Look Here Not There

1. 77

   Sharlee01posted 14 months ago

   
   
   Has news reporting become nothing more than salacious entertainment?  Has society become sponges that believe much of what they hear nightly from talk jock that have a bit of a flare for the dramatic?  ( I am using the Fox/Dominion story as an example, to help make my point in regard to the problem I see with how the news is being presented.)  So, be assured I feel the Fox ploy was disgusting, dishonest, and unethical yata yata yata ------ 
   
   The latest scandal involves Dominion a company that provides many of our voting machines here in America suing Fox news. Dominion claims approximately 115 statements that Fox hosts and guests stated about Dominion were untrue and defamatory.
   
   It is being reported widely that the hosts themselves did not believe the allegations they were nightly reporting, and Dominion has released text that indeed appears to prove this was the case.  The texts are compelling and in my opinion. are view-oriented, the hosts share their true feelings, and have frustrations with what they are being requested by their producers and "higher ups" to report. The text in my view appears to be the bigwigs wanting to boost nightly ratings.
   
   My problem with all of this is that the story is causing such a stir...   I mean have we not as of yet become accustomed to the media reporting not much more than allegations wrapped in riddles,  being artfully offered up as "most likely" true?   So convincingly encouraged to please buy into what is being reported, and hopefully spread it as quickly as possible so it can grow in size and context, and ultimately become true to many.
   
   This Fox story is not much different than the many sensational reports we have been exposed to over the past decade. It certainly is disgusting, and truely outs or clarifies what many citizens have already come to realize ---  the news we hear should not be taken literally, but more or less as entertainment.
   
   Look here, not there...
   
   Would it not be optimal if our news is fact-checked before it is aired to millions?
   
   Do we ultimately only need to hear the truth, with conjecture left out?
   
   Do incomplete views really have a place in news reporting?
   
   I mean, could we be left on our own to form views on issues, and form our own possible scenarios without help from talking heads?
   
   And most importantly --- are you able to digest the truth, no really?

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   1. 92

      Nathanvilleposted 14 months agoin reply to this

      I don’t want to get embroiled in American politics, but on reading your intro to this forum, especially where you say “I mean, could we be left on our own to form views on issues, and form our own possible scenarios without help from talking heads?” – Your comment reminded me of the ‘No Comment’ footage on EuroNews (European TV News Channel, broadcasted across Europe in English) in between their news.  The ‘No Comment’ footage, slotted in between their normal news service is several minutes of footage of events around the world, where the TV News Channel makes no comment, and leaves it to the viewer to form their own opinion.
      
      Here’s an example of the ‘No Comments’ videos broadcast on EuroNews:  https://youtu.be/xW-aSxbWx3U

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      1. 77

         Sharlee01posted 14 months agoin reply to this

         Long ago, our news was reported as very matter-of-fact. The 'newscaster was as the term presents -- a caster of news. Yes, a newscaster with a snide remarker or a dramatic look could project their thoughts on a report. However, as a rule, one received a news report without much of the caster's personal views.

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         1. 92

            Nathanvilleposted 14 months agoin reply to this

            Yep, that's very much how the news is presented on TV in Britain e.g. the newscaster is a caster of news, without interjecting any personal views or comments - And that's because in the UK news on TV & Radio is heavily regulated, specifically under:
            
            *  Sections 319(2)(c) and (d), 319(8) and section 320 of the Communications Act 2003,
            
            *  Article 7 of the European Convention on Transfrontier Television (for ECTT Services only).
            
            *  The BBC Charter and Agreement, and
            
            *  Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
            
            The above referenced laws are there to ensure that news, in whatever form, is reported with due accuracy and presented with due impartiality.
            
            The worse case scenario for a blatant, and continued, breach of the Regulations would be that the Authorities revokes the Broadcasting licence, preventing the TV Channel from making any further broadcasts in the UK e.g. the Authorities revoked China's broadcasting rights in the UK in 2021, and Russia's last year.

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            1. 77

               Sharlee01posted 14 months agoin reply to this

               I appreciated how the news was the news, and little opinion was added. It promoted discussion of a personal face-to-face nature. We openly shared views, and yes, sometimes came out changing views due to the case another laid out.  Sort of like a cocktail, put it all in a shaker, and blend it. At the end as a rule we all share in concocting a bit of the final bevvy.

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               1. 92

                  Nathanvilleposted 14 months agoin reply to this

                  Yep

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   2. 84

      gmwilliamsposted 14 months agoin reply to this

      Unfortunately, news is entertainment.  One has to be very discerning to separate facts from the other hyperbolic conjecture.  It used to be that news reporters were impartial.  Not anymore, news reporters as with other journalists are very partial in their reporting.

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      1. 77

         Sharlee01posted 14 months agoin reply to this

         Precisely, I think the opinionated news we get today is over the top. I feel the nightly "shows", are just that show's, pure entertainment at this point.

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2. 77

   Kathleen Cochranposted 14 months ago

   "Would it not be optimal if our news is fact-checked before it is aired to millions?"
   
   Many do. It is up to us to find them and ignore the others.

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   1. 84

      gmwilliamsposted 14 months agoin reply to this

      Yes, there are discerning people who sift through the propaganda known as the news.

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      1. 77

         Ken Burgessposted 13 months agoin reply to this

         A necessity if one wants to get anywhere near the truth of a matter.
         
         Our media goes out of its way to bury more stories than present them these days.
         
         There is runaway inflation and massive protests going on in various EU nations, is our media covering it?
         
         https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2022 … ow-it-down
         
         And forget what they are reporting about the Ukraine war, some of these ludicrous reports contend that Ukraine will soon be victorious, when nothing is further from the truth.
         
         I quoted something the other day that stuck with me... we (the West) are living in a post-truth world.  Especially our MSM.

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3. 69

   abwilliamsposted 14 months ago

   There are news channels that I've viewed at one time or another, OAN and Newsmax.
   Apparently, the powers that be, don't like that I or anyone else have made the choice to turn the dial to those networks.
   The powers that be...are working to make it more difficult or impossible to view these particular news networks!
   
   So, all of that to say, I believe that news reporting MUST fit a certain narrative or else...it's the chopping block for them!
   
   I'm not coming to you from North Korea, just FYI and something to ponder.

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4. 83

   tsmogposted 14 months ago

   Just for fun and something to think about for a moment or two. In 1973 a song by a long-haired hippie type some say was a genius in his own right are the lyrics following - Frank Zappa; I'm the Slime.
   
   I am gross and perverted
   I'm obsessed and deranged
   I have existed for years
   But very little has changed
   I'm the tool of the Government
   And industry too
   For I am destined to rule
   And regulate you
   
   I may be vile and pernicious
   But you can't look away
   I make you think I'm delicious
   With the stuff that I say
   I'm the best you can get
   Have you guessed me yet?
   I'm the slime oozin' out
   From your TV set
   
   You will obey me while I lead you
   And eat the garbage that I feed you
   Until the day that we don't need you
   Don't go for help, no one will heed you
   Your mind is totally controlled
   It has been stuffed into my mold
   And you will do as you are told
   Until the rights to you are sold
   
   That's right, folks
   Don't touch that dial
   
   Well, I am the slime from your video
   Oozin' along on your livin' room floor
   I am the slime from your video
   Can't stop the slime, people, look at me go
   I am the slime from your video
   Oozin' along on your livin' room floor
   I am the slime from your video
   Can't stop the slime, people, look at me go
   
   A little about him;
   
   "Many uninformed observers saw — and perhaps still see — Zappa as a far-out liberal drug-crazed hippie and strictly zany mustachioed madman. This perception is far from the truth. Zappa thought of drugs and alcohol as stupidity enhancers, fueling instead with black coffee, peanut butter, and cigarettes. Even before he cut his hair and started wearing suits in the mid-1980s, he was a businessman whose viewpoints were as rational as they were radical. He identified as a “practical conservative” and “Constitutional fundamentalist,” favoring limited government and low taxes. “I was never a hippie,” he said. “Always a freak, but never a hippie. ”His misconstrued reputation reflects the errors of assumptions and black-and-white judgments, and his approach to politics, music and life reflected a defiance of such ideology."

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   1. 77

      Sharlee01posted 14 months agoin reply to this

      Thank you...   Seems in today's world assumption has become a tool that is being overused.

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