What percentage of the news from the main stream media do you think is true or accurate?

Question

Now that we have the internet and can verify the news from many different sources, What percentage of the news from the main stream media do you think is true or accurate?

Answer 1

I think a lot of it is partialy true. They twist and use words in a way to change the reality of it. They also like to create histaria which has been the reason we have lost so much freedom. They are owned by the same people who control both of our parties. More info below.

Answer 2

I usually only watch Sky or BBC. I feel that in one sense it is 100% true ie no one is knowingly lying. That doesn't mean it is unbiased or that there are no other forces distorting it.

Stories get blown up, TV demands something dramatic and instantaneous. I've heard things reported which I knew about. The reporting was in one sense quite right, but at the time it didn't feel like that.

For example take terrorism. It's scary. But my chance of being caught up in a terrorist incident are probably far less than my chance of being involved in a road accident. Yet the fact remains that a few years ago I got on a plane with a guy who looked like a young version of Mr bin Laden. The faces were very similar! Well nothing happened and the guy was very nice. Oh . . .and I am still here!

Yes it's a funny story but in one sense it isn't. News looks at things through a microscope and that means without perspective. In the end it means we worry about the wrong things. In my case airline passengers when really I should be remembering to drive more carefully.

Answer 3

I think maybe 75% of what is reported in the mainstream media is true, and some of it is deliberate misinformation... but the mainstream media is reporting only 5% of the news in the first place.

For that matter, the various sources of news and opinion found on the internet aren't any more than 75% accurate either (maybe less), but they are "wider and deeper" than the mainstream media. It's been said that the average 30-minute network news program contains fewer words than the front page of any daily newspaper.

Answer 4

On Saturday night I heard a caller to a radio station say that the President of Iran was misquoted on a news bulletin here. We, the people are told what has been said by various sources, and it could be in their interests to re-jig what has been said. Percentage off news that is accurate I would put a very low figure say ten per cent.

Answer 5

The media are given information by the people that control the country. The people that control the country and the world are the 10% of the people that make their fortune through employing the rest of the population as slave labour. This means that even the media do not know if the information they have been given is true.

Answer 6

I think, in this modern civilized society, it is not possible to cook up totally distorted groundless news, as people in general are well equipped with their own eyes to distinguish between "total false" and "truth". In this sense, the news from the main stream media is "true".

However, It is important that we should be aware of media bias. Information is sometimes biased by its senders and what is presented by them is not always true. So, I think it is necessary for us to have ‘media literacy’. That is to know how information is produced, and how it should be understood. When you see only a part of an event, you might miss other important information.

The point is whether we can verify as "true" with our own value
or not because the term "truth" is unfortunately relative notion when it comes to the truth in social science field including what is going on in the world. For example, Bush believes what he is doing is absolutely right and many Americans also regard what he says as "truth". On the other hand, the executed former
president of Iraq, Saddam Hussein might have believed he was saying "truth" and many people in Iraq believe it as "truth".

The definition of "truth" in social matters is not like 1+1=2.

So, whether the news from the main media is true or not can only be decided by your own value.

In order to know what is real, or what is true, I think, we should collect as much information as we can, and compare it for ourselves. We should also take it into consideration that in the age of ‘information technology’ it is vitally important for us to have ‘media literacy’.

Answer 7

It's worth bearing in mind that news reporters are only "repeating" what someone else has said to them about a given situation.

"truth" is relative to the person telling the story. Is he/she telling THE truth or merely repeating someone else's "truth".

I like to watch the news with an extrmeley skeptical mind and if anything takes my interest or sounds suspect I'll check the 'net for other versions of the same story . . . Sometimes the difference in reporting is massive!

Answer 8

NONE OF IT! Understand that with news agencies it's all about ratings and selling as many newspapers as possible. Simple as that. Journalism is no longer a respected profession, but it's a BUSINESS. MSNBC, Fox, CNN, CBS, ABC, and NBC are in the business of trying to get you the customer to buy into their product. Since when did the truth ever matter when trying to sell a product?

Answer 9

oh its about 90% true ... the problem is the amount of information provided doesnt allow the majority of people to put it into the proper context ... thats my opinion .. then they "help" u to draw conclusions by offering a limited number of choices ...generally two with the answer that they want you to choose being obvious ... plane blows up ... nice muslims ... evil muslims ... no mention of any alternatives ... its truth .. but propaganda all the same ...

Answer 10

15% If that.