Do you trust the American media? And should they face limits to their power?

It has been said that the greatest justification for ever voting for Trump is the hysterical reaction of the left wing especially the media, it's noticeable that books condemning the media have become insanely popular and regularly make the NYT's bestseller list (oh the irony!). To this end I ask, do you trust the American media?

I'd have to go with yes and no myself, in terms of reporting the facts it's fine but it's the spin it puts on them which is the problem. It also can influence it's opinions through selective reporting, what gets covered and how it is perceived. Whilst I favour freedom of the press I think they should also be held to account without having to spend millions suing them

 

Personally I think Operation Mockingbird was successful.

 

No and So long as they are an actual Journalism source, (press creds) No.

 

The press will always need to have their credibility questioned, because the press is largely a for-profit industry. That means everything is viewed through the lens of "will this make us money". Maybe not by the journalists, but definitely by the higher ups. The press doesn't exist to protect democracy or safeguard truth, they exist because people are getting paid and the owners are making profits, or trying to anyway.

 

the media... is lost to us, they have lost all credibility. Who is going to save the media...I noticed Tim Berners-Lee have been harnessed by the globalists to save the internet. Of course it won't do to give people so much freedom... they won't believe a word the media has to say.

Fix the web you have to also fix the media

 

no I have no trust for the mainstream American media at all. I think there should be penalties for printing false stories or stories that are skewed for political considerations. this of course should not apply to opinion pieces.

 

Depends on which media we're talking about. Fox News is Trump's Deep State propaganda. CNN and MSNBC are the shining knights of truth and justice.

 

But you didn't vote for them?

 

MSM is fine with me. They haven't lied to me though I've seen a number of guests lie. I don't drink Kool-Aid.

 

A part of me agrees strongly with you, and there should be severe criminal and civil penalties for publishing and airing information that is deliberately false and grossly misleading. But, we should also have reasonable 'Freedom of Speech' and the right to express ourselves.

The one court case that changed EVERYTHING about severe penalties for publishing or speaking slander, lies, and libelous information was "New York Times versus Sullivan" (1964). Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Times_Co._v._Sullivan

 

It depends on what you mean by media. The only tv source I trust is the BBC, and I read the Wall Street Journal and The Economist

That's it right now.

 

The beeb slants to the left although they are pretty good (and I couldn't live without them, commercials these days send me nuts).

 

I agree that the Wall Street Journal and The Economist are very dependable news sources that can be trusted. The BBC, however, has a notoriously liberal slant which is sometimes subtle, and sometimes anything but....

Media in England, as you surely know, are quite combative, unruly, and often 'sensational'. For that reason, generally, in a newspaper, I prefer The Times....

 

Oh contraire.....CNN and MSNBC are shining nights or "just us:.

 

That's why I watch BBC, the British Parliament can be downright entertaining.

 

Yes but it needs to be very clearly, loundly and bightly declared as opinion. Most everyone can accept the few actual news broadcasts Fox airs, it's all the other opinion shows presenting themselves as news and that gets them mocked as Faux News. If opinion can pretend to be news and not get in trouble as long as they don't explicitly call themselves news, you'll still have problems. Legal expectation to report honestly (aka the Fair Doctrine) with harsh legal penalties to anyone that lies with these same penalties applied to dishonest opinion that doesn't clearly label itself is what's needed.

 

Most everything that can be said has been said... by someone, somewhere, sometime, in some context... so I am not sure what is the point of starting in this way.... perhaps what you meant to say was “ in my opinion...”

This is terrible logic.... why would you ever vote for someone simply based upon an emotional reaction by someone else? The left and the media would have similar reactions if you nominated the head of the nazi party... so would you support him for similar reasons.... of course not

Name a couple of those books

The media has always had some sort of spin.... we have a free press, not only free when you; agree with it

This happens all the time in most every circumstance.... heck, there are lots of posts on this forum that do exactly the same thing

 

The problem is that too many people confuse OP ED and Entertainment stations with News stations. 90% of CNN, Fox, MSNBC are Opinion and Entertainment - they are not "news". 99% of Internet sources are OPINION ... not "news". You can't fix the fact that viewers are too ignorant to understand that difference.

 

This nation reached the point in 2008 when the Mainstream Media collectively got leg tingles over Obama and then FANATICALLY spun and covered for him for eight straight years that the only real free press is now the Internet itself and -- if you will -- news aggregate services leavened with some few personal source preferences. ABC, CBS, and NBC/MSNBC effectively have become ideologically bound propaganda outlets working for the Democratic National Committee and nothing else.

 

Nope, I don't trust them, but I will not limit their power to broadcast when someone on the other side talks and let myself hear and watch, in that sense they only convey and it is for the speaker to deliver the truth or not.

 

It's a genuine paradox! I greatly dislike censorship of nearly any imaginable kind, but there are more dangers now than ever in our society because our population has grown to be so damned 'dumbed-down' by our own public education systems, and, by the same media we're criticizing here.

It's not that we Americans are STUPID, but, we're badly educated, we're ignorant, and, we are mislead, manipulated, and lied to! We don't read anything of quality, we don't write at any level higher than about the sixth-grade, and we don't think for ourselves. We just paw around on 'smart' phones to see what other people are saying about things without giving important issues that affect our lives any real, lasting consideration.

Are there a lot of conniving, manipulative bastards who just LOVE to take advantage of situations like that...? NAW!

 

What we have to do is be proactive and be keen on things unfolding than the things being fed to us, we must know the beginning and the course of the events, who would benefit and who would lose. I always place myself and the citizen like me on the winning side of course, I hate partisanship, but I still believe that both the left and the right do have that good side and bad side that we have to keep on watching and be vigilant from time to time.

 

In a free country, you have to have a free press. Period.

In a free country, the citizenry should have the sense to discern s#/+ from shinola.

If the citizenry can't discern s#/+ from shinola, they won't remain free for long.

Unfortunately, we are veering very close to the edge these days. I fear more Americans than not can't tell s#/+ from shinola.