When I think about a quality Newscast, I think of Walter Cronkite. Good
ol' Walt telling it like it happened. Just the facts. Of course I am too young to remember Cronkite, and I have been wondering lately if he really did throw down the straight dope. I am convinced that there is NO modern media person giving a straight, unbiased account of the days news. I was a CNN watcher for many years. I always felt that the coverage there was a little left leaning but I am a smart enough guy to comb through all that and figure out the reality of any given story. That worked
ok for a while. Then along came Fox News. Fair and Balanced they say. At first I thought that they were just that. I was just happy to see news coming from a different perspective. I have been wondering more and more why there needs to be any perspective at all. Most people I know have chosen sides. You probably think that, either Fox is a bunch of Nazi's, or CNN is Socialist Propaganda. There doesn't seem to be much middle ground. It all seems very divisive to me. Worse, I heard somewhere ( don't remember where ) about a study that concluded that most people will gravitate toward the news source that most reflects the opinion (bias) that they already have.
Uhhg! This is so bad for everyone involved. I don't know about you, but I like to have my beliefs challenged. It makes me understand myself and the issues so much better. And you know, sometimes I do change my mind. The truth is the truth and I am open to it.
If I were to win life's lottery, I would like to start a news channel that just reports the facts. As they happened. No spin. No agenda. Clearly I would have no viewers, so this better be one of those multi state power ball type lottery wins. Seems no one wants facts, as they are sticky things.
I do want to say that I love to hear opinion too. I just like it to be labeled as such. I toggle back and forth between Olberman AND O'Reily for gods sake.
I think I am going to stick to the Onion for all my news needs. Sure it's fake, but it is so entertaining!!
Do you watch the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer on PBS? You should.
ReplyDeleteIs that where the real journalism is? I will give it a look. Gotta set the TIVO!
ReplyDeleteYeah, being able to watch NewsHour again was one of the main reasons I opted to get cable (I have an older TV so with the digital conversion I could not get any TV stations without cable).
ReplyDeleteTo me Lehrer and his cohorts come off as completely unbiased in terms of reporting on the individual stories. Generally after each story they have a discussion with reputable experts in the particular field of study, and if there is some controversy on the subject they have someone from each side.
Friday is a good day to watch because they have commentary from Shields and Brooks, which is framed as opinion rather than news.
I especially like to watch on the days where the Supreme Court has made a ruling because they usually have people on discussing how the decision impacts civil rights and such.
Hey is there somewhere to read (or listen to arguments?) supreme court cases? I love that stuff!
ReplyDeleteYou can find Supreme Court Opinions here: http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/opinions.html. Although, unless you know the case name you just have to browse until you find something that strikes your fancy. There is also a section on briefs you can read through, which are basically written arguments. There may also be transcripts of oral arguments on the same site, but that may cost you.
ReplyDeleteNice. I dig that crap!
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