The illusion of choice: Still think your favorite news channels are unbiased?

[Devilius]

Six major companies own the entire shit, their revenue totalling more than 250 billion $$. You see what they want you to see. You think how they want you to think. A news which might not be in their favor is downplayed. The amount of manipulation behind the scene is obscene.

http://www.anonews.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/media-consolidation-the-illusion-of-choice_50290dc170e72_w594.jpg


All in all, it's pretty fucked up.

 

[Ms_Ann]

I don't watch the news.

 

[NOIRTRASH]

Media revenues are down 15%, as is NFL money. Megyn Kelly demands 20 million and her numbers are in free-fall.

 

[Ms_Ann]

I also don't watch the NFL. Oops...my fault,

 

[Stewart_Pidd]

if you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice bro.

Stew

 

[Hashfag45]

I don't understand, could you provide some diagrams or charts?

 

[Conager]

Television news from its very Inception has been entertainment. No one should become informed exclusively from watching the news

 

[phrodeau]

The Sun is not a news source.

 

[ryan8558]

Television news from its very Inception has been entertainment. No one should become informed exclusively from watching the news

I would say get it from the newspaper but those have become nothing more than junk mail I pay to have delivered to my house.

 

[Emerson40]

if you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice bro.

Stew

http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/736x/74/f7/28/74f72899a0e990557f6360df0493629e.jpg

 

[NOIRTRASH]

Television news from its very Inception has been entertainment. No one should become informed exclusively from watching the news

So true. The Labor Department usta catalog jobs by industry, and jugglers, and clowns, and hookers and journalists are ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY.

 

[Conager]

So true. The Labor Department usta catalog jobs by industry, and jugglers, and clowns, and hookers and journalists are ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY.

These days there is not a very discernible difference between a newscaster and a hooker.

 

[Stewart_Pidd]

These days there is not a very discernible difference between a Trump spokeswoman and a hooker.

agreed bro.

Stew

 

[Conager]

agreed bro.

Stew

aggrieved, bro.

 

[Hard_Rom]

The Sun, apparently in any country, is a populous tabloid. One step up from The Inquirer.

My favourite news source is a Crown corporation. Has a lefty bent but is not afraid to call out it's political masters when needed. Generating profits is not part of it's mandate.

http://www.cbc.radio-canada.ca/en/explore/mandate/

Mandate

The 1991 Broadcasting Act states that...

"...the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, as the national public broadcaster, should provide radio and television services incorporating a wide range of programming that informs, enlightens and entertains;

...the programming provided by the Corporation should:
i. be predominantly and distinctively Canadian, reflect Canada and its regions to national and regional audiences, while serving the special needs of those regions,
ii. actively contribute to the flow and exchange of cultural expression,
iii. be in English and in French, reflecting the different needs and circumstances of each official language community, including the particular needs and circumstances of English and French linguistic minorities,
iv. strive to be of equivalent quality in English and French,
v. contribute to shared national consciousness and identity,
vi. be made available throughout Canada by the most appropriate and efficient means and as resources become available for the purpose, and
vii. reflect the multicultural and multiracial nature of Canada."1

We have had two Governor Generals come from the CBC. GGs, for the poor benighted foreigners to the south, are effectively our head of state and CinC.

 

[chillywilly2]

The Sun is not a news source.

Correct, the Sun is a light and energy source

 

[Hypoxia]

Media have always been biased in favor of their owners. Duh. Most of the owners want lotsa money. Some of the owners have been and are political organizations. All the owners order their minions to do whatever it takes to grab eyeballs.

Ah, but with the iNet, one needs little budget or profits to become a News Site and one needn't bother with verifiable facts. Vivid factoids will do. Yes, HRC *is* a demon from Hell! Yes, there *are* black helicopters ferrying UN troops to... somewhere. Has anyone reported on the alien implants that showed up in Tromp's X-rays? Or HRC's vestigial horns?

 

[renard_ruse]

We need to break up Big Media by aggressively using the anti-trust laws.

We also need a national certification board that news outlets can go to for certification that they are fair and balanced. It would be strictly voluntary, the news outlet would not be required to get certified, but it would be a powerful advertising tool for those outlets that do. Sort of like a Better Business Bureau for the news media.

It wouldn't apply to commentary shows of course, so the boundary between news and commentary would once again become clear and news outlets could no longer blur the two.

 

[Ms_Ann]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/90/Cronkitejfkdeath.gif/220px-Cronkitejfkdeath.gif

 

[about_average]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/90/Cronkitejfkdeath.gif/220px-Cronkitejfkdeath.gif

His autobiography was very interesting.

 

[Hypoxia]

We need to break up Big Media by aggressively using the anti-trust laws.

Except the big guys aren't trusts, monopolies -- they're more like cartels. Can anti-trust law handle such? I'm uninformed there.

I certainly agree that the media-commo giants should be shrunk. But how? Maybe use the 1985 AT&T breakup as a model, enforcing regional limits, and barring the new entities from re-uniting. That can happen with FCC rules, and congressional and judicial support. Right.

We also need a national certification board that news outlets can go to for certification that they are fair and balanced. It would be strictly voluntary, the news outlet would not be required to get certified, but it would be a powerful advertising tool for those outlets that do. Sort of like a Better Business Bureau for the news media.

The big guys would *strenuously* resist certification, seeing it as the gateway to gov't takeover. Or they would simply buy members of the board. That's traditional.

Look, 'news' organizations will *never* be "fair and balanced". They are always biased in their owners' interests. Biased gatekeepers select what to report. It ain't news till it's reported, and if it ain't news, it doesn't matter. Editors and reporters wishing to remain employed present what the owners want presented.

The cure? A new Fairness Doctrine applied to areas under FCC jurisdiction.

 

[4est_4est_Gump]

*groan*


The Luddites throw Fairness Doctrine at a non-problem.

So what? It's not a three-channel world anymore. It's an information age. Information is at our fingertips...

 

[Disgustipated]

*groan*


The Luddites throw Fairness Doctrine at a non-problem.

So what? It's not a three-channel world anymore. It's an information age. Information is at our fingertips...

How the fuck are you so uninformed, then? Waiting on the delivery of new tiny hands?

 

[Colonel Hogan]

*groan*


The Luddites throw Fairness Doctrine at a non-problem.

So what? It's not a three-channel world anymore. It's an information age. Information is at our fingertips...

I had about a three page argument in my mind attacking the absurdity of the OP and Hypoxia's nonsense in the context of the First Amendment, among other things.

Thanks for saving me the trouble.

 

[Christobal]

The news is just like Entertainment Tonight. They have studied their audience. They know who you are and present things that will appeal to you.

This will apply to every single channel. They want ad revenue and that is all.