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Politics and "media bias"


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2013 Feb 11, 3:08am   38,192 views  150 comments

by dublin hillz   ➕follow (1)   💰tip   ignore  

It seems to me like both sides and by that I mean both sides that are far from center like to act victimized by the "media." Conservatives like to complain of "liberal media" bias. Liberals have been known to complain of slanted coverage by "corporate media" on the other hand. It seems to me like both groups are missing the point. Conservatives don't understand the common decency decorum and manners. Many media companies (with the exception of fox news) don't like to alienate and hence lose large demographics of viewers. At the same time these media companies are not likely to rock the status quo too much and alienate the advertisers who obviously rely on capitalist system to stay in business. The end result is obvious. The far right will have to stick with their talk shows on the radio and take whatever advertiser support they can get while the liberals will have to rely on listener sponsored support if they really want to present the far left point of view (such as KPFA 94.1 here in bay area). However for either side to cry "bias" is the height of arrogance and common sense and refusal to see forest for the trees.

#politics

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54   Y   2013 Feb 13, 5:17am  

I think we need to separate "news" shows from "opinion" shows.
O'reilly, maddow, o'donnell, MrEd are opinion shows.
That is what I based my comments on.
I don't watch any major broadcast stations's 'News' show.

For news, I go to cnn (mostly unbiased) and AP Online app (raw news)....

leo707 says

No, actually a misinformed audience can be quantified pretty well, and categorically FOX "news" does a pretty good job at misinforming their loyal watchers.

55   Tenpoundbass   2013 Feb 13, 5:20am  

SoftShell says

I go to cnn (mostly unbiased)

Har!

If you can call CNN news they used to be.
Now they only serve to reinforce what ever popular agenda is the flavor of the day. There is no news reporting going on at that station. That's not to say, that I think FOX is reporting the news. CNN is FOX inverted.

56   Y   2013 Feb 13, 5:26am  

I watch o'reilly and o'donnell regularly for comedy/entertainment/cleavage shots

rarely.. maddow when i want to see a speed freak in action....

rarely MrEd when....when.....well, probably never...

57   Y   2013 Feb 13, 5:28am  

well, not nearly as good as AP Online...direct news feed....
but cnn usually at least has close to an equal amount of certified repubs/demos
and the set colors are vibrant!

CaptainShuddup says

SoftShell says

I go to cnn (mostly unbiased)

Har!

If you can call CNN news they used to be.

Now they only serve to reinforce what ever popular agenda is the flavor of the day. There is no news reporting going on at that station. That's not to say, that I think FOX is reporting the news. CNN is FOX inverted.

58   Y   2013 Feb 13, 5:30am  

I should clarify .....
I mean www.cnn.com
not TV cnn......

CaptainShuddup says

SoftShell says

I go to cnn (mostly unbiased)

Har!

If you can call CNN news they used to be.

Now they only serve to reinforce what ever popular agenda is the flavor of the day. There is no news reporting going on at that station. That's not to say, that I think FOX is reporting the news. CNN is FOX inverted.

59   Tenpoundbass   2013 Feb 13, 5:33am  

Even WORSE!

60   CL   2013 Feb 13, 5:41am  

SoftShell says

Yes. O'Reilly was slamming him nightly during the race....

The reason you are ignorant of this fact is because you don't watch.

Define "Slam". I am all ears.

61   Y   2013 Feb 13, 5:50am  

if your looking for a quick, dumbed-down version of the day's events...it does the job.. quantity versus quality..

CaptainShuddup says

Even WORSE!

62   Y   2013 Feb 13, 5:55am  

slam =
http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/oreilly/transcript/why-didnt-ge-pay-any-taxes-despite-making-5-billion-profit

CL says

SoftShell says

Yes. O'Reilly was slamming him nightly during the race....

The reason you are ignorant of this fact is because you don't watch.

Define "Slam". I am all ears.

63   Y   2013 Feb 13, 6:08am  

so...how those 'ears' doin??

CL says

Define "Slam". I am all ears.

64   CL   2013 Feb 13, 8:15am  

SoftShell says

slam =

http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/oreilly/transcript/why-didnt-ge-pay-any-taxes-despite-making-5-billion-profit

CL says

SoftShell says

Yes. O'Reilly was slamming him nightly during the race....

The reason you are ignorant of this fact is because you don't watch.

Define "Slam". I am all ears.

This is about GE, MSNBC's parent company.

I was asking if the intrepid "reporters" at Faux news have ever done an expose on Murdoch, their evil father.

Or Ailes, their wicked step-father.

GE is widely assumed to be a liberal company by the right. Therefore, it's not surprising that they would take a potshot at their "opponent".

Much was made about the Ground Zero "mosque". Did Fox elaborate on Murdoch's ties to the Imam?

No, because it doesn't fit the narrative they want to shove in your piehole.

65   Y   2013 Feb 13, 11:52am  

Precisely.
And O'reilly SLAMMED GE.
You lose.
Case Closed.

CL says

SoftShell says

slam =

http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/oreilly/transcript/why-didnt-ge-pay-any-taxes-despite-making-5-billion-profit

CL says

SoftShell says

Yes. O'Reilly was slamming him nightly during the race....

The reason you are ignorant of this fact is because you don't watch.

Define "Slam". I am all ears.

This is about GE, MSNBC's parent company.

66   CL   2013 Feb 14, 4:00am  

SoftShell says

Precisely.

And O'reilly SLAMMED GE.

You lose.

Case Closed.

Re-read it, please. Fox has NEVER found fault with its parent company. That's because it is a horseshit organization. Unless you find Bill Ohreally criticizing Murdoch, the case is very much open.

67   Dan8267   2013 Feb 14, 5:44am  

The only real news outlets are:
Daily Show
Colbert Report
NPR
RT News
and The Newsroom (US)

and three of them don't even call themselves real news.

69   Tenpoundbass   2013 Feb 14, 5:48am  

Dan8267 says

The only real news outlets are:

Daily Show

Colbert Report

But people say they are comedians, when you call them out on their failings as honest journalists.

70   Dan8267   2013 Feb 14, 5:53am  

CaptainShuddup says

But people say they are comedians, when you call them out on their failings as honest journalists.

Feel free to provide specific examples of when either show stated something false or deliberately misled the public. We live in the information age, this should be trivially easy to do if you are correct. Case in point, people show exactly these kinds of examples regarding Fox News.

71   Tenpoundbass   2013 Feb 14, 5:57am  

I made a comment a few weeks ago, about something Cobert said, when Fox was catching shit for the same thing. I was told that Cobert is a comedian, and that there's a difference.

How ever Cobert and Stewart both have gone out of their way to effect the impression that they are ethical journalists.

72   leo707   2013 Feb 14, 6:47am  

CaptainShuddup says

I made a comment a few weeks ago, about something Cobert said, when Fox was catching shit for the same thing. I was told that Cobert is a comedian, and that there's a difference.

Thank you for the very specific example, and link to the conversation you were having.

Yes, Colbert often says the same things that FOX is saying. That is because he is a comedian and performs his comedy through satire often repeating FOX in a way that underscores the absurdity of the "news" on FOX.

Regardless of your personal feelings about John Stewart people who watch his show come away much more informed on world and national events than FOX (or most other major news for that matter). It says volumes to me, on the matter of ethics, that one news organization viewers would be better informed they had instead chosen to stair at a blank wall, while another organization leaves its viewers very well informed.

73   Dan8267   2013 Feb 14, 11:08am  

leo707 says

Thank you for the very specific example, and link to the conversation you were having.

Thanks, now I don't have to say that.

It's amazing how people can so derisively dismiss sources and then when pressed for specifics they evade.

74   Dan8267   2013 Feb 14, 11:31am  

robertoaribas says

That's worth a like!

75   Tenpoundbass   2013 Feb 14, 10:19pm  

robertoaribas says

Nevertheless, i'm much happier to have a president leading in the right direction, despite the slowness or errors in leadership, than the GOP which is dead wrong on nearly every issue. Better to go slowly in the right direction ,then floor the car backwards and off a cliff!

Boehner said to inform you, that the Country isn't going any Goddamn where unless he says so.

76   coriacci1   2013 Feb 15, 4:12am  

robertoaribas says

I'm deeply disappointed with Obama in several areas:

1. no prosecution of any banksters... Many deserved jail.

2. order the justice department to leave marijuana alone period. Not another federal cent on anything to do with it.

3. Push for a real plan to balance the budget. take this issue away from the repukes and their, "balance it on the backs of the poor and the middle class, while giving even more money to the rich" philosophy.

4. out of the wars quicker. ["it will be a disaster if we leave now..." really? and it will be a picnic party in 1 year? 5 years? 10 years? 100 years? it will always be a disaster. deal with it n

up to here i’m with ya.

77   CL   2013 Feb 15, 8:00am  

coriacci1 says

robertoaribas says

I'm deeply disappointed with Obama in several areas:

1. no prosecution of any banksters... Many deserved jail.

2. order the justice department to leave marijuana alone period. Not another federal cent on anything to do with it.

3. Push for a real plan to balance the budget. take this issue away from the repukes and their, "balance it on the backs of the poor and the middle class, while giving even more money to the rich" philosophy.

4. out of the wars quicker. ["it will be a disaster if we leave now..." really? and it will be a picnic party in 1 year? 5 years? 10 years? 100 years? it will always be a disaster. deal with it n

up to here i’m with ya.

But the last part is the best part!
robertoaribas says

Nevertheless, i'm much happier to have a president leading in the right direction, despite the slowness or errors in leadership, than the GOP which is dead wrong on nearly every issue. Better to go slowly in the right direction ,then floor the car backwards and off a cliff!

78   socal2   2013 Feb 19, 2:52am  

Dan8267 says

The only real news outlets are:
Daily Show
Colbert Report
NPR
RT News
and The Newsroom (US)


and three of them don't even call themselves real news.

Isn't is pretty sad when nearly all your sources of information come from the entertainment industry (no liberal or corporation bias there!) or government subsidized NPR?

79   Dan8267   2013 Feb 19, 3:19am  

socal2 says

Isn't is pretty sad when nearly all your sources of information come from the entertainment industry (no liberal or corporation bias there!) or government subsidized NPR?

1. It is pretty sad that "serious" news outlets suck so bad in America.
2. It is interesting that you imply that humor has a liberal bias. Are you saying that conservatives have no sense of humor? Can't say I disagree.
3. PBS receives some of its funding from government, and unlike FOX News, is actually the gold standard in fair and balanced reporting. This proves that public funds do not necessitate bias.
4. I have found that NPR east coast is quite objective and rational.
5. Fair and balanced does not mean giving equal creditability to two sides of an argument when one side is complete and utter bullshit. For example, astronomy vs astrology, evolution vs creationism / intelligent design, climate change science vs climate change deniers, holocaust historians vs holocaust deniers. Sometimes, one side is just a pack of lies, and it's not fair and balance to take a mountain of evidence from multiple sources and some crackpot, easily disproved lies and call it a wash.

80   socal2   2013 Feb 19, 3:57am  

Dan8267 says

CaptainShuddup says



But people say they are comedians, when you call them out on their failings as honest journalists.


Feel free to provide specific examples of when either show stated something false or deliberately misled the public. We live in the information age, this should be trivially easy to do if you are correct. Case in point, people show exactly these kinds of examples regarding Fox News.

How about these:

- CBS using forged memos to try and throw the 2004 presidential election?
- MSNBC doctoring 9/11 tapes of Zimmerman/Martin shooting to enflame racial tensions?
- MSNBC doctoring video of a grieving father from Sandyhook to make gun rights owners look bad?

Has Fox done anything as egregious as the forged memos or trying to incite race riots like the examples above?

Pew says MSNBC far more biased than Fox in past election.
http://www.mediaite.com/tv/msnbc-had-more-negative-coverage-of-romney-than-fox-news-did-of-obama-says-pew/

Finally, do you all realize that only a tiny fraction of the population watches Fox News each day? Nearly 10X more people watch NBC Nightly News alone than total Fox viewers all day. Throw on CBS, ABC, CNN, MSNBC, NPR, PBS, Major Newspapers, Comedy Central, Hollywood, Academia......and Liberals have a total lock on our information.

So I have to scratch my head when I see so many good meaning liberals freak-out over Fox when they already have total domination of our media gate-keepers let alone our culture.

81   Tenpoundbass   2013 Feb 19, 4:02am  

socal2 says

So I have to scratch my head when I see so many good meaning liberals freak-out over Fox when they already have total domination of our media gate-keepers let alone our culture.

We just cut off Cable, and my Google TV is cut off from the networks,(Thanks Obama) so I can't watch any News networks.

I'm riding a 100% bareback from now on, I always have. But that never stopped anyone from accusing me of watching too much FOX before.

82   socal2   2013 Feb 19, 4:14am  

CaptainShuddup says

I'm riding a 100% bareback from now on, I always have. But that never stopped
anyone from accusing me of watching too much FOX before.

I have found with many people that conservative points of view are so alien to them because they never hear about it in school or the mainstream media. So most (not all) people put up a wall and simply think we are spouting "Fox News Lies" when presented with an alternative ideology.

I think it really shows the insecurity of some liberals who can't stand to even entertain an alternative POV. It is not enough to say a person disagrees with the logic or feasability of a certain Conservative policy. They have to impugn the motives, morality and source of the alternative point of view. Essentially, many of them think Conservatives can only be conservative if they are evil or being duped by Fox News.

83   Y   2013 Feb 19, 4:51am  

pi*(O'reilly¼-O'Donnellƒ)*(√Maddow¥ ÷ Hannity2¢)= the Truth.

CaptainShuddup says

socal2 says

So I have to scratch my head when I see so many good meaning liberals freak-out over Fox when they already have total domination of our media gate-keepers let alone our culture.

We just cut off Cable, and my Google TV is cut off from the networks,(Thanks Obama) so I can't watch any News networks.

I'm riding a 100% bareback from now on, I always have. But that never stopped anyone from accusing me of watching too much FOX before.

84   Dan8267   2013 Feb 19, 7:44am  

socal2 says

How about these:

- CBS using forged memos to try and throw the 2004 presidential election?

- MSNBC doctoring 9/11 tapes of Zimmerman/Martin shooting to enflame racial tensions?

- MSNBC doctoring video of a grieving father from Sandyhook to make gun rights owners look bad?

Has Fox done anything as egregious as the forged memos or trying to incite race riots like the examples above?

First off, none of these things have anything to do with RT News. But let's address them and compare them to Fox.

CBS using forged memos to try and throw the 2004 presidential election?

Your statement is a lie. CBS news and Dan Rather believed that the documents were legitimate. Yes, they failed to do due diligence, but that is a far cry from trying to throw the 2004 election.

MSNBC doctoring 9/11 tapes of Zimmerman/Martin shooting to enflame racial tensions?

Your statement is a lie. Yes, MSNBC altered the audio of the 9/11 tapes. Yes, this was wrong. Yes, this makes the altered version completely untrustworthy. No, this alternation was not deliberately done to inflame racial tensions. The intent of the alterations was to clarify the audio and determine exactly was being said. The flaw in the technique is that any attempt to go from inaudible sounds to coherent words requires assumptions and prejudices in the adjustment of the audio. In this case, the listener suspects that Zimmerman said "nigger" and tries to adjust the audio to clarify this word, but what he's really doing is distorting the audio so that it does sound like the word he's already thinks it is.

Nevertheless, you are incorrect in your assertion that this was intentional deception.

MSNBC doctoring video of a grieving father from Sandyhook to make gun rights owners look bad?

Confirmed. MSNBC did this and it was clearly wrong. Bad MSNBC.

http://www.youtube.com/embed/piH3293-ShM

The difference between MSNBC and Fox? MSNBC does this once in a blue moon, Fox does it every single day. It is standard procedure at Fox, and Fox examples are far more outrageous. Fox frequently edits video to make it sound like people are saying the exact opposite of what they actually are. Fox example, Fox edits a video to make it sound like Hilary Clinton says the embassy bombing should not be investigated and the guilty not pursued when what she actually said was that politicking must be put aside so that the incident could be investigated and the guilty brought to justice.

Has Fox done anything as egregious as the forged memos or trying to incite race riots like the examples above?

Absolutely. http://www.nationalmemo.com/the-10-most-outrageous-completely-made-up-obama-scandals/

And that's just to name a few.

Just looking at politifact.com's pendant page and there is a clear distinction between the "liberal" pundits including MSNBC and conservative pundits including Fox News. The conservatives lie far more frequently and more outrageously. Of course, since the evidence on politifact.com shows that conservatives are bad, that by definition means politifact.com must be a liberal shill. After all, all fair and balance sources, by definition, must conclude that the GOP and their media whores do no wrong.

85   Dan8267   2013 Feb 19, 7:52am  

socal2 says

I have found with many people that conservative points of view are so alien to them because they never hear about it in school or the mainstream media

I believe in small government, rugged individualism, balanced budgets, and zero debt. That used to make me a textbook conservative. However, today conservative has become code for wanting big government that controls the lives of individuals and spends enormous money, but only on defense not social safety nets, and helps big corporations ensure that no startups can compete with them in establish markets.

Conservatism today is the exact oppose of what it was in the 1950s. Conservatives hate limited government, economic competition between companies, low government spending, individual self-determination, an educated population, and transparency and accountability in government.

Back when conservatives were respectable, you could not be a conservative without being a liberal because conservatives first and foremost believed in the liberty of the individual as opposed to the leftist philosophy of the authority and interests of the collective taking precedent. However, today social conservatism is just code for bigotry and xenophobia and financial conservatism is just code for ransacking the economy to steal as much wealth from the middle class as possible before the whole system collapses. And that is why conservatives are no longer respectable.

86   socal2   2013 Feb 19, 8:01am  

Dan - your list of "10 most outrageous scandals" are allegations from kooks. It is is no way comparable to a major network like CBS using OBVIOUSLY bogus memos to try and throw a US Presidential election. Not even the same sport.

If Fox News or the Republicans have to own every fringe kook and birther, than the Media and Democrats need to own every OWS kook who got arrested for terrorism charges (trying to blow up Ohio bridges) or raping girls in the camps.

Nor do I buy that MSNBC is blameless for all of the racial hatred they fomented with their doctored 9/11 videos in Florida. FFS - Al Sharpton works for MSNBC and was down their leading marches.

87   socal2   2013 Feb 19, 8:04am  

Dan8267 says

I believe in small government, rugged individualism, balanced budgets, and zero
debt. That used to make me a textbook conservative.

You can argue that Conservatives strayed from their roots during the Bush years of "Compassionate Conservatism" which was nothing more than big spending Liberalism and tax cuts.

But you can't say what you said above with a straight face and think the current crop of Democrats running the show believe in ANY of the things you list above.

Nancy Pelosi was going around last week saying we don't even have a spending problem.

88   CL   2013 Feb 19, 8:07am  

socal2 says

OWS kook who got arrested for terrorism charges (trying to blow up Ohio bridges) or raping girls in the camps.

Is that part of the liberal platform, plank, or constituency?

Racists (fringe and birther baggers) are a part of the rights' historical legacy. We're not making Republicanism or Fox responsible for all the criminals on the right. That's a false comparison.

89   socal2   2013 Feb 19, 8:09am  

Dan8267 says

However, today social conservatism is just code for bigotry and xenophobia and
financial conservatism is just code for ransacking the economy to steal as much
wealth from the middle class as possible before the whole system collapses. And
that is why conservatives are no longer respectable.

Missed this bit of nonsense.

You really BELIEVE this garbage Dan? Really?

See - just like I said earlier. It is not enough for Libs to disagree with Conservative political philosophy. They have to attach all sorts of evil motives like racism and bigotry. I don't think Liberals are evil or lazy, I just think they are wrong on many issues.

Anyway, if Liberalism is such a great governing system. Why is California the biggest basket case economy of all the states? We have so many more advantages in our state than other states in terms of natural resources, coastal tourism and agriculture. But leave it to Democrats and their union slave masters to ruin this great state in 3 short decades.

90   socal2   2013 Feb 19, 8:13am  

CL says

socal2 says



OWS kook who got arrested for terrorism charges (trying to blow up Ohio bridges) or raping girls in the camps.


Is that part of the liberal platform, plank, or constituency?

Elizabeth Warren (along with many national Democrats) were pretty proud of the movement until they started to get too smelly and violent.

Warren even claimed she created the "intellectual foundation" for what they do.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/25/elizabeth-warren-occupy-wall-street_n_1030974.html

91   CL   2013 Feb 19, 8:24am  

socal2 says

Elizabeth Warren (along with many national Democrats) were pretty proud of the movement until they started to get too smelly and violent.

Right. But rape is not even in OWS's purview. They didn't advocate rape, or cater to rapists to garner support from the rape community.

The rightwing does cater to racists. Even Murdoch denounced Nativists in the GOP. The kooks, in other words, are constituents. There is nothing intrinsic to rape and liberalism.

92   Tenpoundbass   2013 Feb 19, 8:25am  

OWS was Ruby Ridge the board game...

93   Dan8267   2013 Feb 19, 8:57am  

socal2 says

Dan - your list of "10 most outrageous scandals" are allegations from kooks. It is is no way comparable to a major network like CBS using OBVIOUSLY bogus memos to try and throw a US Presidential election. Not even the same sport.

It is your assertion that CBS forged memos to throw an election. There is no evidence to support your assertion.

And not even the same sport? Trying to get the president impeached on the premise that he illegally ran for president as a foreign born person? That's the fucking superbowl of lies.

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