The Media. What do you think about it?

[sargeant]

Mr P you asked what was the most blatant lie i have heard
simple Bill ORielly Fox news "if they dont find any WMDs i will be the first to call GWBush to account" so far silence and he sure wont be first if he ever does

But his piece de resistance was a few weeks ago some left wing rag (his description) had written "Bill ORielly gets his talking points memos daily direct from the white house"
Up comes a really indignant Bill and says "this is a disgraceful Lie i PERSONALLY never receive any talking points from the white house" clever use of the word personally but typical media double talk please note no threats of a law suit
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A Greatfull Guest of Thailand

[Wanderlust]

To take this discussion onto a slightly different level. while I now have a deep distrust of the media in general, there is a fundamental issue regarding what the truth actually is; facts should be indisputable (although where wars are ongoing and even finished the figures are invariably wrong) but the truth is a different animal: two or more people can 'see' the same thing happen and most likely all will have a different version of what actually did happen. There was a clever TV ad some years ago (possibly for a newspaper funnily enough) where the same incident was shown from three different angles; one angle made it look like a guy mugging someone, another made it look like the same guy being mugged, while another (the supposed truth) showed the guy helping the other person...or something like that. The point is kind of agreeing with those on here who say that if you read, see or hear enough information about something, you can normally get pretty close to the truth; however, there will always be exceptions to this, particularly when the information is only available from one source, such as a government - whatever the media presents will be limited to that source, unless they are lucky enough to have an 'insider' feeding them other info, but even that can't be totally relied upon.

One thing that is interesting though is that a story that is headline news in the UK for example, will be dragged out for days and sometimes weeks by the papers and TV there, while here in Thailand it may only get half a column (if that) of straight reporting in the Bangkok Post, with very little evidence of any editorial slant. I guess that means if you want to find out the truth in your country, read a newspaper from the other side of the world!

[prcscct]

Too many headaches, just come outside in the morning, sniff the sweet air, make sure your powder is dry, flints are ok, and knife sharp. Say hello to your neighbors and ask how they're doing. Then just live your life.

Wouldn't that be sweet. Reminds me of the 1950's, minus the powder and flints. Pete
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"What America needs is a huge hypodermic needle of morality." Alice Cooper 21 Sept. 2007

[MrPlum]

[Vital Spark]

I get most of my International and British news from 'The Week' magazine. It's a subscription mag, and it's mainly aimed at ex-pats who don't have the time and/or opportunity to trawl through endless newspapers. I find it far more unbiaised than a typical newspaper - it also has fascinating articles which are non-news related.

We get it sent to the university and it's always a good read. I'd highly recommend it (for Brits).

VS

PS: It also has a superb cryptic crossword that keeps me entertained for hours.
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'Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana' -Groucho Marx

[Arcadian]

When a UK government is in power and doing well according to the polls,they always spoil things for themselves and try to mend what isn`t broken,thereby hacking off a large chunk of the electorate.
As for the most blatant lie? I think it was the Sunday Sport who claimed a red London double decker bus was found on the moon. Sorry Mr.P. for trivialising your serious thread.

[dtaai-maai]

[Super Joe]

The smaller herd judging by recent polls

SJ

[MrPlum]

[STEVE G]

Mr. Plum wrote:

[MrPlum]

[Super Joe]

I also see it as part political bias by the station in question and part the best footage to hand from the reporters on the ground.
It's not black and white for me, we have to make up our own judgements.

SJ

[redzonerocker]

i find it quite amusing at times especially how politicians & celebs use & manipulate the media to improve their career & sell their story.
yet, when they're caught with their pants down or in an awkward situation, they scream invasion of privacy

if you are in the public eye you have to except that people are going to pry & dig the dirt, especially if you are preaching. if you're clean you have little to worry about anyway

i don't quite follow the herd when it comes to media reporting.
there may be a basis for the story but in between the lines there are often circumstances & facts that have been conveniently omitted & amended to make the story more sensational
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when all are one & one is all, to be a rock & not to roll.


every silver lining has a touch of grey.

[prcscct]

How about The Guardian out of London. Do you rank their reporting as unbiased and factual? Pete
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"What America needs is a huge hypodermic needle of morality." Alice Cooper 21 Sept. 2007

[Vital Spark]