FYI: how news was, and is, and will be

[Pico and ME]

I always thought that the 'liberal bias' was mostly just the predominate attitude of the time. Being of liberal bent - which I just thought meant being open and fair-minded, I never saw a bias. However, when Fox News came aboard, I definitely saw the bias there.

[classicman]

Originally Posted by Pico and ME

Being of liberal bent - which I just thought meant being open and fair-minded

There are plenty of conservatives who are both open and fair-minded. I would verture a guess to say that the vast majority of them are. The problem isn that the Republican party is mostly known for the vocal minority mouthpiece extremists - Limbaugh, Hannity, Beck, Coulter and their ilk.

[TheMercenary]

Another example of bias in the press, fueling the racist debate...

The Rest of the Story

A few words on hypocrisy:
You may have noticed that all sorts of media from the New York Times on down, made sure their audience knew that the folks at Glenn Beck’s rally in Washington were “overwhelmingly white.”
Reporting on the gathering, the Times described it as “The overwhelmingly white and largely middle-aged crowd.”
Nothing really new here. The “mainstream” media have been calling Tea Party rallies “overwhelmingly white” for quite some time now. Here are a few examples, compliments of the Culture and Media Center, an offshoot of the Media Research Center:
“The crowds turning out for the Tea Party Express rallies are overwhelmingly white.”
Ed Lavandera, CNN “American Morning” March 31, 2010.
“The crowd is still overwhelmingly white.”
Jessica Yellin, CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360” April 15, 2010.
“The crowd that greeted Palin did nothing to contradict the common description of Tea Party supporters as overwhelmingly white and mostly older.”
Ina Jaffe, NPR “Weekend Edition Sunday” March 28, 2010.
“They are overwhelmingly white and Anglo …”
USA Today July 2, 2010.

“Do you have any concerns when you look out at the crowds and they’re mostly, well, overwhelmingly white people?”
Terry Moran, ABC “Nightline” Nov. 2, 2009.
“You know, one thing to keep in mind about the Tea Party is that it is an overwhelmingly white movement.”
Ron Brownstein, NBC “Meet the Press” April 18, 2010.
And yes, the crowds at Beck’s rally and at Tea Party rallies have indeed been overwhelmingly white. But the folks who turn out to environmental rallies and anti-war rallies and feminist rallies are “overwhelmingly white” too. But for some reason the media feel no need to point that out. They drag race into the discussion only when conservatives are involved — because they see something sinister at these rallies. The ideas put forth are alien to liberal journalists. They’re not mainstream ideas, not as far as liberal journalists are concerned. So noting that the crowds are “overwhelmingly white” is a kind of warning label, not unlike the cancer warning on a pack of cigarettes. This warning label says in essence: BE ON YOUR GUARD. THE PEOPLE AT THESE RALLIES ARE CONSERVATIVES. AND OVERWHELMINGLY WHITE. CONSIDER THESE FACTS WHEN YOU LISTEN TO THEIR RIGHT WING ARGUMENTS.
But there’s another angle here that the media have shown no interest in covering. You see, the crowds at these conservative rallies aren’t the only groups that are “overwhelmingly white.” So are the journalists reporting the story. Can you imagine? So what we have here are “overwhelmingly white” liberal journalists calling conservatives at rallies “overwhelmingly white.” I guess you could call it irony. I prefer hypocrisy.
A few years ago I came up with an idea to make sure we got more racial diversity in our newsrooms – and in all of corporate America, actually. It’s a brilliant idea, if I do say so myself. Here goes:
Every white person in America who thinks affirmative action, as currently practiced, is a good idea, every white person who thinks diversity is important in the workplace, voluntarily gives up his or her job and gives it to a qualified minority person.
That way, instead of waiting another ten or twenty years for “equality” in newsrooms and corporate offices, we’d have that worthy goal accomplished overnight. By tomorrow morning, there would be thousands upon thousands more minority Americans in important jobs. Like I said, it’s brilliant!
I pitched my idea to two network news executives. “Give up your job,” I told them, “and hand it over to a qualified minority.” Both these men were big time advocates of diversity and affirmative action and have given jobs out, at least in part, based on race. Both said it was a very bad idea.
So ends my few words on hypocrisy.

http://www.bernardgoldberg.com/and-n...-of-the-story/

[classicman]

American distrust in the media is the high percentage who believe that reporting tilts too far in one ideological direction or the other.

Forty-eight percent believe the media is too liberal while only 15 percent of find that it tilts too conservative. Just 33 percent believe coverage is “just about right.”

Democrats have significantly more trust in the media, as 59 percent indicated that they trust the news to be reported fairly while just 32 percent of Republicans said the same.

The survey of 1,019 adults was conducted Sept. 13-16 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points

Read more

I'm not sure this goes toward what Merc was saying or if its merely the perception at this point in time. Either way I was a little more than surprised at the numbers.

[xoxoxoBruce]

“The crowd is still overwhelmingly white.”

They could be more subtle, like 'The crowd is still overwhelmingly Hockey Fans'.

[Spexxvet]

Originally Posted by classicman

Read more

I'm not sure this goes toward what Merc was saying or if its merely the perception at this point in time. Either way I was a little more than surprised at the numbers.

That report is biased.

[classicman]

I agree, but that doesn't change the facts.
Oh, and its just a poll. We all know what they're worth.

[classicman]

Originally Posted by Undertoad

2010: valueless "news" is replaced by comedy hosts aka Jon Stewart, and bloggers who admit their bias openly and honestly, and report directly from it for an audience that shares it

Link here

...and this kind of crap.
I really cannot say how stupid this asshat is, but I will say that he should be fired. . . IMMEDIATELY.

[Happy Monkey]

If he's fired, the Daily Show will lose another major "moment of zen" provider. They can't afford to lose their two biggest contributors so close together!

And Fox can't afford to set the precedent of firing someone for insulting Muslims.

[xoxoxoBruce]

But the next article down the page, at that link, is good.

[tw]

Why fire a Fox News public spokesman who only repeats the party line? In the constant dribble that says everyone but extremists are liberals ... Bill O'Reilly also went on a nationwide talk show to avidly blame Islam for Terrorism and 11 September. And repeated it bluntly.

After then being chastised by Barbra Walters for reciting the Fox News political agenda, O'Reilly decided to retract his hate statements. No doubt he did so only because of pressure. A liar cannot maintain his claims when confronted with hard facts. O'Reilly promotes hate as any good wacko extremist would. Even David Letterman straight out called him what he is.

How much is this is understood outside of America? After lying to kill off 4,400 America soldiers on lies, and after creating the worst recession in 75 years, promoters of hate are again vying for power by promoting hate.

Hate is not from one Fox News spokesmen. Hate of Muslims is routinely advocated by Fox News people as if Muslims were the new jew or negro. Do those here not from America understand how routine this is now seen in the streets? Hate is openly promoted, but without the expression "We want Obama to fail."

BTW, Fox News advertises itself as "Fair and Balanced".

[classicman]

Originally Posted by tw

Why fire a Fox News public spokesman

Because he's a worthless piece of shit mouthpiece. Same thing with Whoopi Goldberg and Joy Behar. They both walked out of their jobs. That's grounds for immediate termination.

[TheMercenary]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

They could be more subtle, like 'The crowd is still overwhelmingly Hockey Fans'.

[TheMercenary]

This was interesting... not new, just interesting.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/art...nt_109095.html

[classicman]

NBC News maliciously edited audio from a 911 call and broadcast that audio on "The Today Show."

NBC News told America that Zimmerman said this:

ZIMMERMAN: This guy looks like he’s up to no good … he looks black.

But that was a lie, we now know the actual conversation went like this:

ZIMMERMAN: This guy looks like he’s up to no good. Or he’s on drugs or something.
It’s raining and he’s just walking around, looking about.

DISPATCHER: OK, and this guy – is he black, white or Hispanic?

ZIMMERMAN: He looks black.