Does the media report fact or opinion?

Answer 1

Opinion with the veneer of fact.

See how Fox, CNN, NPR, NBC and Al-Jazeera all report the same event. If they reported only fact, all of their reports would be the same.

Answer 2

All media has a bias. Reporting facts with some 'spin'. To the extent that the editors and the advertisers don't like what is reported, that is opinion. Some are more opinionated than others.

What I would give for 'just news'... Or better yet, news from 2 or 3 different sides... so I can make up my own opinion, instead of being given my 'talking points'

Answer 3

I think you need to take this question a step further and ask "what is fact?" "what is opinion"? , and how do we KNOW the difference. Even farther than that is "what is it to KNOW something"? This is where it gets into Socratic thinking, meaning to KNOW something is to be able to DEFINE it, and certain ideas, theories and concepts cannot be defined into a single "thing", like for example, beauty, righteousness, happiness, and fact and opinion. What may be "fact" to one person, may be "opinion" to another. I'm sure people even argued when they wrote the dictionary the "proper" way to spell things. So who's right? and how do we KNOW for sure? Simply..I don't think we do, and I think it takes far more wisdom to say "I don't know" than to say "I have all the answers".
So, the media may be reporting 'fact' if that's what they are conditioned to believe as fact, and have been trained to report, but they may not KNOW what is the true definition of 'fact' and therefore, unconsciously reporting 'opinion'.
In MY "opinion", everything is opinion anyway, because we can't have full knowledge of anything as "fact". Ok, even laws of science and physics are only based on proven THEORIES, that have been repeated over a test of time. However, who's to say that one day those "theories" can't be disproved? I mean for a LOOONG time people used to believe the Earth was flat too, and took THAT as fact, until someone else's OPINION changed that, and it just so happened that OPINION could be proved as FACT.

Answer 4

Are you kidding....they report nothing but pure opinion. Have you ever noticed the different attitudes between CNN and CNBC? You can bet your bottom dollar it is the same with newspapers, too! Pick up the Times, Herald, and USA Today and you will find out what political party they hold true. Somewhere along the line,
unbiased facts that used to part of real journalism have been lost. More and more journalism has become like an afternoon talk show......by the end everyone is either crying, appalled and/or traumatized with nothing being solved.

Answer 5

Good journalism, irrespective of the media, tries to be impartial. However, everything must be seen from a point of view and therein lies the inescapable bias. What a reporter or editor puts into the report is highly subjective as he balances time/space in media requirements with value, importance and immediacy. All of which leads to further bias. No form of communication is free of bias.

Answer 6

Eyewitness accounts vary from one person to the next, so even though a person believes they are accurately describing what happened, the person next to them, who also believes he is accurately describing what happened, may give a completely different account.
The media is much the same. Each reporter reports what he or she believes to be the case. It isn't always deliberate fiction (although that does happen at times) but rather different perceptions based on the reporter's own life perceptions.
At least, that's my opinion.....

Answer 7

Newspapers are supposed to report only the facts. But the news can be slanted to the paper's owners or editor's bent. Hopefully, the editorial pages can still be the site where personal opinions can stay.

Answer 8

Both, with much bias. Example: President Bush's 9/11 speech. Every news report I saw showed Pres. Bush and one line of his speech, followed by numerous Democrats with one to two minute long speeches. Many of the comments made by opponents that were aired had nothing to do with 9/11, only criticism of how bad the administration is. Oh. well, you can't do any better with Liberals.

Answer 9

They do both but I think they all put a slant on the news, some more than others. CNN and CBS is all opinion, Fox is better. but I like ABC News for local and world.

They all love a disaster though don't they??!!!

Oh, and while we are on the subject would someone tell Katie to stop sitting on top of her desk and get under it.

Answer 10

to me the media seems to report more opion then fact when it suppose at least half and half the media seems to sensationalize on the bad things more then the good and let their political views count more then others to persuade to their side of the story.