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The News: Actual Facts or Something Else? (NO politics please)

DufferToo

DufferToo

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In this era of being "connected" 24/7 has the news evolved into something other than a supplier of the facts? Reporters have always wanted to be the first to publish a story and editors have always gone by the adage "if it bleeds, it leads".

I'm definitely not the first to question the morals/ethics of the newsroom. Don Henley wrote "Dirty Laundry" in which he sings about it and I'm sure that everyone has read a news story and finished thinking, what?. However, has the desire to generate revenue by "click-bait" become so integral to the business model that actual reporting of the facts become an afterthought?

Anything that gets people to click on the link seems to be fair game. IMHO the current Covid-19 pandemic is a great example.

Thoughts?
 
Journalistic ethics may well be an oxymoron.
 
There's little research on some stories now... and click-baity titles.

I want news with substance but find a lot of it is empty of content.
 
I think we're past the point of no return for news sources that are Nationally televised. Ratings matter far more than accuracy, and I am starting to genuinely think that motivations to steer people in certain opinions are present for monetary gain.

I hate it. I have zero faith in it.
 
I avoid watching the networks if I can. They all have an agenda and bias. Some worse than others.

I keep to the Wall Street Journal and Economist. Nobody is perfect, but I feel like they there is an attempt at real reporting and honesty.
 
It's basically nationally publicized social media these days. It's all click bait, or bait and switch, or one of those things where they give you the news, but only if you click through 20 pages of next with a bunch of ads thrown in.

As great as technology is and how much information is out there, it's seemed to kill any semblance of journalism left because with it came Facebook/twitter/instagram. As social media grew, so did what the news stations figured got people to click and tune in...which spoiler alert, isn't facts.
 
Click bait titles and one sided articles with no real investigative insight let alone obvious bias are unfortunately the norm. Media knows what sells, and that includes being first to report.

End result is not something I enjoy.
 
I live with a couple of journalist. One in print, the other former television. Local news doesnt really need a bias. Folks watch it if they want the local stories but crime apparently only happens in the poor part of town. Wouldnt want to make the advertisers mad.
I think many national reporters are honest people. They have a bias like we all do but they try to report what they see. Seems like the editors and news directors set the tone of the news based on where the shareholders and station managers want it to go.
 
I think 99% of the news media is absolute trash. I don't watch any of the MSM, they're horribly biased hacks and don't even make much of an effort to hide it anymore. News media nowadays is all about the ratings and clicks that drive their profits, so the more sensationalist they are, the more money they make. There's no "investigative" in journalism anymore, they just parrot whatever they want people to believe and put their spin on it without bothering to make sure it's factual first. If I saw on the news that the sky was blue, I'd walk outside myself to verify it before I believed it.
 
annsguy said:
crime apparently only happens in the poor part of town. Wouldnt want to make the advertisers mad.
Click to expand...

that's an interesting take. the time I spent interning at two local news stations, I never saw anything like that.

on one hand, the news cannot be state-run, for fear of filtering the truth. on the other, the news is therefore a for-profit endeavor that is struggling to stay relevant in the information age, and must therefore adapt. that adaptation so far has come with a degradation in quality and substance.
 
McLovin said:
that's an interesting take. the time I spent interning at two local news stations, I never saw anything like that.

on one hand, the news cannot be state-run, for fear of filtering the truth. on the other, the news is therefore a for-profit endeavor that is struggling to stay relevant in the information age, and must therefore adapt. that adaptation so far has come with a degradation in quality and substance.
Click to expand...
I think it's more prevalent in some cities/areas than others. But I get where they are coming from. Now it could also be partly because worse neighborhoods tend to generally have more news worthy crime, but I can remember from news in Columbus for example, the crime stories tended to come from a specific area of the city mostly. But, it was also generally known even without the news to not be a great spot.
 
Bottom line, can't trust what is being said anymore. I don't know what's real, what's slanted, or what's opinion. Gone are the days of honesty.
 
Complicated topic. First, this depends on what people mean by facts. Most decide truth based on how it fits with personal beliefs. Generalizing this, the approach is that If I don't like the information, it must be false. This is a big problem. Another problem is the context for how "facts" are presented. For example, 10 people died vs. Emperor Zing's slow response killed 10 people! The other problem is bias in source. I hear this all the time. Oh, that was from NBC/FOX/CBS/CNN/...; I don't trust them. In recent years this is mostly based on political viewpoint. Finally people don't take the time to fact check reporting. Emerging stories are very difficult to get all the facts exactly right, but people still want to and need to hear what is happening. But ultimately, the reader/news-consumer needs to dig deeper. Sadly, most rarely go beyond a headline before deciding whether a report is true or false.

If we want better and more objective media coverage, then we have to be better and more objective new consumers. The big collective we won't do that. We want news that fits how we see the world. It is far more comforting.
 
McLovin said:
that's an interesting take. the time I spent interning at two local news stations, I never saw anything like that.

on one hand, the news cannot be state-run, for fear of filtering the truth. on the other, the news is therefore a for-profit endeavor that is struggling to stay relevant in the information age, and must therefore adapt. that adaptation so far has come with a degradation in quality and substance.
Click to expand...
Agreed. State run news organizations would/could be worse than what we currently have.

Newspapers, both big and small, have closed down or have gone on-line. Social media as a news source has significantly changed if not killed off actual reporting.

In the Covid-19 local impact thread a THPer talked about a local news reporter that cleared off shelves in a store to use as a background for his "shortage" story. Sad.
 
For the most part the news isn't the news anymore as it is agenda pushing manipulation. Hopefully people are clear headed enough to see through it and form their own opinions, not simply swallow the opinions of others.
 
I used to watch some national news a decade ago but not much because I was busy raising kids. Now I can't watch any national television news other than financial news shows such as Squawk Box, Fast Money or small doses of Maria Bartiromo. Most of my TV viewing for the year is watching the NFL but that is also less and less each year. There are lots of days especially in summer when I don't watch any TV and if I do it's likely for less than 30 minutes of something like Golf Channel highlights. I do watch a few series like the Mandalorian but none of the ones I watch are currently on and won't be until the fall.

All my political or current events news I get from a couple of websites like Real Clear Politics where I can be selective about what news I digest.
 
GoldenBuff said:
Complicated topic. First, this depends on what people mean by facts. Most decide truth based on how it fits with personal beliefs. Generalizing this, the approach is that If I don't like the information, it must be false. This is a big problem. Another problem is the context for how "facts" are presented. For example, 10 people died vs. Emperor Zing's slow response killed 10 people! The other problem is bias in source. I hear this all the time. Oh, that was from NBC/FOX/CBS/CNN/...; I don't trust them. In recent years this is mostly based on political viewpoint. Finally people don't take the time to fact check reporting. Emerging stories are very difficult to get all the facts exactly right, but people still want to and need to hear what is happening. But ultimately, the reader/news-consumer needs to dig deeper. Sadly, most rarely go beyond a headline before deciding whether a report is true or false.

If we want better and more objective media . The big collective we won't do that. We want news that fits how we see the world. It is far more comforting.
Click to expand...
Unfortunately, if you ask "the collective WE" doesn't "have time" to dig deeper. The sad truth is that most (?) people are content with 30 second sound bites or even worse going with the herd vs independent thought.
ToddJ027b said:
Bottom line, can't trust what is being said anymore. I don't know what's real, what's slanted, or what's opinion. Gone are the days of honesty.
Click to expand...
And just because it's reposted on several outlets doesn't make it true.

I used to access news from around the world just to get the different perspectives and hopefully determine what the facts are. Now, it seems like it's just the same repackaged stories.
 
I stick with the reliable for almost 40 years of print - NYT, WAPO (#1 and #3 news in world), Economist.

At least they check sources - for some stories, they have over 50 sources. And news is reported as facts and editorials as opinion. And if they get it wrong, they retract. I've voted on all sides of the aisle if you must know.

Try to listen to news and questions without having a favorite - it's tough, it hurts but it is a good lesson. When your favorite is not a favorite, ask yourself if the questioning is fair .. most can't do it. It's tough for me and I'm telling myself no favorites, just observe and listen.

I'm not into news entertainment, paranoia, or conspiracies, as I've grown more senior. Some pose as news sources that are not news. The simplest explanation is usually true (usually). Real life is not a novel. It's simpler. People are unethical, lazy, liars or incompetent, and some are actually honest and great at their job. It is a wide range. Good news tells you the truth with facts. Yep, sometimes they get it wrong - they're human.

My job is to analyze and all news can use words that can inflame us or cherrypick facts. I tend to avoid TV news sources because it gets exhausting at times picking through the words. And at other times, it is just annoying. Ratings game has hurt us. MSM is an easy target for some.
 
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As others have said, news isn't news anymore, and it has gotten so bad that it has filtered all the way down to reporting the weather! When was the last time the forecast called for severe weather that it wasn't reported like the next storm of the century? Bias and sensationalism is all you're going to get these days, and its been that way for quite a while.
 
A few of my favorite quotes that IMO, apply as equally to journalism as they do politics.

Those who are too smart to engage in politics are punished by being governed by those who are dumber - Plato

Suppose you were an idiot and suppose you were a member of Congress .... But I repeat myself - Mark Twain

Democracy is a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance. H.L. Mencken
 
We live in a world of instant gratification. Most people don't want to take the time to read in-depth reporting. Social media rules people's lives. It must be true I read it on the internet!
 
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