Do You Trust the Media?

[tvguy]

Old media, yes for the most part. Things that people have started considering Journalism, like TMZ, Facebook, not so much.

 

[Sanchez]

Annafloridalover, Sunshinehighway and the new/old Elka involved in a thinly veiled political dispute. Gee, what are the odds?

 

[sunshinehighway]

Annafloridalover, Sunshinehighway and the new/old Elka involved in a thinly veiled political dispute. Gee, what are the odds?

Give me a break. This whole thread is a thinly veiled political dispute.

 

[aristocatz]

I'm finding more and more I take everything with a grain of salt....

Depends on who you define as "media." The trust no links that come up on Facebook. I don't trust Fox News. I don't trust news cited on talk radio shows. I do trust my local news & NPR. & as silly as it may sound, TMZ is my go to for entertainment news-they seem to be the most accurate in that genre!

 

[sunshinehighway]

Depends on who you define as "media." The trust no links that come up on Facebook. I don't trust Fox News. I don't trust news cited on talk radio shows. I do trust my local news & NPR. & as silly as it may sound, TMZ is my go to for entertainment news-they seem to be the most accurate in that genre!

Totally agree with the bolded. If they aren't reporting x celebrity died then I know it's a hoax.

 

[AnnaFloridaLover]

Annafloridalover, Sunshinehighway and the new/old Elka involved in a thinly veiled political dispute. Gee, what are the odds?

You are quite the super sleuth aren't you. Please quote my thinly veiled political disputes so I can defend myself.

 

[AquamarineSteph]

I guess it depends on how you define 'the media' in your question.

Are there bunk news sites out there? Absolutely. You can easily ID them. They use hysteria and innuendo and fear to push 'conversations' and drive views on their media platform. Real news sites have reporters who have credentials, backgrounds, and verify their sources. Real news sites try to present all sides of a story.

Is any journalistic platform 100% accurate? Of course not. No single person is 100% accurate about everything, regardless of their profession. But I do trust the media I have researched. And a free press is essential to the lasting democracy of the United States.

 

[Magpie]

I don't think "the Media" is a thing. It's definitely not something you can trust or mistrust.

There are a lot of different sources for news, information and entertainment. Some of it comes from the internet, some of it from the TV, some of it shows up in print. Each of these is uploaded, filmed, written, etc, by individuals, some of whom are working for big companies, some of whom aren't.

I like Philip DeFranco on YouTube. I find him very fair and balanced.

I like the Economist in print. I find them very accurate.

I like the BBC online. Also generally accurate, in my experience.

I like my local news, even if they're often inaccurate, ridiculous and sometimes I end up shouting at the TV. But, who else is going to tell me the weather? Besides, I've bonded with these folks over the years. They're like really annoying family now.

If I hear or read something that sounds dodgy, I usually look for another source. Or three.

 

[Dizneefamily+4]

The free press is a vital part of our democracy. So, yes, I support the free press, and I choose multiple news sources who practice good journalism and support them with my $$$ by subscribing. When I hear people diss the media, it makes me angry, particularly when it comes to politicians who do that. Without the free press, we'd never have known about Watergate, for example. If our free press goes away, so does our democracy. There's a very, very important reason for the 1st Amendment to our Constitution, and that includes why it was first....

Definitely this. This whole "fake news" phenomenon is in itself fake news and IMO, just a way to deflect from things in the news that one doesn't like. It's become the most annoying phrase to me.

 

[klacey1]

I didn’t read through all the posts but absolutely not. Look what they did with poor Tom Petty. CBS for crying out loud. If anything I research multiple outlets before I consider what to be true.

As a former journalist, I find it hard to vilanize "the media" as one body. I find it as unfair as vilanizing all politicians, police officers, teachers...
I worked for The Guardian and have the utmost respect for its journalists and its coverage.
For some reason, it doesn't bother me when media outlets report developing info that later turns out to be incorrect. I guess I just consider it part of informing the public about the story as it's currently believed to be--although I 100% understand why it bothers others, particularly with sensitive events like Sandy Hook, about which MANY later proven incorrect facts were reported by the mainstream media.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Give me a break. This whole thread is a thinly veiled political dispute.

"not trusting the media" is a dog whistle to many people.

 

[Poohforyou]

Do I trust every single word and not bother to independently fact check? No. Do I believe every thing that is reported is fake news? No.

I know many people who work for mainstream media. The people I know take their jobs very seriously and understand the responsibility they have to their readers/watchers.

I think it's incumbent on each person to check several sources before forming an opinion. These sources should be legitimate news sources and not those classified as entertainment.

 

[sam_gordon]

I’ve seen the picture of her in her black outfit. It is on the internet.

So let me get this right... in a thread about distrust of the media, you feel they should just use a picture because it's on the internet? Is that what you're saying?

 

[maxaroni]

Are the forecasters as overwrought over weather in other areas as they are in the Philadelphia viewing area? I've often wondered...

Things may have changed in the NYC viewing area, however, moving to the Philadelphia viewing area was eye opening. When we lived in North Jersey, we'd get some snow upon waking up, not blizzard but several inches, perhaps. The morning news would cover it but by 9:00, programming was proceeding with the normal schedule. We moved to South Jersey and WPVI had a several inch snow "storm", interrupt programming all morning long, going into the noon news. Are you kidding me?! It was crazy. How much can you talk about and when roads are nearly clear, or slushy, it is clearly time to move on.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Heather Heyer’s mother admitted that her daughter died of a heart attack.

My mother-in-law died of heart failure. Of course, she had stage 4 lung cancer. But the heart failure is what actually killed her.

Heather Heyer was hit by a car. But nobody dies from "hit by car". They die of Internal bleeding, or blunt force trauma. Or heart attack.

But you are suggesting not only did her heart kill her , it was because she was overweight and a smoker. You go on to assume that because her mom said she died of a heart attack that she must not have actualy gotten hit by the car at all, and therefore the media is lying in order to sew a narrative you don't agree with. A narrative where Neo-Nazis protested the removal of a Confederate statue and ran counter-protesters over with a car.

My mother-in-law died of heart failure, not lung cancer. Therefore she never had lung cancer and smoking didn't give it to her. That's your logic.

 

[Missy1961]

The free press is a vital part of our democracy. So, yes, I support the free press, and I choose multiple news sources who practice good journalism and support them with my $$$ by subscribing. When I hear people diss the media, it makes me angry, particularly when it comes to politicians who do that. Without the free press, we'd never have known about Watergate, for example. If our free press goes away, so does our democracy. There's a very, very important reason for the 1st Amendment to our Constitution, and that includes why it was first....

Amen to every point you made. It makes me sad and angry when so many are trying to stop the press. The first thing that goes away in dictatorships in the free press. Let's make sure that doesn't happen here.

 

[amcnj]

That's nothing new, at be least as far as using adjectives in articles. I think the problem now is people just want a way to dismiss what they don't like so they jump to it being biased.

Yes, I guess that could be part of it, that readers have become sensitive to the issue of bias in media so are noticing it more, or possibly seeing it where it doesn't exist. But after many decades of reading, it just feels to me that there is more opinion tucked into stories than there used to be. I guess I need to look at some newspapers from days of yore and see if I just didn't notice the opinions as much before, or if things have changed.

 

[maxaroni]

We have friends who work for MSM and are serious journalists.

I think that the news has changed in the last 20/25 years with the advent of the internet, cable news (24/7 news is so repetitive). News stories can get covered relentlessly and how much can you say. To change it up, you have a panel and it becomes several different opinions, all trying to become the "right" point. With the rush of trying to get news onto the internet, not sure editing/proofreading skills are up to par.

As for me, for many things I will have my "go to" sources but will read several sources to get different angles. I remember back when I was a kid and needing to bring a newspaper article in to school for current events. My dad told me that most news was liberal, not meaning it was necessarily bad but the news was slanted.

 

[ELKA]

So let me get this right... in a thread about distrust of the media, you feel they should just use a picture because it's on the internet? Is that what you're saying?

I think that the media should have shown what she posted on her Facebook page, told that the people protesting the White Supremecists were carrying bats and other things. There are videos and pictures of that day, maybe they should show the picture of Heyer being given CPR.

 

[L&Lfan]

Things may have changed in the NYC viewing area, however, moving to the Philadelphia viewing area was eye opening. When we lived in North Jersey, we'd get some snow upon waking up, not blizzard but several inches, perhaps. The morning news would cover it but by 9:00, programming was proceeding with the normal schedule. We moved to South Jersey and WPVI had a several inch snow "storm", interrupt programming all morning long, going into the noon news. Are you kidding me?! It was crazy. How much can you talk about and when roads are nearly clear, or slushy, it is clearly time to move on.

Yes, yes, yes! Pre-empting regular programming (which you might want to watch when youre off from school) to cover every snow flake as it falls) is a staple in South Jersey/Philadelphia! Never understood that.