POLL: Do you think the TV news is completely neutral or contains opinions?

Discussion in 'Media & Commentators' started by James7, Nov 6, 2021.

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Do you think the TV news is completely neutral or contains opinions?

  1. The TV news is at all times completely neutral.

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  2. The TV news often contains opinions.

    6 vote(s)
    42.9%
  3. The TV news often tells you what to think.

    8 vote(s)
    57.1%
  1. James7

    James7 Active Member

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    This question could apply to any country across the planet, though I myself live in the UK so obviously know more about my own local TV news media.

    The same question could also be asked of other news medias in addition to the TV news, for example newspapers which often have their own political slant in their reporting and content, however this poll focusses specifically on the TV news.

    Because the television is potentially such a powerful tool of influence, the TV news can often give the impression of actually telling you what to think.

    Express your opinions in the above poll or leave a comment below:
     
    Last edited: Nov 6, 2021
  2. modernpaladin

    modernpaladin Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    No news is unbiased. Im OK with an opinion heing provided with the news, and while I find it adds an annoying extra amount of unnecessary information to sift through, I prefer to know what bias the author is presenting the information with because it helps me know what has probably been omitted. Im not OK with that information being omitted to create a more supportive narrative for that opinion. But I dont know of a single news source anywhere that doesnt do that. Thats why I get most of my news here on PF where it is subjected to and eventually filtered of all the biases by our collective biases :D
     
    Last edited: Nov 6, 2021
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  3. Hey Now

    Hey Now Well-Known Member

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    I'd say that there are too many opinions creeping into news, especially 24hr news. Too many opinion "contributors" and "experts". It's getting harder to navigate agenda, opinion and spin from just the facts. Fear and anger "drama" commands eyeballs and drives profits, there are entire networks devoted to this.
     
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  4. pitbull

    pitbull Banned Donor

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    TV news follows the opinion of their editors, just like newspapers. You have to consume a lot of these to get a near-neutral view.
     
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  5. Injeun

    Injeun Well-Known Member

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    The most unbiased, neutral presentation of news regarding American politics that I have seen is on Japan's world news network. They are like American mainstream broadcast media used to be before it morphed into a monolithic outpour of the progressive counter culture movement. Our once free press has become the mouthpiece for dissent and the dissemination of propaganda, drunken on its own influence and a law unto itself.
     
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  6. Adfundum

    Adfundum Moderator Staff Member Donor

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    I think it's all biased, and that's a business model. Different media target different groups more for commercial purposes than political. That's not to say that politics doesn't play a big role We all have our biases, and go in search of info that fits our biases. We like to blame media and question its honesty, but honestly, it's just playing on our human psychology.
     
    Last edited: Nov 6, 2021
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  7. James7

    James7 Active Member

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    One method often used instead of omission is giving limited coverage to an otherwise important story.

    This method is often used by the BBC. Some important stories are literally only mentioned in passing and it's literally a case of blink and you'll miss it. Whereas other stories are given far more coverage than they perhaps deserve.

    Another issue is who owns the news network/channel in question. Who actually owns the network can decide who runs the network and who runs the network can in turn decide any political slant in the reporting and coverage/content.
     
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  8. Hey Now

    Hey Now Well-Known Member

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    Totally agree with this. The proof is the type of ads run that are different on different networks. Just as an easy example that first comes to mind for me, Fox runs a lot of online produce commercials with 'conservative' Fox hosts or other 'conservative' personalities.
     
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  9. Adfundum

    Adfundum Moderator Staff Member Donor

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    True. And at the same time, a "facts only" style of reporting bores most people. We want that drama.
     
  10. Hey Now

    Hey Now Well-Known Member

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    Yeah, it's a sickness.

    Gotta say though, there must be boundaries to the drama, any news coverage that vilifies someone for a different political belief is ultimately on a path of self destruction or is ultimately pure malintent. Freedom only works if it belongs to everyone.
     
  11. Adfundum

    Adfundum Moderator Staff Member Donor

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    It is. While I do think it's mostly on us to be able to tell what's factual news and what's bias-boosting drama, there does need to be some way to limit this insanity--not censoring, but some other way to discourage flat out lying. For crying out loud, Alex Jones admits he tells lies and floats inaccurate information, yet he has quite a following. That's why I'm glad that those parents of Sandy Hook kids sued him.
     
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  12. perotista

    perotista Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    I have no doubt that FoxNews is nothing more than a propaganda wing of the Republican party. That CNN and MSNBC are the propaganda wings of the Democratic Party. But I also think most Americans realize the news is slanted and bias, that these networks have take sides in our political battles.

    Only 36% of all Americans trust the media to report the news fully, fairly and accurately. Political party wise it's 68% of Democrats trust the media to report the news fully, fairly and accurately. That may be because most news media outlets are pro-democrat or liberal. On the other hand only 11% of Republicans do. More important is those not affiliate with either party, the non-partisans group we like to call independents. Only 31% of them trust the media to report the news fully, fairly and accurately. So let the news media be propaganda wings and biased, Most Americans know what they're getting, Bias and slanted news.

    https://news.gallup.com/poll/355526...utm_content=morelink&utm_campaign=syndication

    Then you have this.

    • 56% of Americans agree with the statement that "Journalists and reporters are purposely trying to mislead people by saying things they know are false or gross exaggerations."
    • 58% think that "most news organizations are more concerned with supporting an ideology or political position than with informing the public."
    https://www.axios.com/media-trust-crisis-2bf0ec1c-00c0-4901-9069-e26b21c283a9.html

    So people know that our news network have taken sides in our political battles and push their propaganda on us. As long as most knows, I haven't a problem with our news networks taking sides. Most Americans don't trust the news media or networks.
     
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  13. James7

    James7 Active Member

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    The BBC has guidelines on impartiality which includes its news output:

    Section 4: Impartiality - Introduction

    However some news journalists clearly aren't that impartial at all. Victoria Derbyshire, for example, is famed for being outspoken and saying exactly what she thinks, i.e. expressing her own opinions.

    Also the BBC's coverage of the Brexit debate prior to the Referendum is widely considered to have been biased against Brexit and pro-EU. This clearly wasn't impartial at all.
     
  14. DEFinning

    DEFinning Well-Known Member Donor

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    When different networks present diametrically-opposed viewpoints on the, "facts," how does one translate that into a, "neutral view?"
     
  15. DEFinning

    DEFinning Well-Known Member Donor

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    As long as you are listing biasing influences, I'll add to the corporate owner,
    1) what other businesses that corporation owns or has a stake in, as well as
    2) who are the advertisers on both any particular news-oriented program, as well as on the overall network.

    I agree that there is certainly a national slant, to any country's news organizations, which partakes of the society's own world-view, and self-image, biases.
    I can't watch Japanese news coverage, though: very boring delivery. I have, however, read some good coverage on Al Jazeera, though I do not typically look there. It's a shame that their attempt to break into the U.S. market, did not succeed. If they had a news show that was part of the basic cable package, I would definitely check it out.

    This part of your post was just more biased analysis. It completely omits the even more egregiously slanted, "mouthpiec(ing)," of news outlets on the Right, including the mainstream FOX network. And I think it is counter-factual to say our media, in "the good ol' days," did not sometimes traffic in propaganda, as well. But trying to compare the U.S. newscape of, say, the 1970s, to today, is not an apples to apples type of comparison, so I won't take the initiative of beginning that involved journey of covering all the distinguishing characteristics of the two different, news medium environments.
     
  16. dairyair

    dairyair Well-Known Member

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    By tv news I assume you're referring to the 24/7 reality tv pretending to be news?

    It's all opinions.
    If one is silly enough to believe them, that's on them.
    No one can ever tell anyone what to think.

    So your last question is pointless. But I see most votes went there. That's scary people believe them and are told what to think.
     
  17. dairyair

    dairyair Well-Known Member

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    The poll should ask how much those stations cater to an audience so they get more viewers to sell more ads to make more money.
    That is their real intent after all.
     
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  18. DEFinning

    DEFinning Well-Known Member Donor

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    As an American, I have no idea of what the British Brexit coverage was like. That's why it would be very helpful for you to give examples of what you are talking about. For example, just because the media may have been against Brexit, does not automatically mean that they were not being impartial. Impartiality does not imply not making any judgements, or depicting every option as equal to every other. It is possible, for example-- though, of course I have no way of knowing, without your elaborating-- that the facts painted Brexit as a poorer decision, on their face; this holds true, BTW, whether or not the analysis of those facts ended up panning out, as expected. Just because a news organization's future predictions are flawed, does not mean that their assessment had not been, "impartial."

    It should be added that this term is really a relative one, as there are few viewpoints that could actually be said to include no individual bias whatsoever. But a certain amount of bias, is to be anticipated, and it seems hardly surprising that news organizations would put a lot of stock into the opinions of those leaders of their country, whom they had relied upon for so much prior information, and of whom they had come to trust the judgement.
     
  19. HonestJoe

    HonestJoe Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Is what you consider an important story and limited coverage completely neutral and unbiased though?
     
  20. perotista

    perotista Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Simply put, all of them. Corporations owns the news channels and their goal is to make money. If they were losing money, they wouldn't be in the business. Give the audiance what it wants in the way it wants it, keep your existing viewership and add more.
     
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  21. dairyair

    dairyair Well-Known Member

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    That is the sole puyof those fake news stations.
     
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  22. FreshAir

    FreshAir Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    some right-wing local channels here tell you what to think

     
    Last edited: Nov 7, 2021
  23. pitbull

    pitbull Banned Donor

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    It works in a similar way to calculating averages in mathematics but happens automatically in the head. Even Opinions that you don't really like influence the result.
     
  24. DEFinning

    DEFinning Well-Known Member Donor

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    That can work in some cases (though it would often be inaccurate to adjust equally for all news sources, i.e., to assume one's farthest Right source is exactly as far from the truth as one's farthest Left source), but there are other times when there really is no middle ground. For example, did Democrats rig the presidential election, or not? Are all the allegations of voter fraud & illegal voting by non-citizens, etc., true or false? To judge them to be half-true, I think, misses the mark.
    Likewise, in considering if Covid vaccinations are generally safe; if any of the various anecdotal Covid remedies are effective (ivermectin; hydro-chloroquine; etc.); if masks are helpful or completely useless. Your split the difference philosophy only works if there are those claiming that masks offer an impenetrable defense, which there are not. And let's not forget the oldie but goody, was Barack Obama actually an American, born in the U.S., or a Kenyan-born Muslim, working for the demise of America?

    I not too long ago watched a report on Socialism, on a FOX/News Corp-affiliated station, a show hosted by Lara Logan (formerly of 60 Minutes). I was feeling, by the end of the show, that I had been long duped into believing a false narrative, from the Left; until I looked into some of the claims made on the program. It had, "reported," on this vast movement of socialist activists, which taught all manner of revolutionary type behavior. But when I looked into the Leftist literature & website mentioned, they were nothing like as described. And the prime witness against Antifa, a crusader who had supposedly suffered various attacks from them, I found out was actually an antagonist of that group, and someone with a known bias against them. So there really can be a black versus white dynamic between these perspectives on the Left and on the Right, but which certainly does not mean that the actual truth is a medium gray.
     
    Last edited: Nov 7, 2021

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