Shortly after graduating high school in 1994, I began to work for the media, namely radio news, and continued to do so for ten years before returning to school for History. In this time, I did every thing from music dj, to news director, web site administrator, television news copy writer, television news producer, radio marketing and promotions; other than advertising, you name it, chances are I worked it.
I left the media, in fact, because there was no where for me to go. I had already achieved and even surpassed my expectations and goals, I was completely bored, and the only step left was to go out and buy a station. Who wants that kind of responsibility?
Anyway, while I was working, I used to become very disturbed by the number of people who would (without knowing I worked in news) complain to me about how the news twists every thing around and only gives half-truths. This bothered me because as a member of the media, everyone I knew within that field was honest and trustworthy; they reported the facts as given to them and kept copies for public scrutiny in their Public File so anyone could see they were accountable for what went out over the air.
Now, this Public File, is a requirement by the FCC; if any person were to go inside (during business hours) and ask to see the public file and are not granted immediate access, the station faces heavy fines and possibly loss of its license. I don't see how anyone would take the chance of not keeping their public file accurate and up-to-date when so much is at stake.
But regardless of these measures to hold the media accountable for the information they share, they are still accused of twisting stories to suit their own agendas and telling, essentially, lies.
Now that I view the news more from an outsiders perspective, I do see more and more opinions coming through than I ever remembered seeing when I worked in the media. Perhaps they've gone soft on the regulations? I don't know.
When I first started, we were all told to stay objective and show no emotion, and to make sure that every bit of news given is just the facts without any personal perspective given.
Now, nearly three years after I've quit, media members are told that their audiences want to see emotion and hear the news with more perspective and less cold objectivity. But is that actually better?
Sadly, I think just as many people are complaining about the perspectives as they were about the objectivity.
And I wonder, is it really such a bad thing to hear the opinions and viewpoints of news personnel who are delivering the news? Would you trust the news if it were delivered with a personal perspective?
Do you really trust the news now?
Have you read Noam Chomsky's "Hegemony or Survival". It has a section in it where it discusses how the media uses propaganda to promote the war in Iraq and even further back to hide US military action the was going badly in other parts of the world. I think that you might find that section interesting to read. I do not know how I feel exactly about propaganda in the media but it is an interesting topic to read about. I think becuase you came from a media oriented background you might have a little more knowledge about it.
The Earth's Always Helpful Activist,
Amanda Fugate
When you are objective it forces people to make their own opinion. that is what the news is about. To tell us what is going on and nothing else. We dont need to know that someone is dead and you feel very awful and send your condolenses. yes that is nice but not needed. Maybe i am just projecting cutthroatism...who knows?
Conformity is the jailor of freedom and the enemy of growth!~JFK
However, I recognize that the news anchors/journalists are people too. I don't mind hearing their opinions AFTER the actual news has been reported on. I think the problem with US media isn't that they're lying (I personally don't they they are), but that much of the news we get is arbitrary and unimportant, unlike many other developed nations.
No I dont' trust the news, the only part I pay attention to is the weather. lol. They don't even broadcast the whole truth half of the time anyway.
I would say that I trust the news for the most part, but I have become skeptical. However, to balance this out, I don't ignore news, but I try to get it from diverse sources.
Anyways, my impression is that to get better ratings and viewer response, newscasters have to water down news to the "lowest common denominator", so to speak - they have to make it appeal to the masses. Unfortunately, those of us who are more thoughtful than the average consumer eventually realize this pattern, and it's disillusioning. I think there tends to be a radical reaction. Instead of evaluating it moderately, people tend to have a jerking reaction, "Oh! The news is sometimes misleading - therefore it's all lies, and all newscasters and reporters are liars!" They bundle the media into one neat package and reject it all at once.
Depending on what I hear, I trust based on the proof. I like to read CNN and I completely believe them.