American News Media - Right or Left?

Recently, I have found myself questioning what I hear on the nightly news. I wasn't sure if it was because of my age and becoming more synical in nature, or if there truly was a reason for my new found suspicions. Since, I myself, have been doing more fact checking, I thought I would research and see if I was the only one having these same feelings of deception by the mainstream news outlets.

This is what I found:

“The fact that an astonishing percentage of Americans see biases and partisanship in their mainstream news sources suggests an active and critical consumer of information in the U.S.” stated James Castonguay, Ph.D., associate professor and chair of SHU’s Department of Media Studies & Digital Culture. “The availability of alternative viewpoints and news sources through the Internet no doubt contributes to the increased skepticism about the objectivity of profit-driven news outlets owned by large conglomerates,” he continued.

The perception is growing among Americans that the news media attempts to influence public opinion – from 79.3% strongly or somewhat agreeing in 2003 to 87.6% in 2007.

And this from a Zogby poll in February, 2008

Zogby Poll: 67% View Traditional Journalism as "Out of Touch"

Internet is the top source of news for nearly half of Americans; Survey finds two-thirds dissatisfied with the quality of journalism

Two thirds of Americans - 67% - believe traditional journalism is out of touch with what Americans want from their news, a new We Media/Zogby Interactive poll shows.

The survey finds the Internet not only outweighs television, radio, and newspapers as the most frequently used and important source for news and information, but Web sites were also cited as more trustworthy than more traditional media sources - nearly a third (32%) said Internet sites are their most trusted source for news and information, followed by newspapers (22%), television (21%) and radio (15%).

So, it is not a manifestation of my mind, the mainstream media does seem to be out of touch with what the average American is wanting and needing from their news outlets. I for one am very busy, and it would really be nice not to have to verify certain facts in some of the news stories that I find relevant to me and how they affect my life. Actually, I find that the news has become a type of reality show of it's own, i.e. entertaining but not so much believable.

My advice to anyone who relies solely upon the nightly news as their number one source of current events - be careful, and don't believe everything you hear.

If your looking for somebody to agree with your point of view, more than likely you will be able to find a news organization to pacify that need.