Poll: Do you trust the American news media?

[food4thought]

Curious to see what people think...

 

[NerdGirl]

Not a chance.

Independent news sources only.

 

[prodromos]

When we were living in Greece, we very quickly determined that most of the media in the US had simply become a propaganda wing of the left. Magazines like "Time" and "The Bulletin" that we used to respect began to push the same agenda as the Clinton News Network. When the Kosovo conflict began in Serbia we were able to compare the news we were getting directly over the border with what CNN was reporting and they were complete opposites. The Albanian rebels were the ones committing attrocites and yet CNN was demonizing the Serbians.
We've had no confidence in the mainstream media ever since.
Unfortunately the media in Greece has been taken over by the same interests since then.

 

[Clizby WampusCat]

They openly cheer for democrats and never cover the good things Trump has done. They are shameful. They should be all over the counting process but they are nowhere to be found.

 

[food4thought]

Not a chance.

Independent news sources only.

Define "independent news sources". Do they have a political bias? If so, why reject the major news outlets for being politically biased?

 

[food4thought]

They openly cheer for democrats and never cover the good things Trump has done. They are shameful. They should be all over the counting process but they are nowhere to be found.

Of course, the right wing news did the same to Obama...

 

[CitizenD]

Not a chance.

Independent news sources only.

Psst, "independent" news sources are just using wire sources and mainstream articles from organizations with an actual on-the-ground news team.

So basically it's less information and more opinion.

 

[food4thought]

I wonder how many of us take the time to look at multiple news outlets with various viewpoints? Even then, how do we determine which outlet is reporting most accurately? How do we solve this dilemma?

 

[nonaeroterraqueous]

When we were living in Greece, we very quickly determined that most of the media in the US had simply become a propaganda wing of the left.

I've noticed that if I read news from other countries I get a greater variety of perspective. U.S. news is largely uniform, by comparison.

 

[Triumvirate]

Define "independent news sources". Do they have a political bias? If so, why reject the major news outlets for being politically biased?

Right, this notion that smaller outlets are somehow more independent doesn't make a lot of sense. Their margins are often way smaller. That makes them a lot more likely to be beholden to the expectations and biases of their subscribers. Smaller isn't necessarily better here.

And as always, unless people are being scrupulously objective, it's hard to avoid political bias entirely.

 

[SimplyMe]

It always bothers me when people say "American News Media" as if they are all some monolithic group. First, the 24 hour news channels tend to have issues -- they tend to end up doing less news (not enough news to fill 24 hours every day) and so end up with "talking heads" who spew whatever comes into their head -- regardless if they are left or right.

Even among "print" media, there is wide variation. Some are specifically created to push a viewpoint, others have a goal of finding and reporting news. Unfortunately, even some of the better news sources are "selling out," and I mean that literally, like the news channels, because they need to get people to buy them to keep operating. However, there are some solid news sources in the US, just as there are plenty that aren't that good.

 

[Tanj]

It always bothers me when people say "American News Media" as if they are all some monolithic group. First, the 24 hour news channels tend to have issues -- they tend to end up doing less news (not enough news to fill 24 hours every day) and so end up with "talking heads" who spew whatever comes into their head -- regardless if they are left or right.

Actually I'd go one step further and say the 24 hour channels are split into their news desks and their opinion desks and the two quite often have a marginal overlap in the middle. I'm pretty left, and I mean that in the proper those-parts-of-the-world-not-the-US sense of the word, but one of my favourite political commentators is Chris Stirewalt, the Fox News political editor. As opposed to, say Thumb-in-a-wig.

 

[loveofourlord]

I think you can trust most of the US news media in what they tell, just I know part of the issue that created the fake news cycle was people got tired of things that hurt corporations and such being ignored. Like how many weeks was it before many of the even left news acknowledged occupy wallstreet?>

 

[SimplyMe]

Actually I'd go one step further and say the 24 hour channels are split into their news desks and their opinion desks and the two quite often have a marginal overlap in the middle. I'm pretty left, and I mean that in the proper those-parts-of-the-world-not-the-US sense of the word, but one of my favourite political commentators is Chris Stirewalt, the Fox News political editor. As opposed to, say Thumb-in-a-wig.

My problem is all the overlap in the middle. I've given up on them with the exceptions of major breaking news stories -- a natural disaster, shootings, etc. -- or other major events, like the current election, where they can report real news quicker than print media. Of course, that is another issue, sometimes they "report" too quickly, in an attempt to be first, before double checking the truth and accuracy of what they are reporting.

 

[Goonie]

My problem is all the overlap in the middle. I've given up on them with the exceptions of major breaking news stories -- a natural disaster, shootings, etc. -- or other major events, like the current election, where they can report real news quicker than print media. Of course, that is another issue, sometimes they "report" too quickly, in an attempt to be first, before double checking the truth and accuracy of what they are reporting.

Yep. Arizona springs to mind, with 10% to be counted Bidens lead has halved and is shrinking.

 

[Andrewn]

Observation from the last 2 days:

Right-leaning Fox news declared Arizona for Biden.
Left-leaning news media did not, even though the Associated Press declared it for Biden.

Conclusion:

News media are in the business of attracting people to keep watching by increasing the tension in a situation.

 

[Arc F1]

I wonder how many of us take the time to look at multiple news outlets with various viewpoints? Even then, how do we determine which outlet is reporting most accurately? How do we solve this dilemma?

We can't solve this problem. With so many sources they will always rush to get a story out. If they wait and actually investigate as they did in the past it will be old news and people will have moved on.

 

[Arc F1]

Right, this notion that smaller outlets are somehow more independent doesn't make a lot of sense. Their margins are often way smaller. That makes them a lot more likely to be beholden to the expectations and biases of their subscribers. Smaller isn't necessarily better here.

And as always, unless people are being scrupulously objective, it's hard to avoid political bias entirely.

The small ones don't investigate because they don't have the budget. What I see is them re wording the articles of major outlets. Regardless of one's views there is now a news source to point to for backup. I don't see anyway of getting back to the old ways of reporting.

 

[Triumvirate]

The small ones don't investigate because they don't have the budget. What I see is them re wording the articles of major outlets. Regardless of one's views there is now a news source to point to for backup. I don't see anyway of getting back to the old ways of reporting.

It's not impossible for small outlets to be really lean and really incisive and effective. But you and others are correct, a lot are just rehashes or commentary, and not necessarily original or accurate commentary.

Now, it might be nice for someone to hear a different pov but that isn't automatically the same thing as lack of objectivity which is what the MSM is typically accused of. And if people want a replacement for MSM sources, those sources surely would need to be doing better where the MSM is failing. Can't say I see that all that often with the alternatives. Some of the criticisms of MSM sources would seem to be more applicable potentially to smaller "independent" sources too, but people don't seem so worried about that.

(Generally thinking of new media type online outlets here rather than struggling pre-existing local papers)

 

[Vylo]

It is less an issue of honesty and more an issue of usefulness.

Do I need CNN to report on a plane crash for a month straight? No. Do I need human interest stories which are meant to be uplifting but instead reveal how awful our society can be to require random acts of kindness to care for basic needs? no.