The Media. What do you think about it?

[sargeant]

Dont you all get frustrated when the reporter is interviewing somebody and they just dont or wont ask the question you want answered

Like mr Sondhi of PAD
would somebody please ask him "to name the people he says are going to appoint the 70% of appointed MPS"
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A Greatfull Guest of Thailand

[sandman67]

What media organizations or shows do you trust?

Mainly the BBC, some British newspapers, some SE Asian papers, two US papers

Are there any that you truly consider 'fair and balanced'? If you think it's mostly propaganda who are the worst offenders?

Xinhua - PRC state paper/propaganda and lies sheet.

Balance is achieved through reading a range of different sources

Are the media now just stenographers for the government?

No

What was the most blatant media lie you can recall? What was the best bit of journalism you can recall?

The black propaganda put out by the US and UK govts before the Iraq invasion.

Do you have a favourite presenter?

The Three Johns: John Snow, John Simpson, John Pilger.

Would you agree that everything in journalism is now tightly scripted and controlled... such as with 'embedded journalism' and there is no more investigative journalism, just celebrity crap. Bread and 'Circuses' for the herd?

No

If you don't trust the corporate media, where are you getting your 'facts'?

The Independent, Times and Guardian. NY Times & Washington Post. Bangkok Post and The Nation. Asia Times Online.....and HHAD! All regular morning reads with coffee and fags.

Are left-leaning media really 'left' or are they just less 'right' than extreme 'right'. The same with the s-called 'liberal' press. eg. Is the New York Times really liberal?

Compared to what.....the National Enquirer?

Do you believe a story when it's source is claimed to be a government 'insider'? Or 'sources within the company' or 'sources within the gov say'? Why do they never name these sources?

Depends on the story.....generally YES....as an ex-civil servant there is a long tradition of "issues of conscience" disclosure to press sources. People protect sources for a lot of reasons....mainly so others feel safe to come forward in the future, and to protect the source from potential prosecution.

Are you allowing the media to put you into a 'left' or 'right' box or are you simply interested in the truth?

I swerve unpredictably between socialism and fascism on a daily basis so good luck trying.......

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If I can't smoke and swear I'm f****d!
"To sin by silence makes cowards of men"

[spitfire]

Well, some excellent posts and points from all here. Had a think about the truth and the media after WL 'left a bread-crumb trail' about what actually is the truth.

We all know it's an elusive concept, but when I think about it, it reminds me of 'The Holy Grail' or 'The Fountain of Youth'. We believe that they exist or that it's possible(many try to be 'champions of truth' or many women think they can be young and beautiful forever, which we know is not really the case), but none ever really seem to find it.

The truth may well be nothing more than a certain set of circumstances, which happened in a certain place at a certain time. Even if we talk about other so-called truths like physics/chemistry etc, they are revised all the time, so still it remains elusive.

What complicates things is people, because they have agendas, insecurities, needs, angles etc. They start interpreting situations and that's were it starts to get corrupted.

Truth may only be 'the truth' from the angle/point-of-view/perspective you hold, or are looking at an occurance from.

What we might believe to be true from a western perspective is often scoffed at from an eastern perspective (same the other way round).

The waters are so muddied and murkey now and we are over-loaded with information and disinformation that it has become almost impossible to find anything other than opinion.

There are other everyday words that we use all the time that are confusing and ambiguous when you really think about it, such as 'right/wrong' 'normal'.

So we have almost come full circle here and when it comes to the truth, not sure if there is a definitive answer here, this has perplexed some of the best philosiphers for a long time.

So the truth remains elusive and disturbing in many cases, if it exists at all in the form we believe it to.

Must have left something out, but that's about it from me.

, good thread from everyone.
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Friendly fire - Isn't.

Nothing is absolute, apart from vodka.

[MrPlum]

[redzonerocker]

[quote="MrPlum"]

Dipping into the quotes bin...

'Believe nothing just because a so-called wise person said it. Believe nothing just because a belief is generally held. Believe nothing just because it is said in ancient books. Believe nothing just because it is said to be of divine origin. Believe nothing just because someone else believes it. Believe only what you yourself test and judge to be true.'
Buddha

i like that one
it has to be said, mr buddha comes out with some beauties
i also particularly like this one,

"There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth; not going all the way, and not starting."
Buddha


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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.