It seems to me that we are fed a lot of very biased information in everyday life. Facts are blown out of all proportion and people gain a lot of miss conceptions about the world. To understand something surely you have to walk in the other persons shoes. So why do we believe all that we hear on TV?
2006-09-20 17:20:59 · 29 answers · asked by SR13 6 in Politics & Government ➔ Other - Politics & Government
I don't know why you say that. I think many people distrust the media. They are, as you say, biased and BTW not too intelligent. No, we don't have to walk in anybody's shoes to understand things (thank God we can learn through observation, not just experience--whoa), but we have to be able to do research with integrity, discover facts, use common sense and be intellectually honest (i.e., tell the truth one finds, no matter what one's political views). The media has long since forgotten that this is their job. Alternative media is on the rise and the networks deserve to sink lower in the ratings to show how bloated, biased, and slobbish theses behemoth-liars really are.
2006-09-20 17:28:43 · answer #1 · answered by writer's block 4 · 4⤊ 0⤋
It is near impossible for a human being with an opinion to describe an event in an unbiased way. The only way to do this would be to only allow people to report on subjects that they were completely indifferent to.
Not all news is lies, most of the time it is just the truth but from somones perspective. If you ask 10 people to describe some thing they have all wittnessed you will get 10 slightly different accounts. This is pretty much what happens to most of the news. However there are occasions when a particular news channel or paper will twist a story to suit it's own political motivation. This I'm afraid is just life and happens because people who work in the media are human beings and as such subject to the same failties as the rest of us.
The best way I have found to deal with this is, generally to avoid news papers. Some are better than others, the best is IMO the times. The worst are all the tabloids and the Daily Mail. The Mail has no news in it at all from what I can see. It is simply made of of baised opinions with a right wing slant. I get most of my news from the TV where I watch two stations, the BBC and sky news. The BBC is traditionally left wing where as Sky is right wing. By doing this I can get a more balaced view than by just watching one.
What people beleive tends to come down to their own beliefs. people are more likely to belive something which backs up their currently held views. For example if a racist reads that illegal imigrants are responsible for the spread of disease he will believe it. The same person could read that imigration adds to our cutural diversity and makes us a better nation on the whole but he would not believe that.
So people trust a media source that has a similar political or cutural bais to themselves.
And conversley if the bias if from a different perspective you are likely not to trust them.
Finally all you people tapping away on your keyboards slagging off the media should remember one thing. The internet is part of the media aswell and as anyone can put pretty much what they want online, it contains far more rubbish and baised crap than any news paper or news program.
Films, music, books etc all come under the catagory of media as well.
2006-09-21 00:10:36 · answer #2 · answered by PETER F 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Trust in the media has been declining since at least the Clinton administration. There are many alternative forms of information now, i.e. the internet. The problem is that it is the media's Duty to report the truth without any spin to the people. that is a huge responsibilty. Perhaps many people still do trust the media because traditionally the media was trustworthy, and some people have not yet seen that the media for the most part is corrupt. I like keith olbermann, and lou dobbs for example, although olbermann gets into bush bashing. everyone blaming everyone else is not going to help us. the bush admin pays and owns the media by the way.
2006-09-20 17:55:32 · answer #3 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you realize, almost every response so far has said that they either do not trust the media, or multiple sources of information are required to make an informed decision.
How many people do you think have the ability to compare different sources of information, and then make a conclusion?
"Think about the average person... and then understand that half the people are stupider than that" - George Carlin.
People trust the media because they are not smart to avoid the propaganda being stuffed down their throats.
Propaganda is the tool of the elites to control the masses of un-intellectuals.
2006-09-20 17:54:24 · answer #4 · answered by da_d0dgers 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't trust the media. At all. Especially the old typical network media. The ABC, CBS, NBC, and now CNN's of the world. They are so politically driven with overbearing editorial staffs that simply put a pretty face in front of the camera to spew thier mini infomercials.
It used to be they reported news. Any more they don't even try to hide their biases. Same goes for the major newspapers.
The people in charge of most of these organizations are the anti-war protestors of the 60's with a definite anti-American bent to them.
2006-09-20 17:44:55 · answer #5 · answered by scubadiver50704 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I think people believe what they see --- and if you're shown clips and given biased comments ---you believe what they told you.
Plus, several of the early morning news shows etc work at cultivating a friendly atmosphere -- want to seem like a good friend to you. People tend to believe friends....
It doesn't matter which country you're in .... all media slants their coverage one way or the other. I'll watch or listen to the BBC news and hear different takes on what we hear here and vice versa. I lived in the UK for 4 years and it was truly amazing the differences in the way things were reported.
While neither side was totally incorrect, it all depended on the politics of the region.
2006-09-20 17:35:14 · answer #6 · answered by helpme 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Most intelligent people do not, they gleen information from many sources and make an informed opinion.
The best way to make an informed opinion of the world and world events is to travel. Not an option to many people but once you have left your own bubble / country for a while you will see things differently.
2006-09-20 17:40:02 · answer #7 · answered by Anchor Cranker 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
the media is controlled by the government (FCC) and large corporate organizations i don't trust the media, also you have white house press Secretary that tells the media what the president wants the media to know. i use to work for a news paper and i was told that anyone can pay the news paper off also if you have the money to do so, i think that is true with all the media.
2006-09-20 17:32:35 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Writers Block I totaly agree. The media as an institution is not unbiased in itself. Its owners, writers and producers all have a political and financial agenda to drive home. These are still just people telling you things atracting you to the flashiest story of the day with the flashiest spin they can create. CNN is not the "be all and end all" of facts.
2006-09-20 17:42:50 · answer #9 · answered by concerned citizen 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Writer's block said it well. We do need the media, along with proper research before believing anything, and even then, we need to question the research. The news should come with a warning such as "Warning: May be 100% fact free".
2006-09-20 18:00:58 · answer #10 · answered by Nikki Tesla 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋