does the press have a responsibility limited to reporting the facts or should it actively( rest in details)?

Question

does the press have a responsibility limited to reporting the facts or should it actively be engaged in the battle against terrorism, xenophobia and group hatred?

Answer 1

given that they always scream freedom of the press is the most important freedom, they should have some responsibility for reporting factually, checking those facts completely before reporting and when they are wrong, or just plain make up stuff, they should be held financially accountable for their mistakes.

I really wish they would, just report the facts, but they don't.

Answer 2

I would have thought that the press should report on events and print the truth........however this is not the case. They have a marvellous way of twisting details and have caused many problems because of this.

Depending on which newspaper you read, you get a different point of view depending on the reporter.
Rather than just telling us what is going on, they cleverly disguise their own opinions which we read and take as the truth.

I think it depends on the topic as to whether they should just print facts or get involved. Take the case of the child abusers who were given a pitiful sentence for a truly horrendous crime. I believe it was the Sun that issued a page which the public could sign ordering the judge to increase their punishment.
In this circumstance I believe the press did a good thing.
Newspapers have a lot of power when it comes to making a statement and can have a lot of backing from the general public.
In other cases however I think that leaking reports etc have caused a great deal of harm and may have put peoples lives at risk. I cetainly don't think this should be allowed.

At the end of the day, people still buy newspapers and take in what has been written. It is the choice of the reader to decide whether they believe, support or disagree with what is actually in front of them in black and white.

Like most things there are fors and against for the press and everything they stand for!!

Answer 3

Until you used the word xenophobia I believed you were sincerely soliciting unbiased responses.

Yes, I believe that the press has a responsibility "limited" to reporting the facts.

I could go further with that sentence but I am not going to.

The press and the news media in general have done more harm than good over the past several years in my opinion.

I don't believe they go far enough to confirm what it is they report. The all appear to be so consumed with "breaking the story" that making sure the story they are (literally) breaking contains correct information is secondary. It's hard to know when you are getting the whole truth anywhere these days.

I don't want writers or news commentators attempting to tell me what they feel I should know or believe.... Just give me the facts, I'll decide.

Answer 4

News should be factual and not theoretical. Who, what, where, when,how, and why (when known by facts) The news item should be reported with no political spin and the reporter should have reliable proof of the story. Undisclosed news sources should be history. If the above conditions are not met, there should be no news story. Now, news commentators, such as Bill O'Reilly, Allen Colmes, and others have opinions that they can use to project on the results of current events and when they have proof, can point out the dishonesty in news reports.

Answer 5

The press quit reporting ages ago, what we get now is opinions by people not qualified in most cases to give an opinion. Also we're seeing more and more earthshaking events go unreported because the heads of the stations decide whats "newsworthy"

Answer 6

I would say it has a responsibility to manipulate the facts and turn it into sensationalism for a good story.

Answer 7

Freedom of the press. I believe in it. It works. :)

Answer 8

IN MOST COUNTRIES IT IS CONTROLED