Just when you think the media cannot sink any lower

[BPPLEE]

I think part of the problem is that people have a hard time distinguishing news reporting from opinion. And that's not entirely unjustified, as many media outlets, particularly cable TV, don't make a distinction between them either. It can be hard, apparently, to find enough news reporting to fill a 24 hour broadcast day, and this is why you see a lot of opinion pieces that seem to be news reporting, but they're not.

Thing is, it really isn't hard to tell the difference. If MSNBC presents a report that Trump's MSG rally is "like a Nazi rally," well, that's clearly opinion. Treat is as such. If they report the event, and only state what happened (the classic journalism who what where when), and not offer analysis of why it happened, or what it was about....that'd be news reporting.

What I find amusing, however, is when the right wing goes bananas criticizing MSNBC for offering opinion pieces when Fox News does the exact same thing...and the left wing goes bananas then, too.

I don't see any of this as signs that the media (mainstream or otherwise) is corrupt, though. They're just trying to find content for their 24 hour broadcast day, and there isn't enough news to report on. If you want to find examples of corruption in the media, well, having to pay close to a billion dollars to settle a legal case that you repeatedly and knowingly lied about something could be a good one.

-- A2SG, knew my journalism degree would count for something someday, if not employment.....

No, it’s not just commentary and opinion shows, it’s what is supposed to pass for news. The media are biased

 

[A2SG]

No, it’s not just commentary and opinion shows, it’s what is supposed to pass for news. The media are biased

Right. And it's not difficult to see that the piece about Trump's rally being like a Nazi rally wasn't news, it was opinion. As I said, cable TV in general is generally bad about differentiating opinion from news reporting...and MSNBC isn't alone in doing that.

Sometimes, as a viewer, you have to do the work to recognize the difference between news reporting and opinion, and not just assume that every report is intended as news reporting. If the lines are blurred, then you need to unblur them yourself when you look at them.

-- A2SG, don't be expecting them to do it for you.....cuz that's not the way they make money.....