hi i need to make an argumentative essay about the news not being reliable... what do you think of this?

Question

Everyday we get servings of the events that unfold in the world. We are served through television, the internet, print publications and the radio.
Alexis Debat, A consultant on terrorism for ABC News was caught fabricating news about having fake interviews with Hillary Clinton, Bill Gates and Michael Bloomberg. As shock absorbers of the news is it safe for us to rely on them? Should we believe everything the newscasters say on television? The News media is therefore not trustworthy.

Answer 1

That's a very valid argument. I think a major explanation for that, that with 24/7 news coverage, journalists are getting very lax in checking their sources and stories before going on the air with them. The rush to beat the other channels pushes them to get the story on the air first, then worry about the truth of it later. Also because it is a visual media, they doctor photos and create scenes to accentuate their stories, which are if not totally bogus, are extremely misleading.

Answer 2

the first answer hit the nail.

as a former journalism student i learned a lot about media reliability, and often times the big headlines or even what gets covered is not only biased, but often times situational news coverage that is based on what is considered relevant.

Try this one out and go with it for your base argument:

Watch any major news station (Fox news, CNN, MSNBC, etc) for 1 1/2 hours and see how much time they spend (in November of 2007) covering the upcoming presidential election in 2008. One year away. If it's less than half the time I will join any campaign you want me to.

Point is, there are major issues, mostly international issues, which have needed addressing for years. Yet they get no airtime. Talk about genocide or hunger in Africa, wars in Asia, poverty in India???? The media will not do it for many reasons, but namely - as the first poster pointed out - it's not worthy of their perrogative. On top of that, it doesn't work for ratings and upsets viewers to the point where they will stop watching.

These are only a few of the problems. Good luck with your paper!

Answer 3

The catch is not what is said but what isn't said.

First, news media depend on advertising to bring in big bucks. But "advertising" has baggage - in the form of the need for ratings. So news media do their best to pick out only the most sensationalist news. Leaving you to look for the more ordinary nws.

Second, news media are owned by people who often have political agendas. This agenda might not color the straight reporting but certainly would control editorial comments.

Third, news shows have time limits and entirely too much to fit into a finite amount of time. They must discard lots of material to fit in their time slots.

All of these things combine to make news reports unreliable in various occasions. Because, if you are going to have to cater to sponsors, managing editors, and time limits, you will have lots of cutting to do. And the choice of what to cut is where your biases roll in.