Do you think Documentaries ALWAYS come with an agenda?

Question

Why does it seem , especially off of the history channel, that you cannot find a truley objective documentary? I hate propaganda and having someone try and guide my perception of history. It seems that I have to spend more time trying to filter out the brainwashing when I watch a documentary than is really worth for the time spent. I like facts. That is why encyclopedias come most in hand to me.

Answer 1

Yes, even if unintentionally, there is always narrator's bias. This is why it's so important to get your information from more than one source. This goes equally for news, books, Yahoo! Answers...

Answer 2

I think that most people try to give an unbiased point of view as they know it, but the trouble is everyone is influenced by their environment. I remember having gone to the Gettysburg Museum and realizing for the first time that people have differing view of history. Having been born a Southerner I felt horrified how the War Between the States was portrayed at Gettysburg. Their history was so slanted and prejudiced. I felt they were giving history a completely different slant than I had learned. I felt disgusted and saddened at their version. The South was not represented properly at all in their musuem. For the South slavery was only secondary; states rights were the main issue for fighting the war. I had never known that right here in the United States someone could have such a differing viewpoint of the same war. History often depends on where you live.
It doesn mater i fit is a book or a film. The author is influenced by their education or the personal experiences they have had, you see.

Answer 3

The key is that you as the viewer must be engaged in trying to discern where their bias lies and try to get past it to the facts they are communicating. The fact is that no matter how unbiased a journalist tries to be, every document or film or whatever is biased in some way; YOU must discern what the bias is.
Rules to evaluate ...
1. Be critical and thorough, sceptical; ask lots of questions about the author or documentarian
2. No piece of evidence should be taken at face value - must consider creator's point of view
3. Cross-check and compare with related sources

If you follow these rules you may get a little bit closer to the true story! Good luck... I know this is a frustration when viewing any documentary.

Answer 4

I don't think you will ever see an unbiased TV documentary. Every producer, director and editor have their own views and these must influence thier decisions, even if they say they are impartial. I think you should also be very careful with encyclopedias as well. Mine says that Columbus discovered the Americas. Seems impossible to accept now, but that was the belief at the time it was written.

Answer 5

Maybe it's your own bias backing up on you? Or maybe you're more susceptible to written brainwashing because you've been educated to believe what you see in print?

Encyclopedias are just as biased. (Encyclopedia Britannica favors one religion over another, Microsoft Encarta is more politically correct.)

I know people who call Calvin and Hobbes biased, or call Star Wars "the American propaganda machine".

Get a grip. If you have half a brain, they won't succeed in "brainwashing" you.

edit: History channel makes co-productions with BBC. The BBC is heavily biased, I admit.

Answer 6

You can never achieve true objectivity. Whoever writes the documentary is going to influence what's said in it - however much he or she tries to be objective.

The skill of the historian is to analyse what's said and to see through the bias - but as soon as a human is involved, there's bias.

Answer 7

Of course they do, there is bias in everything broadcast on TV, Radio and published in papers....

Answer 8

BBC TV Docs are the best and the most impartial.

Answer 9

yes it was every so,look what Shakspear did to King Richard111

Answer 10

everything comes that way. Some are just very subtle.