Media Bias and censorship!

[RabbitWho]

Where do you get your news and why do you choose those news sources?
Do you feel your chosen news sources have any bias?
Which news sources do you feel are biased / the most biased?

Are there any topics you think the news should not report on?
Do you know any examples of a time in recent history (say the last 10 years) in your country when the media deliberately withheld the truth or were forced to do so by the government?

[Breepop]

Where do you get your news and why do you choose those news sources? YouTube, Twitter, cnn.com, BuzzFeed.com, Good Morning America ; I choose them because they're easy to use. I visit most of those sites anyway. It's entertainment + news rolled into one. [During times when I feel it's necessary (i.e. an election year), I actually make an effort to seek out news, because the things I want to know aren't always handed to me. This answer will likely be radically different in 2012]

Do you feel your chosen news sources have any bias? Yes. YouTube, Twitter, BuzzFeed are all extremely biased. The content presented on those sites isn't presented in a professional manner, and is almost always coupled with the presenter's opinion. They're all pretty liberal.

Which news sources do you feel are biased / the most biased? I assume this means in general? FOX News, which is self-evident. Meh, pretty much any news is biased. Televised/professional news and Internet supplied news is biased in different ways, but they both are. Even when networks aren't blatantly biased towards one side of the political spectrum, they still pick and choose stories that will get them ratings. And it's hard to find an Internet news source that even attempts to be unbiased.

Are there any topics you think the news should not report on? You know how some people yell at the TV during sports games? WELL I YELL AT THE TV WHILE WATCHING THE NEWS. XD The story is either retarded (LOL PARIS HILTON GOT ANOTHER DOG), poorly researched (I've noticed this mostly when the story relates to the Internet, but I know it's other things. I just happen to easily recognize when a news network hasn't done their research about the Internet), negative, OLD (I heard about it via Internet like 12 hours before, and they call it BREAKING) or an attempt to scare the audience. It's disgusting. I'd really like news networks to report on something positive for once. Because, geez, I know there is something positive going on. I saw a piece on ABC World News (I believe) the other day about General Motors paying back the government, and the positivity of the report blew me away. Probably the only [completely] positive thing I've seen from a news network in years. MORE PLZ? : D

Do you know any examples of a time in recent history (say the last 10 years) in your country when the media deliberately withheld the truth or were forced to do so by the government? Not off the top of my head. I wouldn't be surprised if it has happened, but I don't know of any examples.

[RabbitWho]

Thanks Bree, awesome response!

I know what you mean about wishing there was more good news.. that's one of the things I like about Euronews, there's always a few good things thrown in.. even if they have to go outside of Europe to find them! Also I find them to be the calmest news source.

There's a website that only deals in good news, but you have to pay for a subscription. And I find on Irish news whenever it's good it's either something ridiculously silly with too many fat children or just political propaganda about what a great job Fianna Fáil are doing (*cough because they raised the TV license fee again cough* ) That's the first time I realised how much Fáil looks like Fail.. ha ha. I haven't seen Irish news in about 2 years though so it could all be very different now.

I follow guardian Science on twitter and it's always good news almost because scientists are always making amazing breakthroughs or discovering something cool. They're getting so close to finding a cure for cancer and survival rates are going up and up.. twitter.com/guardianscience

[D.S. Tucker]

For most of my news I go to Fark.com or Google News, and for my T.V. I watch episodes of The Daily Show which, I know, is comedy... but it's nice to laugh in the face of stuff that frightens me.

I'm pretty sure all media is biased. When you look at the evolution of news, it went from a small amount of sources reporting on similar things, very fact-oriented, to the current vibe, which I've titled the "I want to sympathize/be buddy-buddy with the reporter". People let their own emotions and opinions out because it gets them more views, reviews and comments. Plus, if they make a mistake and say something nasty, well...

No publicity is bad publicity, right?

[stephen5000]

I'm thinking of tv news (specifically Canadian). New often takes a neutral stance, often to the extent of reporting in a neutral/bland voice. Howver, I wonder that simply not taking an opinion on a new story, is itself portraying an opinion (if not actually taking one). That is: just reporting the facts as is gives the feeling that the newspeople support how things have happened/are happening; effectively supporting the status quo in many cases, even to the extent that new and different things seem wrong. The law is always right; the government is doing the best job that it can, etc.

Also, the lack of detail in most news pieces seems ridiculous. There seems to be a tendency to have many short pieces that might attract peoples' attention, rather than a few well-researched pieces - and when they do have those it usually emphasizes people rather than news topics.

[D.S. Tucker]

May 7, 2010 17:08:39 GMT -5 stephen5000 said:

Howver, I wonder that simply not taking an opinion on a new story, is itself portraying an opinion (if not actually taking one). That is: just reporting the facts as is gives the feeling that the newspeople support how things have happened/are happening; effectively supporting the status quo in many cases, even to the extent that new and different things seem wrong. The law is always right; the government is doing the best job that it can, etc.

It does bring to mind lots of futuristic distopian sci-fi novels. 1984 and all that. "This is the word of the government... CONFORM"..... etc.

Good point. Even when trying to be the most unbiased, you still manage to sway people towards an opinion.

[EricLeb010]

Where do you get your news and why do you choose those news sources?

- CBC News here in Canada is extremely reliable and professional, yet cool and relaxed. Everything is always new.

Do you feel your chosen news sources have any bias?

- Absolutely not.

Which news sources do you feel are biased / the most biased?

- Fox News would be the most obvious answer to say, but CNN can sometimes be right behind them.

Are there any topics you think the news should not report on?

- Never. The news should never withhold news if they have it. It's one of humanity's main source for updates on the real world. Who gives a crap if it's offensive or controversial?

Do you know any examples of a time in recent history (say the last 10 years) in your country when the media deliberately withheld the truth or were forced to do so by the government?

- I remember this asteroid of a few kilometers in diameter which, at one point in 2007, was predicted by NASA to have a direct impact with Earth. Absolutely no news source that I know of covered this... as if it never was a threat. Only a week before its proposed impact date did NASA detect a slight configuration in its direction, which caused it to pass 1.4 lunar distances.

[RabbitWho]

Great replies guys! Really interesting seeing how everyone feels about this. Can I ask one more question, though it's a little vague. How much to you trust your news sources? - Anything you think this question might refer to - yes it refers to it.

Ericleb do you have any sources for that story at the end? When you say lunar distance I take it you mean the distance between the earth and the moon?

[cmc413 (aka Chrissy)]

Where do you get your news and why do you choose those news sources?
Yahoo home page, ABC, and the local news. Occasionally I watch stuff like the Daily Show, but I know that it's supposed to be entertainment before news. I don't really search out news that often, but if I hear something that's interesting/controversial, I will search for other news sources.

Do you feel your chosen news sources have any bias?
With the Internet, it depends on who's writing the article, but there's definitely some bias in there somewhere. ABC usually leans to the left, but the local news usually just tries to make the story as exciting as possible.

Which news sources do you feel are biased / the most biased?
I have yet to see a news source without any bias, but FOX news is the most biased by far.

Are there any topics you think the news should not report on?
Gossip "news" should stay inside magazines and gossip sites. Everything else is fair game.

Do you know any examples of a time in recent history (say the last 10 years) in your country when the media deliberately withheld the truth or were forced to do so by the government?
I haven't been paying attention to the news for that long (I really started paying attention around the time of the primaries in 2008) so I can't really answer this one.

[TheIslander]

Censorship : the topic which we might agree on rabbitwho I still remember your (first?) topic in the projects section about censorship.
Where do you get your news and why do you choose those news sources?
Popular news papers, CNN, BBC, Sky news, Euronews and al Jazeera. I follow these sources because they are well known, if you want to know what people are talking about - the above are probably a good guideline.
Do you feel your chosen news sources have any bias?
Any media will always suffer from some sort of bias, PR relations affect media organizations. It is in the medias responsibility on how much they should let these relations interfere with their purpose.
Which news sources do you feel are biased / the most biased?
All are, respectivley. The more you watch the same channels and compare them to others, the more you will learn about such bias.
Are there any topics you think the news should not report on?
No, everything should be reported, in my oppinon.
Do you know any examples of a time in recent history (say the last 10 years) in your country when the media deliberately withheld the truth or were forced to do so by the government?
Yes, the past few months and weeks there were pieces of (literature in particular) art which were censored which have caused a lot of controversy.

[kadie]

Where do you get your news and why do you choose those news sources?
for national or international news The BBC (television and the website), for local news i read the local paper (The JEP) or just word of mouth.

Do you feel your chosen news sources have any bias?
Yes, I think all news is somewhat biased even if it's not blatant, staring you in the face and it's more subtle it's still there.

Which news sources do you feel are biased / the most biased?
Like I said I think all news sources are biased. As for what I feel is the most biased, I think my local paper is incredibly biased (not that my local paper is gonna be of any interest to you ). I feel that ITV is always incredibly biased when they do the news, and I don't consider them a very reliable source.

Are there any topics you think the news should not report on?
This is tricky because on the one hand I think that the public shouldn't have anything hidden from it however on the other hand because of the fact that we see so much brutality, cruelty and horror on the news we, as a society, have become desensitized. We see or hear about a brutal murder on the news and then go straight back to eating out dinners and chatting about what we did that day. And that surely can't be healthy.

How much to you trust your news sources?
I trust my news sources to an extent however I do always try to keep in mind that they are trying to get the best story possible and so elements of the story are likely to be exaggerated.

[Camoon]

A few things to get straight. ALL news is entertainment. ALL news is biased. MOST news sources back a specific political party and have their own beliefs. Biased isn't easily detected most of the time.

If you don't believe me, the next time you watch the news, listen to what they're saying and consider what side they are on.



Where do you get your news and why do you choose those news sources?
Sky News, BBC News, Youtube (via news sources like BBC), web based news, etc.

Do you feel your chosen news sources have any bias?
Yep. (See above)

Which news sources do you feel are biased / the most biased?
They're all biased, and it's hard to tell what ones are biased and what ones aren't, but it's easier to tell which ones are more obviously biased than others.
When presenters interrupt interviewee's and agitate them, then cut them off short, that annoys me.

Are there any topics you think the news should not report on?
They're free to report whatever they please.

Do you know any examples of a time in recent history (say the last 10 years) in your country when the media deliberately withheld the truth or were forced to do so by the government?
Never (in England anyway). But then we can't know everything that happens behind the scenes.

[kadie]

May 10, 2010 17:34:08 GMT -5 Camoon said:

Which news sources do you feel are biased / the most biased?
They're all biased, and it's hard to tell what ones are biased and what ones aren't, but it's easier to tell which ones are more obviously biased than others.
When presenters interrupt interviewee's and agitate them, then cut them off short, that annoys me.

same, or when and interveiwer will try and put words into someones mouth or twist the things they say. Something I noticed happened a lot on election night on ITV's coverage.