/july06vs05.pdf

Answer 1

Conservatives are brainwashed by their "sources"; most of them can think no farther than parrotting what they have heard. They can never give facts to back up what they "know", they just believe it, and there is no room for creative thought.

It's kind of like their belief in god. No reason for it except something to believe in that everyone else believes in, but bereft of actual proof or logic.

Answer 2

I would not say yours is a dangerous way of thinking. Your basic premise is wrong. Conservative talk shows are contemporary. The hosts, guests, and callers talk about things in the news. The most useful function is to counter balance the so-called news as reported by the liberal mainstream media. It is possible to examine the facts, photos, studies and come up with an opinion different from the one being promoted by the mainstream media.
You are making the assumption that the opinions of conservatives have no merit because they are not based on fact. On the contrary, the facts get analyzed to death on the talk shows.
Virtually all of your generalizations are incorrect. Conservative talks shows are popular and are gaining listeners, because most people are basically conservative (most don't like the "c" word however) and they can relate to the hosts and callers.
Whereas readership of daily newspapers is taking a nose dive. The known, liberal New York Times is losing money, advertising and is cutting back on employees. One reason is that talk shows expose the fiction in the Times. The most liberal TV news, CNN and CBS, are losing viewers. Fox News is gaining viewers because there is some balance in the news reporting.
We all draw our own opinions after reviewing the facts, but we must be able to separate fact from bias.
From President Harry Truman, I learned the expression: "There are lies, damned lies, and statistics."
Studies, and in particular polls, are biased by there very nature. More often than not, the persons doing the study are looking to find what the payers are looking for. The bias is in favor of the person paying the bills.
In regards to the likes of the New York Times, my only regret is that I do not have a subscription. So I cannot call to cancel it.

Answer 3

Yes it is a dangerous way of thinking. The 911 conspiracy is a crock. Each question they have can be answered very simply and scientifically. They don't want to hear it.
I listen to the news. I also watch news shows. Big difference. I find I get the most balance news from fox. That is my opinion and that is my right. I am an intelligent adult who has lived, seen, been enough places that I can make an excellent judgment call that I am comfortable with.
Liberals have the same thing. They have the news and they have their liberal broadcaster too.
I just don't agree with their opinions.

Answer 4

There are opinion shows on ALL news networks.. examples are all the ABC, CBS, NBC Sunday morning news shows. Opinion shows are where news analysis is done. Shows like Hannity and Colmes or CNN Crossfire show conservatives and liberals debating current events and their causes/results. It is perfectly fine to give one's opinions on those kinds of shows. It is not okay to editorialize during the regular news broadcast.

Every network slants the news - most of them slant it to the left. One of them slants a little to the right. Most people who watch a lot of news television - whether it be CNN, FNN, MSNBC or whatever - tend to trend conservative. People who watch reality television tend to trend liberal.