On the Trump-Kim summit
On the investigations:
Thursday, June 14, 2018
Different Planets
A friend, who reads an unusually diverse set of sources, passed on some interesting pictures suggesting that our media live on different planets.
On the Trump-Kim summit
On the investigations:
On the Trump-Kim summit
On the investigations:
16 comments:
Comments are welcome. Keep it short, polite, and on topic.
Thanks to a few abusers I am now moderating comments. I welcome thoughtful disagreement. I will block comments with insulting or abusive language. I'm also blocking totally inane comments. Try to make some sense. I am much more likely to allow critical comments if you have the honesty and courage to use your real name.
I like this post, yet I think the real problem is there is far too much consensus in the media as to what is an issue or how to frame that issue.
ReplyDeleteOne of these sources is not a real news outlet...
ReplyDeleteI know CNN has had a lot of problems with fake news but it is a bit extreme to say they are not a real news outlet.
DeleteExcellent point!
ReplyDeleteMaybe not two plants but rather two visions. The visions are well explained in three books by Thomas Sowell: "The Vision of the Anointed", "A Conflict of Visions" and "Intellectuals and Society".
NEITHER of these sources is a real news outlet.
ReplyDeleteBoth of those "news outlets" I trust only to abuse my trust. To say it another way it is my expectation that they will abuse my trust. Or, again, that it is their business to abuse the trust of their audience by peddling disinformation. Therefore I pay no attention to either of them except to be concerned about their effects on the health and well being of my friends who do pay attention and even trust them.
ReplyDelete--E5
Comey was guilty of misconduct and probably handed the Presidency to Trump.
ReplyDeleteObviously wildly different perspectives on the outcome of the North Korean summit. Trump could dispel a lot of that difference by the simple expedient of releasing a copy of an agreement signed by him and Kim.
I consider the defining element of the "Enlightenment" to be a belief that objective truth/reality exists and we should strive for it.
ReplyDeleteAt least half of America has abandoned that principle.
I write this as a retired journalist who practiced the craft at a time when most news organizations, editors and reporters were devoted to accuracy and took the necessary time to verify information before publication. That devotion and commitment prevail is seen in a minority of new media today.
ReplyDeleteThe observations John Cochrane shared about how different media frame their stories are not news. Most of us have witnessed this unfortunate decline by many news organizations that once were respected sources of information. They no long are and that means those of us who are interested in seeking the truth have to spend much more time looking for it. As the speed of news and information today has increased, the level of accurate, fair and balanced reporting has declined.
News and information should not be fair or balanced, they should be accurate. People conflate editorials and opinion pieces as news, so they try for all sides for "balance". And "fair" just means no unsubstantiated gossip and people are innocent until proven guilty.
DeleteThe problem is that in selling news, companies try to sell to the largest audience, so they start using hooks, and spin, and stories (gossip) to make it "relatable" and "engrossing". It becomes opinion pieces and editorials with examples of news included for confirmation and illustration but sold as "news".
Thats why european news is more factual (which i think is better), because the source bias is more open and accepted; and news is selected to be compatible with separate editorials. So people agree on facts and discuss differences of opinion and worldview. In US, we get editorialized news presented as fact, so people become polarized and confused.
Yes, they say different things. As an academic you're supposed to be curious which one is more accurate. One of the problems with modern reporting is that reporters so often just do "he said, she said" without trying to find resolution.
ReplyDeleteI have my own views -- CNN is far more accurate than FOX -- and I'm curious about yours.
-- Jonathan Goodman, math professor, NYU
Fox is more accurate,* but accuracy is not really the relevant question. The issue is rather how the (mostly) accurate facts reported by both CNN and Fox are being characterized.
DeleteFor what it's worth: I've found that CNN characterizes its stories in a biased fashion more often than Fox, but it tends to be subtle (e.g., the top comparison). In contrast Fox reports are mostly neutral, but when they do decide to put a spin onto a story boy-oh-boy is it blatant (e.g., the bottom comparison). Not sure which is worse...
*This is by design: CNN wants to own the "breaking news" segment, and the nature of that goal means getting things wrong sometimes.
Maybe what you mean is that FN more often confirms your bias, so you think they are more accurate.
DeleteWhich is why you think CNN is "putting a spin on things", since they are reporting on facts but you disagree with their assumption that it is "good" or "bad" as it aligns (or doesnt) with your own world view.
In the screenshots shown, the FN one is false. North Korea DID NOT vow to have complete denuclearization. Thats what the US wants. Whereas the headlines in CNN are factual true.
I agree. I would also add there is only one planet. Either JC is naïve (I don’t think so), and thinks Fox news is trying to cover the new in a fair and balanced way, or JC has some other motivation (I’m not trying to guess) and is trying to display both networks as engaging in the same thing. JC knows what the talking heads at Fox “report” --especially in the evening -- and that is fine if JC likes it, but JC doesn't have to insult his readers’ intelligence. His blog is great, especially when he is not posting this kind of stuff.
ReplyDeleteCan anybody explain for me why it is that people who consider themselves to be "conservatives" think that because I classify FN as a propaganda device they conclude that I must like CNN?
ReplyDelete--E5
Because if they watch FN they are confused. Studies have shown that FN viewers are less informed about actual events and misinformed about the ones they are aware of. People who can be propagandized, by their nature, lack critical thinkinf skills and will jump to that conslusion because FN has said CNN is the black and white alternative.
DeleteThe world is gray. Most people i know dont equate the two. FN is an infotainment propaganda organ whereas CNN is weather channel and TMZ of events.