“Freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one.” A.J. Liebling The Pew Research Center has released its “State of the News Media 2012″ annual report on American journalism. It provides some fascinating information and analysis, and is bound to make you go “hmmm” more than once. The part that had me [...]
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HDTV Almanac - Who Gives You Your News?
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alfredpoor
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BobDiaz
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Re: HDTV Almanac - Who Gives You Your News?
If I compare the TV News Reporting today to the TV News Reporting of the 60 or 70s, I'd say the quality of the reporting has gone downhill. In the past, if an issue had 2 sides, the news would give about equal time to present both sides. Today, they only seem to present the side they favor and maybe give a token line or two for the other side. In many cases, it looks more like propaganda than news.
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alfredpoor
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Re: HDTV Almanac - Who Gives You Your News?
Bob, I agree. How I miss Walter Cronkite. Today, people can choose to just watch the "news" that they agree with.
Of course, then there is the "news" that is simply entertainment, whether it be comedy or tragedy or just entertaining news about entertainment.
The problem is that most people don't care that much about real news, and if they don't care, there's not much market for it. I find myself listening to the BBC World Service a lot, audio streaming over the Internet. The Internet is the 21st Century shortwave radio!
Alfred
HDTV Almanac
Of course, then there is the "news" that is simply entertainment, whether it be comedy or tragedy or just entertaining news about entertainment.
The problem is that most people don't care that much about real news, and if they don't care, there's not much market for it. I find myself listening to the BBC World Service a lot, audio streaming over the Internet. The Internet is the 21st Century shortwave radio!
Alfred
HDTV Almanac
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eliwhitney
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Re: HDTV Almanac - Who Gives You Your News?
alfredpoor & BobDiaz ...
May I add a Huge "Third Vote" to all of yours?
I vividly recall the raw emotions shown by our late, great Mr. Cronkite as he DID tell us both the horrific news of the Kennedy Assassination as well as the subsequently-superb news of MAN successfully stepping out onto our Moon!
Even back-in-the-days of Mr. Edward R. Murrow, 'accuracy" was Supreme! ... never again, sadly!!
eli
May I add a Huge "Third Vote" to all of yours?
I vividly recall the raw emotions shown by our late, great Mr. Cronkite as he DID tell us both the horrific news of the Kennedy Assassination as well as the subsequently-superb news of MAN successfully stepping out onto our Moon!
Even back-in-the-days of Mr. Edward R. Murrow, 'accuracy" was Supreme! ... never again, sadly!!
eli
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Roger Halstead
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Re: HDTV Almanac - Who Gives You Your News?
It's not that just the quality of the reporting has gone down. I no longer bother to watch the news on the major networks or their affiliates because they have become cheerleaders for causes, and essentially arms of political parties. They have become responsible with information, inflaming, apparently at times on purpose. There is no neutral or even handed reporting any more so why bother because I don't know if what they are saying is a real story, or something made up in the guise of a real story.
A recent documentary showed one side of a story and the next was to show the other side. Politically the networks said, "You can't show that" because it is just as unflattering to their side as the other.
Yes, I too miss those "old timers", who were real reporters.
A recent documentary showed one side of a story and the next was to show the other side. Politically the networks said, "You can't show that" because it is just as unflattering to their side as the other.
Yes, I too miss those "old timers", who were real reporters.
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Roger Halstead
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Re: HDTV Almanac - Who Gives You Your News?
Darn spell checker. That was supposed to be irresponsible!
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alfredpoor
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What happened to the news?
I know we're drifting far from the television topics, but I agree that there's been a disturbing shift in what passes for "news reporting" these days. I think the roots of it can be found in two events from the Nixon era.
The first was Nixon's own apparent paranoia about the media. After Kennedy trounced him in the televised debate, Nixon apparently decided that the media was against him and in the pocket of the liberals. He spoke out often about the tyrany of the "liberal media" and that gave rise to the corollary of the "Silent Majority". And thus the conservative side decided that it was okay to do what you have to do to balance the inequity, whether it was real or imagined.
Then we had Watergate, and the near-canonization of Woodward and Bernstein for their investigative reporting. This was closely tied to bringing down the corrupt and evil empire of the conservative Nixon administration, and probably convinced lots of young journalists that it was okay to be an activist and go out and prove your case under the guise of reporting.
So I see the wheels starting to come off through events on both the left and right. Then we got the "spin doctors" who learned to feed the media sound bites and convenient language that favored their point of view (such as "death tax"), and we were off to the races. Now we have Mike Daisey and Rush Limbaugh claiming that it is okay for them to make up stuff and misrepresent the facts because they are "entertainers" and not "journalists".
A pox on both their houses. I'm listening to the BBC.
Alfred
The first was Nixon's own apparent paranoia about the media. After Kennedy trounced him in the televised debate, Nixon apparently decided that the media was against him and in the pocket of the liberals. He spoke out often about the tyrany of the "liberal media" and that gave rise to the corollary of the "Silent Majority". And thus the conservative side decided that it was okay to do what you have to do to balance the inequity, whether it was real or imagined.
Then we had Watergate, and the near-canonization of Woodward and Bernstein for their investigative reporting. This was closely tied to bringing down the corrupt and evil empire of the conservative Nixon administration, and probably convinced lots of young journalists that it was okay to be an activist and go out and prove your case under the guise of reporting.
So I see the wheels starting to come off through events on both the left and right. Then we got the "spin doctors" who learned to feed the media sound bites and convenient language that favored their point of view (such as "death tax"), and we were off to the races. Now we have Mike Daisey and Rush Limbaugh claiming that it is okay for them to make up stuff and misrepresent the facts because they are "entertainers" and not "journalists".
A pox on both their houses. I'm listening to the BBC.
Alfred