Before believing our so called "News" Articles - let's ask ourselves...

[Peter Frank]

...is our "news"person/outlet committed to real journalism; or does simply parroting of "official" agenda pass for the real thing?

Has reporting degenerated into lazy, intimidated, and mindless stenography?

What is the "news" value if the "commentator" starts off with phrases like?:


• "Officials say..."
  
• "According to officials..."
  
• "According to Pentagon officials..."
  
• "According to government sources..."
  
• "White House spokesperson (insert name here) says..."
  
• "State Dept. officials say..."
  
• ...and so on.

Fact seekers report facts not offered by "officials."

The press is supposed to be a hedge against the party line de jur -- not a mindless tape recorder of it.

When is the last time we (Americans) heard a report on an essential subject prefaced by something like, "After months of exhaustive research, our investigation revealed..."

???

Isn't it time to articulate this distinction? Isn't it time to mostly ignore the myopic reporters of official reports; and flag down corroborated facts as they roll down the information super-highway?

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

1. The I feel the same way when the tv media are "interviewing" anyone

from the WH. It is as if when these people recite their scripts(and I use the term people loosely), you are supposed to be getting the truth from them, whereas they are just spouting lies.

[Divernan]

2. They just file the official press releases with their national desks.

Lots of NPR stories have live quotes from the officials, with no counterpoint or view from any other interested parties.

NPR "reporter": "Today in Washington, a representative of the (fill in the blank) department said that President Bush will blah, blah, Iraq and blah, blah stay the course." Now to Washington."

Representative of (fill in the blank) department: "President Bush will blah, blah, Iraq and blah, blah stay the course."

NPR "reporter": "Now on to our next story."

[PhilipShore]

3. The media reporters are to afraid to produce news...

because of fear of being fired; the sheeple just want diversions, not the news.

[Peter Frank]

5. Wrong!

The sheep-herders want the people to only want diversions.

That's what's so sick about this admin. It insults our intelligence while arrogantly believing that it has dominion over truth (all the while crapping all over itself).

I know allot of Conservatives who understand this. They're tired of Bush (in their terms) acting like a dictator and running up the deficit like FDR.

[PhilipShore]

6. The Military-Industrial-Complex medium is the message

That's what's so sick about this admin. It insults our intelligence while arrogantly believing that it has dominion over truth (all the while crapping all over itself).


I was actually thinking of the declining; of the quality of the entire TV news and entertainment industries, including Movies, which started in the 70s.

I read about it in a autobiography of a famous actor; in which they said that art, and professionalism of the industry was put aside, when art and media trade professionals were fired and replaced by corporate managers, whom had zero experience in the media or entertainment industry, but only knew how to make money, etc.

According to them, the system is so so corrupt, that they even fix the rating system (for the sheeple) by rating which movie is good or not.

They could get away with it according to the actor - because the average person just wants diversions, and does not care about the quality of the media.

[KharmaTrain]

4. Don't Sell People Short...

Not all "sources" are bad...and without the annonymous ones things like the illegal wiretapping would have come to light. Yes, most times when those words are used, it's in the context of another Rovian spin by some corporate stenographer. It's almost always a dubious remark that sounds ominous or appears to be in fighting. In either case, a smart observer can and does note this.

The polls are showing a majority of people not only don't approve of this regime, they outright don't like it. It's credibility is shot and the more scandals that pile on the more blatant those that attempt to play stenographer or appologist in the corporate media, the more obvious it will appear. The "honeymoon" is over and the majority of American are suspect of anything that is reported that doesn't come from several sources.

[Ufomammut]

9. There is always flexibility due to public pressure

...provided there is public pressure. But overall, there is a fixed pattern of propaganda, as outlined by Chomsky's propaganda model. It's not in the power structures interest to reveal its crimes, just as it's not in any corporation's interest to disclose its wrong doings.

[FloridaPat]

7. Here's how I view the news: * says whatever. That's the lie. Then I go

and try to find the truth. It's all propaganda. No point in even pretending it's news. In fact, at least since the 1980's, the news people couldn't find a fact if it bit them on their leg. I noticed all the way back then that on something I knew a lot about, the reporting was wrong. So if it's wrong on what I know, what are they doing with the stuff I don't know anything about.

[Ufomammut]

10. Yes...

The "perpetual" news story. I've always found it odd that more people didn't question the validity or need for 24/7 "news."

Repeat the lies often enough, and they become intertwined with a familiar sense of common, cultural "reality" for many people.

[Ufomammut]

8. Our press is a money making public relations service for Big Brother

Nothing else. It's been that way for a very long time even though many people are just waking up to it. It's very disturbing for people to realize that "reality" in America is staged and managed to the degree it is, so naturally, as a psychological defense mechanism, many resist examining it, made all the more easy since most people don't read.

Read "Necessary Illusions: Thought Control in Democratic Societies," by Chomsky - or any number of his books on the topic. And watch the doc films "Manufacturing Consent: Chomsky And The Media," and "Orwell Rolls In His Grave."

[Peter Frank]

11. I Saw "Manufacturing Consent"...

...and before that I saw the (referred) consent being manufactured.


This admin was masterful at the art of PsyOps. This only works before reality sets in.

[liveoaktx]

13. Side note_I called AP to ask why some URLs on the internet have PR

in them. Have called and emailed, no response, but I think the URLs you see with this are press releases that are rewritten and bylined by an AP reporter.

[Taxloss]

12. But some at DU fanatically defend Raw Story and Capitol Hill Blue

when they use unnamed sources. What exactly is the media supposed to do?

[Peter Frank]

14. Hehe...

...just amused at the irony of your statement -- "... some at DU fanatically defend Raw Story and Capitol Hill Blue when they use unnamed sources."