So is the Press the Enemy of the people?

[Bruce1]

America desperately needs a fair and honest press. Why? George Bush put it straight: to keep people like him (when he was in office) honest and accountable to the American People. He later broadened his statement to include that we needed a "fair and honest" press.

OK, so I would hope that everyone on both sides of the aisle would agree with that statement. The next question is how to insure that the Press provides us citizens with fair and honest reporting?

Answer: Journalistic associations, and there are several, all have a Code of Ethics for their members that give them guidelines for collecting information, methods for handling confidentiality, and other aspects reporting

Here are just a few:

https://www.spj.org/ethicscode.asp

https://www.meaa.org/meaa-media/code-of-ethics/

https://nppa.org/code-ethics

So how is the Press doing in meeting the needs of our citizens? The answer is, in my opinion, to ask the people how they feel the Press is fulfilling their responsibilities. There are also many polls that are run periodically that show what Americans think about the Press' performance. Virtually all them say the same thing: the Press is doing a lousy job of giving us fair and objective information.

Here are just a few;

https://news.gallup.com/poll/195542/americans-trust-mass-media-sinks-new-low.aspx

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/16/americans-fake-news-study-339184

https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/tim-graham/2018/06/27/trust-news-media-continues-sink

There is one very obvious factor that comes across in virtually all of the polls and that is that there is a very significant difference in the attitudes of respondents based on party affiliation. That said, the highest rated group of respondents are Democrats at around 50% negative in their views.
For people on this board I have the following question: If only one half of the people in our country think that the Press is giving them fair and honest job are they the friends of the American People? If any of us worked for companies that only satisfied 50 % of our customers we would be unemployed in an instant. I think we should be able to agree that the Press is NOT the friend of the American people.

So if the Press is not our friend then what to we call them? I say the enemy even though that word is inflammatory, I think it is the best descriptor because by not doing its job the Press is actually adding to the dissension within our counry.

Final comment: it is no surprise to most on this board that I am Conservative. That said, I consider Fox to be the worst of all of the news sources closely followed by MSNBC and CNN. For me, I consider NPR to do the best job at presenting info accurately while presenting both sides of the story.

 

[UncleMark]

...I consider Fox to be the worst of all of the news sources closely followed by MSNBC and CNN. For me, I consider NPR to do the best job at presenting info accurately while presenting both sides of the story.

Fox with it's "Fair & Balanced" shtick is beyond the pale. MSNBC is no less slanted, but they don't make any bones about it. (I don't watch enough CNN to have an opinion.) The worst part of all of this is the rise of opinion masquerading as news. I know when I watch Rachel I'm watching a purely partisan, slanted presentation. Others may take what they hear from her as Gospel. The same thing happens with Hannity. Rachel and Hannity are not news, but they get lumped into "news" in many people's minds.

For straight news I rely on NPR, Lester Holt (NBC), and PBS Newshour. Even from those sources, Trump doesn't come off well. That doesn't make the reporting any less accurate or "fair". When you're constantly doing outrageous stuff and lying through your teeth, a proper reporting of that meets the standards for good journalism.

 

[NPT]

I think the press creates a lot of problems or makes the problem worse. Let face it a lot of people love attention and will do things to get attention. It's like the players kneeling for the national anthem.... they should have just ignored that. The here comes Trump and makes it even more of a problem. If the players didn't get a lot of attention it would probably stop. I think they have a right to kneel (even though I don't like it) if they want as long as it's not against league rules.

 

[Timmy!]

America desperately needs a fair and honest press. Why? George Bush put it straight: to keep people like him (when he was in office) honest and accountable to the American People. He later broadened his statement to include that we needed a "fair and honest" press.

OK, so I would hope that everyone on both sides of the aisle would agree with that statement. The next question is how to insure that the Press provides us citizens with fair and honest reporting?

Answer: Journalistic associations, and there are several, all have a Code of Ethics for their members that give them guidelines for collecting information, methods for handling confidentiality, and other aspects reporting

Here are just a few:

https://www.spj.org/ethicscode.asp

https://www.meaa.org/meaa-media/code-of-ethics/

https://nppa.org/code-ethics

So how is the Press doing in meeting the needs of our citizens? The answer is, in my opinion, to ask the people how they feel the Press is fulfilling their responsibilities. There are also many polls that are run periodically that show what Americans think about the Press' performance. Virtually all them say the same thing: the Press is doing a lousy job of giving us fair and objective information.

Here are just a few;

https://news.gallup.com/poll/195542/americans-trust-mass-media-sinks-new-low.aspx

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/16/americans-fake-news-study-339184

https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/tim-graham/2018/06/27/trust-news-media-continues-sink

There is one very obvious factor that comes across in virtually all of the polls and that is that there is a very significant difference in the attitudes of respondents based on party affiliation. That said, the highest rated group of respondents are Democrats at around 50% negative in their views.
For people on this board I have the following question: If only one half of the people in our country think that the Press is giving them fair and honest job are they the friends of the American People? If any of us worked for companies that only satisfied 50 % of our customers we would be unemployed in an instant. I think we should be able to agree that the Press is NOT the friend of the American people.

So if the Press is not our friend then what to we call them? I say the enemy even though that word is inflammatory, I think it is the best descriptor because by not doing its job the Press is actually adding to the dissension within our counry.

Final comment: it is no surprise to most on this board that I am Conservative. That said, I consider Fox to be the worst of all of the news sources closely followed by MSNBC and CNN. For me, I consider NPR to do the best job at presenting info accurately while presenting both sides of the story.

The press, and when I say press, I mean legally defined actual news sources, not entities filed under as entertainment sources (ahem Fox), overwhelmingly so, is doing its job with integrity. The press is not, and has never been, the enemy of the people.

The only reason this sentiment exists for far too many in this country to the outrageous extent that it does, is because of the bad-faith, self-serving and enormously false narrative that Trump, his cronies, and enablers have persistently and repeatedly indoctrinated into the minds of the millions of Americans that are vulnerable to and/or are seeking a reason, any reason, to take on such a position.

This "the press is the enemy of the people" sentiment/narrative is flat-out wrong. It is wrong in both the sense that it is factually untrue, as well as it is morally wrong in the sense that the entire thing has been cooked up with nefarious intentions, and in a highly calculated manner at that.

 

[TheOriginalHappyGoat]

Fox with it's "Fair & Balanced" shtick is beyond the pale. MSNBC is no less slanted, but they don't make any bones about it. (I don't watch enough CNN to have an opinion.) The worst part of all of this is the rise of opinion masquerading as news. I know when I watch Rachel I'm watching a purely partisan, slanted presentation. Others may take what they hear from her as Gospel. The same thing happens with Hannity. Rachel and Hannity are not news, but they get lumped into "news" in many people's minds.

For straight news I rely on NPR, Lester Holt (NBC), and PBS Newshour. Even from those sources, Trump doesn't come off well. That doesn't make the reporting any less accurate or "fair". When you're constantly doing outrageous stuff and lying through your teeth, a proper reporting of that meets the standards for good journalism.

Where FNC differs from MSNBC is not partisanship, but quality. Maddow is just as partisan has Hannity, but her show holds itself to much higher journalistic standards. As you allude to, that could be a consequence of Trump. I.e., it's easy for Maddow to present reality, because reality matches her political biases, whereas Hannity has no choice but to make stuff up, because the facts simply don't fit into his slant. If we had a complete jackass in the White House who just happened to be a liberal Democrat, it's very possible that we'd see Maddow start pushing the envelope, and Hannity start reaching for the ethical stars. Hopefully, we'll never find out, and Trump will end up being the only President we have who is like...well, him.

CNN has become absolutely worthless. Watching Don Lemon gradually lose all the shits he has left to give is entertaining, but it's not news.

There are so many good journalists reporting on politics in essentially real time for WaPo, WSJ, NYT, LAT, NY Mag, Bloomberg, Vanity Fair, The Guardian, etc., that I really see no reason to turn to cable news for information, anymore. The only reason I tune in is just to see what the cable talking heads are saying. In other words, if I watch, I'm watching to learn about the state of cable news, not to learn about what they are actually reporting on.

 

[UncleMark]

Maddow is just as partisan has Hannity, but her show holds itself to much higher journalistic standards. As you allude to, that could be a consequence of Trump. I.e., it's easy for Maddow to present reality, because reality matches her political biases, whereas Hannity has no choice but to make stuff up, because the facts simply don't fit into his slant.

This may be nothing more than my slanted perspective, but I see Hannity et al as nothing more than shills for Trump and his sycophants. Facts are irrelevant. They are literally the propaganda arm for this administration. I don't recall Rachel or the other MSNBC being so obsequious to Obama. Sure, they gave him favorable coverage, but didn't seem to be reciting his talking points verbatim or blatantly lying on his behalf.

 

[TheOriginalHappyGoat]

This may be nothing more than my slanted perspective, but I see Hannity et al as nothing more than shills for Trump and his sycophants. Facts are irrelevant. They are literally the propaganda arm for this administration. I don't recall Rachel or the other MSNBC being so obsequious to Obama. Sure, they gave him favorable coverage, but didn't seem to be reciting his talking points verbatim or blatantly lying on his behalf.

No, you're right. Hannity is a propagandist. Maddow is a journalist with a bias. I was attempting to give Hannity some benefit of the doubt by pointing out that Maddow is helped by the facts also being biased in her favor, rather than assuming that it's simply a matter of her having better ethics than Hannity.

 

[anon_mlxxvlbug9dpa]

America desperately needs a fair and honest press. Why? George Bush put it straight: to keep people like him (when he was in office) honest and accountable to the American People. He later broadened his statement to include that we needed a "fair and honest" press.

OK, so I would hope that everyone on both sides of the aisle would agree with that statement. The next question is how to insure that the Press provides us citizens with fair and honest reporting?

Answer: Journalistic associations, and there are several, all have a Code of Ethics for their members that give them guidelines for collecting information, methods for handling confidentiality, and other aspects reporting

Here are just a few:

https://www.spj.org/ethicscode.asp

https://www.meaa.org/meaa-media/code-of-ethics/

https://nppa.org/code-ethics

So how is the Press doing in meeting the needs of our citizens? The answer is, in my opinion, to ask the people how they feel the Press is fulfilling their responsibilities. There are also many polls that are run periodically that show what Americans think about the Press' performance. Virtually all them say the same thing: the Press is doing a lousy job of giving us fair and objective information.

Here are just a few;

https://news.gallup.com/poll/195542/americans-trust-mass-media-sinks-new-low.aspx

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/16/americans-fake-news-study-339184

https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/tim-graham/2018/06/27/trust-news-media-continues-sink

There is one very obvious factor that comes across in virtually all of the polls and that is that there is a very significant difference in the attitudes of respondents based on party affiliation. That said, the highest rated group of respondents are Democrats at around 50% negative in their views.
For people on this board I have the following question: If only one half of the people in our country think that the Press is giving them fair and honest job are they the friends of the American People? If any of us worked for companies that only satisfied 50 % of our customers we would be unemployed in an instant. I think we should be able to agree that the Press is NOT the friend of the American people.

So if the Press is not our friend then what to we call them? I say the enemy even though that word is inflammatory, I think it is the best descriptor because by not doing its job the Press is actually adding to the dissension within our counry.

Final comment: it is no surprise to most on this board that I am Conservative. That said, I consider Fox to be the worst of all of the news sources closely followed by MSNBC and CNN. For me, I consider NPR to do the best job at presenting info accurately while presenting both sides of the story.

So, I agree with you that NPR is a great source of news as is Reuters. I also agree with you that Fox is the worst of the “Big 3”.

However, I disagree with you that the way to measure whether we have a fair and free press is to ask the citizenry. The citizenry, at scale, lack the patience, time for research, and critical thinking required to evaluate the performance of big journalism. The citizenry are far too sensitive to propaganda and fall victim to their preconceived biases too easily.

While I don’t have a golden bullet solution for how to measure, I think a better way is to ask the journalists themselves, anonymously. Much like athletes in a sport are far better at IDing the best players in their sport than is the public, I’d suspect that you would get honest answers from a large sample of journalists as to whether they feel obligated to slant their reporting based on their employers’ interests or if they feel their colleagues fall victim to their preconceived biases.

Edited for crappy autocorrects

 

[Ladoga]

America desperately needs a fair and honest press. Why? George Bush put it straight: to keep people like him (when he was in office) honest and accountable to the American People. He later broadened his statement to include that we needed a "fair and honest" press.

OK, so I would hope that everyone on both sides of the aisle would agree with that statement. The next question is how to insure that the Press provides us citizens with fair and honest reporting?

Answer: Journalistic associations, and there are several, all have a Code of Ethics for their members that give them guidelines for collecting information, methods for handling confidentiality, and other aspects reporting

Here are just a few:

https://www.spj.org/ethicscode.asp

https://www.meaa.org/meaa-media/code-of-ethics/

https://nppa.org/code-ethics

So how is the Press doing in meeting the needs of our citizens? The answer is, in my opinion, to ask the people how they feel the Press is fulfilling their responsibilities. There are also many polls that are run periodically that show what Americans think about the Press' performance. Virtually all them say the same thing: the Press is doing a lousy job of giving us fair and objective information.

Here are just a few;

https://news.gallup.com/poll/195542/americans-trust-mass-media-sinks-new-low.aspx

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/16/americans-fake-news-study-339184

https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/tim-graham/2018/06/27/trust-news-media-continues-sink

There is one very obvious factor that comes across in virtually all of the polls and that is that there is a very significant difference in the attitudes of respondents based on party affiliation. That said, the highest rated group of respondents are Democrats at around 50% negative in their views.
For people on this board I have the following question: If only one half of the people in our country think that the Press is giving them fair and honest job are they the friends of the American People? If any of us worked for companies that only satisfied 50 % of our customers we would be unemployed in an instant. I think we should be able to agree that the Press is NOT the friend of the American people.

So if the Press is not our friend then what to we call them? I say the enemy even though that word is inflammatory, I think it is the best descriptor because by not doing its job the Press is actually adding to the dissension within our counry.

Final comment: it is no surprise to most on this board that I am Conservative. That said, I consider Fox to be the worst of all of the news sources closely followed by MSNBC and CNN. For me, I consider NPR to do the best job at presenting info accurately while presenting both sides of the story.

No the press is not the enemy of the people and Trump didn't say they are. He said the Fake News Media are the enemy of the people. I wish liberal leaders on this board would answer the question posed instead of intentionally misleading the folks like the Fake News Media they defend

 

[Rockfish1]

No the press is not the enemy of the people and Trump didn't say they are. He said the Fake News Media are the enemy of the people. I wish liberal leaders on this board would answer the question posed instead of intentionally misleading the folks like the Fake News Media they defend

LOL

 

[Bruce1]

So, I agree with you that NPR is a great source of news as is Reuters. I also agree with you that Fox is the worst of the “Big 3”.

However, I disagree with you that the way to measure whether we have a fair and free pressure is to ask the citizenry. The citizenry, at scale, lack the patience, time for research, and critical thinking required to evaluate the performance of big journalism. The citizenry at far too sensitive to propaganda and fall victim to their preconceived biases too easily.

While I don’t have a Golden bullet solution to how to measure, I think a better way is to ask the journalists themselves, anonymously. Much like athletes in a sport are far better at IDing the best players in their sport than is the public, I’d suspect that you do get honest answers from a large sample of journalists as to whether they feel obligated to slant their reporting based on their employers’ interests or if they feel their colleagues fall victim to their preconceived biases.

The end “customer” are the American People. That’s like General Motors tells no car buyers what the should want in a car. It won’t work. The American people are smart.....except for the 5% at each end of the spectrum.

 

[Bruce1]

No, you're right. Hannity is a propagandist. Maddow is a journalist with a bias. I was attempting to give Hannity some benefit of the doubt by pointing out that Maddow is helped by the facts also being biased in her favor, rather than assuming that it's simply a matter of her having better ethics than Hannity.

I don’t consider either one of them Journalists.

 

[Bruce1]

The press, and when I say press, I mean legally defined actual news sources, not entities filed under as entertainment sources (ahem Fox), overwhelmingly so, is doing its job with integrity. The press is not, and has never been, the enemy of the people.

The only reason this sentiment exists for far too many in this country to the outrageous extent that it does, is because of the bad-faith, self-serving and enormously false narrative that Trump, his cronies, and enablers have persistently and repeatedly indoctrinated into the minds of the millions of Americans that are vulnerable to and/or are seeking a reason, any reason, to take on such a position.

This "the press is the enemy of the people" sentiment/narrative is flat-out wrong. It is wrong in both the sense that it is factually untrue, as well as it is morally wrong in the sense that the entire thing has been cooked up with nefarious intentions, and in a highly calculated manner at that.

So your are satisfied that 50% of Democrats don’t believe the news?

 

[anon_mlxxvlbug9dpa]

The American people are not smart or we wouldn’t be in the mess we are in now.

I fully agree that at scale, the American people are not smart. Simple statistics would say that the average American is of average intelligence.

However, if you’re making the point that more Republicans fall into the lesser intelligent category, then I’ll have to disagree. There are plenty of stupids on the left and I can cite examples off the cuff immediately.

 

[Bruce1]

America desperately needs a fair and honest press. Why? George Bush put it straight: to keep people like him (when he was in office) honest and accountable to the American People. He later broadened his statement to include that we needed a "fair and honest" press.

OK, so I would hope that everyone on both sides of the aisle would agree with that statement. The next question is how to insure that the Press provides us citizens with fair and honest reporting?

Answer: Journalistic associations, and there are several, all have a Code of Ethics for their members that give them guidelines for collecting information, methods for handling confidentiality, and other aspects reporting

Here are just a few:

https://www.spj.org/ethicscode.asp

https://www.meaa.org/meaa-media/code-of-ethics/

https://nppa.org/code-ethics

So how is the Press doing in meeting the needs of our citizens? The answer is, in my opinion, to ask the people how they feel the Press is fulfilling their responsibilities. There are also many polls that are run periodically that show what Americans think about the Press' performance. Virtually all them say the same thing: the Press is doing a lousy job of giving us fair and objective information.

Here are just a few;

https://news.gallup.com/poll/195542/americans-trust-mass-media-sinks-new-low.aspx

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/16/americans-fake-news-study-339184

https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/tim-graham/2018/06/27/trust-news-media-continues-sink

There is one very obvious factor that comes across in virtually all of the polls and that is that there is a very significant difference in the attitudes of respondents based on party affiliation. That said, the highest rated group of respondents are Democrats at around 50% negative in their views.
For people on this board I have the following question: If only one half of the people in our country think that the Press is giving them fair and honest job are they the friends of the American People? If any of us worked for companies that only satisfied 50 % of our customers we would be unemployed in an instant. I think we should be able to agree that the Press is NOT the friend of the American people.

So if the Press is not our friend then what to we call them? I say the enemy even though that word is inflammatory, I think it is the best descriptor because by not doing its job the Press is actually adding to the dissension within our counry.

Final comment: it is no surprise to most on this board that I am Conservative. That said, I consider Fox to be the worst of all of the news sources closely followed by MSNBC and CNN. For me, I consider NPR to do the best job at presenting info accurately while presenting both sides of the story.

I don’t see this as a partisan issue. The issue is that the media, in order to make money, needs ratings and clicks. That is why they have become so bad. For the life of me I can’t understan those that immediately choose sides politically on almost every issue on this board. As far as Trump’s BS he has certainly made the situation worse, much worse. That said the lack of credibility of the Press has been getting worse for a long time before Trump came on the scene.

 

[Bruce1]

I fully agree that at scale, the American people are not smart. Simple statistics would say that the average American is of average intelligence.

However, if you’re making the point that more Republicans fall into the lesser intelligent category, then I’ll have to disagree. There are plenty of stupids on the left and I can cite examples off the cuff immediately.

I don’t think you give The American people enough credit, that is sad.

 

[TheOriginalHappyGoat]

I fully agree that at scale, the American people are not smart. Simple statistics would say that the average American is of average intelligence.

However, if you’re making the point that more Republicans fall into the lesser intelligent category, then I’ll have to disagree. There are plenty of stupids on the left and I can cite examples off the cuff immediately.

People are stupid all over. That the GOP is the party that became ensared in Trumpism is a result of other factors as well, having little to do with intelligence.

 

[i'vegotwinners]

Where FNC differs from MSNBC is not partisanship, but quality. Maddow is just as partisan has Hannity, but her show holds itself to much higher journalistic standards. As you allude to, that could be a consequence of Trump. I.e., it's easy for Maddow to present reality, because reality matches her political biases, whereas Hannity has no choice but to make stuff up, because the facts simply don't fit into his slant. If we had a complete jackass in the White House who just happened to be a liberal Democrat, it's very possible that we'd see Maddow start pushing the envelope, and Hannity start reaching for the ethical stars. Hopefully, we'll never find out, and Trump will end up being the only President we have who is like...well, him.

CNN has become absolutely worthless. Watching Don Lemon gradually lose all the shits he has left to give is entertaining, but it's not news.

There are so many good journalists reporting on politics in essentially real time for WaPo, WSJ, NYT, LAT, NY Mag, Bloomberg, Vanity Fair, The Guardian, etc., that I really see no reason to turn to cable news for information, anymore. The only reason I tune in is just to see what the cable talking heads are saying. In other words, if I watch, I'm watching to learn about the state of cable news, not to learn about what they are actually reporting on.

the state of tv news is a function of the reality that tv news, including C-Span, is either outright owned and financed by big telecom, (Comcast, AT&T), or is 100% financed by big telecom and Wall St.

100%

in the later, where not actually outright owned by big telecom, (at least at the moment), it's still mostly financed by big telecom, and big pharma big healthcare big auto finances the rest.

big telecom literally always has it's financial interests before the FCC, FTC, the legislatures, and the courts, all of which are 100% govt controlled.

big telecom serves it's own financial interests, not the people or the consumer.

that's "capitalism", and under "capitalism", can be no other way. (not debating capitalism here, just stating a fact).

thus the govt can and does, though indirectly through the FCC, FTC, and the legislature, dictate to tv news what to cover and not cover, and where to keep the citizenry's attention focused and where to steer all focus away from.

big pharma and big healthcare also dictate to tv news. (and to govt).

as for the NYT, WP, and a few others, who are about the only ones in the US doing anything investigative at all, they too steer clear of pissing off Wall Street, which pretty much disqualifies them from covering in any significance the number one danger to our democracy, governance, and elections, and what controls our govt and elections 1,000 times more than Russia ever could.

"hey everybody, look over here. don't look over there".

we've all been though the inch by inch, moment by moment, follow the money, analysis of the Russia thing and everyone remotely involved.

when was the last time telecom or healthcare or pharma or trade policy or tax policy or defense policy or energy policy, regulation or legislation, was covered in such a moment by moment, follow the money trail way, by even the WP or NYT or even The Guardian?

the most important issue facing us, and the one issue that dictates behind the scenes how all other issues are dealt with, is still being covered by no one. tv or print or big internet.

 

[VanPastorMan]

America desperately needs a fair and honest press. Why? George Bush put it straight: to keep people like him (when he was in office) honest and accountable to the American People. He later broadened his statement to include that we needed a "fair and honest" press.

OK, so I would hope that everyone on both sides of the aisle would agree with that statement. The next question is how to insure that the Press provides us citizens with fair and honest reporting?

Answer: Journalistic associations, and there are several, all have a Code of Ethics for their members that give them guidelines for collecting information, methods for handling confidentiality, and other aspects reporting

Here are just a few:

https://www.spj.org/ethicscode.asp

https://www.meaa.org/meaa-media/code-of-ethics/

https://nppa.org/code-ethics

So how is the Press doing in meeting the needs of our citizens? The answer is, in my opinion, to ask the people how they feel the Press is fulfilling their responsibilities. There are also many polls that are run periodically that show what Americans think about the Press' performance. Virtually all them say the same thing: the Press is doing a lousy job of giving us fair and objective information.

Here are just a few;

https://news.gallup.com/poll/195542/americans-trust-mass-media-sinks-new-low.aspx

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/16/americans-fake-news-study-339184

https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/tim-graham/2018/06/27/trust-news-media-continues-sink

There is one very obvious factor that comes across in virtually all of the polls and that is that there is a very significant difference in the attitudes of respondents based on party affiliation. That said, the highest rated group of respondents are Democrats at around 50% negative in their views.
For people on this board I have the following question: If only one half of the people in our country think that the Press is giving them fair and honest job are they the friends of the American People? If any of us worked for companies that only satisfied 50 % of our customers we would be unemployed in an instant. I think we should be able to agree that the Press is NOT the friend of the American people.

So if the Press is not our friend then what to we call them? I say the enemy even though that word is inflammatory, I think it is the best descriptor because by not doing its job the Press is actually adding to the dissension within our counry.

Final comment: it is no surprise to most on this board that I am Conservative. That said, I consider Fox to be the worst of all of the news sources closely followed by MSNBC and CNN. For me, I consider NPR to do the best job at presenting info accurately while presenting both sides of the story.

The press is an enemy when they choose what they want us to know. If they sit on stories and only talk about them when they have no other choice because the cat is out of the bag then that is a problem. What they should do is tell us what happened. Let us make our conclusions. It seems like the press is trying to influence on what we know and think about instead of just letting us know what is happening.

 

[Rockfish1]

The American people are not smart or we wouldn’t be in the mess we are in now.

 

[anon_mlxxvlbug9dpa]

I don’t think you give The American people enough credit, that is sad.

It is sad, agreed. But I’ve lived in a half dozen states, have worked jobs all over the socioeconomic scale, and my viewpoint is informed by my experiences.

That being said, you’re point to poll the people will lead to an accurate portrayal of how they view the fairness of the media. But, my point is that this view will likely be inaccurate because it will mostly be based on preconceived biases.

 

[anon_mlxxvlbug9dpa]

View embedded media

Terrific.

 

[UncleMark]

I fully agree that at scale, the American people are not smart. Simple statistics would say that the average American is of average intelligence.

You obviously don't listen to the news from Lake Wobegone.

 

[IUBBALLAWOL]

FNC wins out every quarter for a reason. And have since 2002. FNC is doing something right despite some here claiming otherwise. Much like the last election some still don't get it and don't want to admit it. But mainstream America likes what they are seeing in results. Look at what the liberal news reports on. Anything and everything he tweets or anything that they feel like is a gotcha statement or petty comment they spend weeks covering all while the economy is booming and he continues to undo the last admins blunders. How much time do the liberal talking heads spend on real issues? Issues affecting middle America? They want to talk about collusion,him being racist,having an affair or other gossip type rumors. All while he appoints another conservative federal judge or another SCJ. Maybe they can prove collusion by 2020. Mueller just needs more time i am certain.

 

[twenty02]

I don’t think you give The American people enough credit, that is sad.

Maybe you give them way too much:

https://thoughtcatalog.com/nico-lan...mericans-dont-know-according-to-poll-numbers/

 

[UncleMark]

FNC wins out every quarter for a reason. And have since 2002. FNC is doing something right despite some here claiming otherwise.

FNC has a corner on the right wing market. ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, PBS, NPR, and MSNBC have to split the rest.

 

[toastedbread]

America desperately needs a fair and honest press. Why? George Bush put it straight: to keep people like him (when he was in office) honest and accountable to the American People. He later broadened his statement to include that we needed a "fair and honest" press.

OK, so I would hope that everyone on both sides of the aisle would agree with that statement. The next question is how to insure that the Press provides us citizens with fair and honest reporting?

Answer: Journalistic associations, and there are several, all have a Code of Ethics for their members that give them guidelines for collecting information, methods for handling confidentiality, and other aspects reporting

Here are just a few:

https://www.spj.org/ethicscode.asp

https://www.meaa.org/meaa-media/code-of-ethics/

https://nppa.org/code-ethics

So how is the Press doing in meeting the needs of our citizens? The answer is, in my opinion, to ask the people how they feel the Press is fulfilling their responsibilities. There are also many polls that are run periodically that show what Americans think about the Press' performance. Virtually all them say the same thing: the Press is doing a lousy job of giving us fair and objective information.

Here are just a few;

https://news.gallup.com/poll/195542/americans-trust-mass-media-sinks-new-low.aspx

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/16/americans-fake-news-study-339184

https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/tim-graham/2018/06/27/trust-news-media-continues-sink

There is one very obvious factor that comes across in virtually all of the polls and that is that there is a very significant difference in the attitudes of respondents based on party affiliation. That said, the highest rated group of respondents are Democrats at around 50% negative in their views.
For people on this board I have the following question: If only one half of the people in our country think that the Press is giving them fair and honest job are they the friends of the American People? If any of us worked for companies that only satisfied 50 % of our customers we would be unemployed in an instant. I think we should be able to agree that the Press is NOT the friend of the American people.

So if the Press is not our friend then what to we call them? I say the enemy even though that word is inflammatory, I think it is the best descriptor because by not doing its job the Press is actually adding to the dissension within our counry.

Final comment: it is no surprise to most on this board that I am Conservative. That said, I consider Fox to be the worst of all of the news sources closely followed by MSNBC and CNN. For me, I consider NPR to do the best job at presenting info accurately while presenting both sides of the story.

This is precisely why we need more government oversight and regulation of the "news" industry. At a minimum, fox and MSNBC should be required to run regular disclaimers in bold red letters at the bottom of their opinion shows that they are in fact opinion shows and not news shows. Second, we need more competition in cable news. (Stronger anti-monopoly laws) Third, opinion hosts who use terminology like "breaking news" to describe their own opinion coverage should face interrogation and possible prosecution. (I.e. laws on the dissemination of propaganda)

This would be a start.

 

[UncleMark]

This is precisely why we need more government oversight and regulation of the "news" industry.

WTF??? Would you want the Trump administration making these decisions? Are you out of your fracking mind???

 

[anon_mlxxvlbug9dpa]

This is precisely why we need more government oversight and regulation of the "news" industry. At a minimum, fox and MSNBC should be required to run regular disclaimers in bold red letters at the bottom of their opinion shows that they are in fact opinion shows and not news shows. Second, we need more competition in cable news. (Stronger anti-monopoly laws) Third, opinion hosts who use terminology like "breaking news" to describe their own opinion coverage should face interrogation and possible prosecution. (I.e. laws on the dissemination of propaganda)

This would be a start.

No thanks on oversight of the news

 

[cosmickid]

No the press is not the enemy of the people and Trump didn't say they are. He said the Fake News Media are the enemy of the people. I wish liberal leaders on this board would answer the question posed instead of intentionally misleading the folks like the Fake News Media they defend

My guess is that you're an adherent of Giuliani's view of the "truth", which he espoused in an interview last evening...

"If you're looking for a manifesto of Trumpism, you could do worse than Rudy Giuliani's line to conclude an interview with Chris Cuomo Tuesday night. The simplest explanation for why Trumplandia is home to a rogue's gallery of liars and frauds is that none of them really believe in the concept of truth—at least as it exists in the public discourse. The truth is whatever you can get enough people to believe. That's how you get "alternative facts," or Giuliani's claim Monday that perhaps no president has behaved as crassly and boorishly as Trump has because "maybe nobody's been as honest."

Nothing quite as disingenuous as Rudy describing someone that lies on a daily basis as "honest"...

https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a22735202/rudy-giuliani-truth-trumpism-eye-of-the-beholder/

 

[Ladoga]

The American people are not smart or we wouldn’t be in the mess we are in now.

Typical of the elite left. Look down your nose at the American People. Worked so well for Clinton, didn't it.

 

[twenty02]

FNC wins out every quarter for a reason. And have since 2002. FNC is doing something right despite some here claiming otherwise. Much like the last election some still don't get it and don't want to admit it. But mainstream America likes what they are seeing in results. Look at what the liberal news reports on. Anything and everything he tweets or anything that they feel like is a gotcha statement or petty comment they spend weeks covering all while the economy is booming and he continues to undo the last admins blunders. How much time do the liberal talking heads spend on real issues? Issues affecting middle America? They want to talk about collusion,him being racist,having an affair or other gossip type rumors. All while he appoints another conservative federal judge or another SCJ. Maybe they can prove collusion by 2020. Mueller just needs more time i am certain.

Wins what? Cable news? FNC averages about 2.2 million primetime viewers. With a median age viewer of 68 years old.

For comparison, ABC Nightly News averages about 7.5-8 million per night....NBC about the same.....along with about 1.5m each in the prime 25-54 age group, alone.

And 130m or so people voted in 2016. Most people don't watch any cable news. Its all predominately the over 60 crowd for all the big 3.

 

[toastedbread]

No thanks on oversight of the news

We had a major cable news channel running a conspiracy story for one week about the murder of a DNC staffer. We absolutely need some level of oversight, and pronto!!

 

[toastedbread]

WTF??? Would you want the Trump administration making these decisions? Are you out of your fracking mind???

Nope. A bi-parisian commissaire.

 

[anon_mlxxvlbug9dpa]

We had a major cable news channel running a conspiracy story for one week about the murder of a DNC staffer. We absolutely need some level of oversight, and pronto!!

No thanks. Too slippery a slope.

 

[twenty02]

Nope. A bi-parisian commissaire.

Mmm kay...Comrade.

 

[Bruce1]

People are stupid all over. That the GOP is the party that became ensared in Trumpism is a result of other factors as well, having little to do with intelligence.

Stupid comment.

 

[Bruce1]

This is precisely why we need more government oversight and regulation of the "news" industry. At a minimum, fox and MSNBC should be required to run regular disclaimers in bold red letters at the bottom of their opinion shows that they are in fact opinion shows and not news shows. Second, we need more competition in cable news. (Stronger anti-monopoly laws) Third, opinion hosts who use terminology like "breaking news" to describe their own opinion coverage should face interrogation and possible prosecution. (I.e. laws on the dissemination of propaganda)

This would be a start.

OMG, I thought you were joking!! Talk about Facism, Stalinism, Maoism!

 

[Bruce1]

The press is an enemy when they choose what they want us to know. If they sit on stories and only talk about them when they have no other choice because the cat is out of the bag then that is a problem. What they should do is tell us what happened. Let us make our conclusions. It seems like the press is trying to influence on what we know and think about instead of just letting us know what is happening.

Exactly the reason for the post. Agree totally.

 

[toastedbread]

OMG, I thought you were joking!! Talk about Facism, Stalinism, Maoism!

Hardly. The first duty of the American government is to defend the American people. (Surely you do agree with that?)

In this case, we have a news organization that is trying to create chaos in the state with false news. This is about public safety and cohesion of the basic element of the state.