Is the media hurting our country?

We need free speech, in order to protect the rest of our rights. Without free speech, there would be no way to report violation of rights, so media does a very important job in making sure we as citizens are protected.

With that in mind, when there is bias in the media, rights of citizens are not protected. They tend to report stories that sell, which puts a spin on things. The biggest sellers are always sex, crime, and violence. This would include scandals that otherwise be considered nonimportant.

What is important every once in a while is turning off the news and turning on to your family and community. There's a lot more positive ways you can become involved and make yourself part of the story of what is RIGHT with this country. Volunteer to do something great. You'll feel a greater sense of belonging and importance in your community, and you'll see what's right and good. It'll BUILD rather than DESTROY.

The answer to the question,"Is the media hurting the country?" would have to be a qualified "No."

The primary function of the fourth estate, the media, is to keep the public informed about the important events and issues of the day. No less than Thomas Jefferson believed that the only way democracy could work is if a well-informed citizenry actively participated in their government, directed what course that government took, and oversaw the government to restrain it from indulging in abuses of power. It is NOT the media's fault that the citizens are so complacent and insulated from the reality of the world by the sheer prosperity of this nation and by the constant stream of trivial entertainment that flows over most televisions that they, the citizens, neither are aware of what their government is actually doing in their name nor do they believe they can make a substantial difference in the course our nation takes.

If the news has become hyper-sensational, it is because of the demands placed upon it by "corporate headquarters" to rank high in the ratings and garner a large market-share of the viewing audience. Big stories are the only things that get most people's attention anymore. This is an unfortunate situation, but it is the nature of corporate capitalism.

Also, if the news seems increasingly negative, the truth is there is a lot of human misery out there all over the world. And because most of us are detached from any real sense of civic participation, such that only a minority of potential voters actually even bother to show up for state and federal elections, the reality is our government frequently acts in ways around the world that not only are NOT in our best national interests, they are, in fact, the source of much of the suffering around the world.

Sure, it's probably not healthy to be bombarded with bad news day in and day out. I think most of us are familiar at this point with the consequences of long-term, chronic stress. The question has to be then: Do you blame the messenger for bringing the news?

Ignorance is never bliss. Just ask all the people in the Ninth Ward who didn't know just how badly their levee was built in New Orleans. If you have to point the finger at someone and say it's their fault, you might consider starting with all those multinational corporations who are responsible for so many of the problems around the world...and for managing our news in such a way, that even as bad as we think the news is, the reality is frequently much worse. And, you might want to take a closer look at what your government says and what it does: were it not for contradiction and disinformation, we would rarely hear a peep out of Washington.

I think that there are some people in the media that are horribly abusing their positions. They throw their support behind certain candidates, parties, or points of view, and then everything they report is slanted towards those things. It's not anything like impartial journalism.

And I think that that has always happened, because it's difficult for people to seperate how they feel from their job. What's different today is that people aren't just slanting for one thing, they're absolutely villifying the opposite side. It's really upsetting, and you can see the effects on Y!A, there are people slinging around the words, Neocon and Liberal all day long, not realizing that they're talking about people that have just as much reason to believe what they do as the people calling them names.

And I think it's largely the product of the media, selling intolerance because it creates loyalty to be exclusive and that makes ratings.

It also creates a big trust issue, who's telling the truth, and who's saying what they would like to be the truth? It's impossible to know, and it's making the whole issue of free speech and an informed populace hard to obtain.

I really believe that this issue, and that of campaign finance are ripping our country apart. It's terribly, terribly upsetting.

I agree with you. Journalistic integrity is all but gone. We've got reporters going out and making news just to have something to report. A reporter/radio host from WLS in Chicago actually went to Washington as a one person picket line and invited cameras just so that she'd have something to talk about. That's crossing the line. Geraldo Rivera cuts the cameras during a rescue in New Orleans and makes the elderly woman "do it over again". How absurd. The New York Times breaks a VERY long standing agreement not to print military strategies and tactics during time of war.

We need more journalist from the David Prowtess mindset. He's the professor from Northwestern University who teaches an investigative journalism course where they take real cases that were already adjudicated and set out to prove wrongful convictions. It's because of him that 13 men from Illinois' death row were proven not just "not guilty" but truly "innocent". Following that, then Gov. George Ryan felt the need to put a moratorium on executions and eventually commuted all death sentences to life without parole.

That's the 3rd Estate at work in an ethical, important role. The tripe from the NY Times, LA Times, etc isn't fit for wrapping fish most days.

Yes, I think the media, both side Liberal and Conservative, do the country a great disservice by only reporting what they think we need to know and by filling the news with worthless crap or negative scare tactic stories that only have the purpose of filling us with so much junk we don't see what is really going on in Washington and around the world. The media thinks we are too stupid to deal with the stories and making up our own minds. Watch or listen or the news on any channel or read paper or mag and and you will see most is just entertainment fluff. Who cares how many kids Britney Spears has or what actor is dating what bimbo?

Amendment I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

The media in of itself is a good thing…BUT, the media in its current state is not what it was meant to be and is very destructive. The media should have checks, balances and accountability just like everybody else. None of the other Amendments give any individual or group superior rights to everybody else, so the First Amendment should not be twisted by the media to give the superior rights to everybody else. The media should have checks, balances and be held accountable for their actions.

I think mainstream America "gets it." I think there will be a serious reckoning due to the NY Times decision to reveal the Bush administration's policies on terrorism detection. I bet people will cancel subscriptions and make these people accountable for any lives lost due to their selling out our security for a story. None of this could have possibly happened during WWII! It was unthinkable! I think the liberal media is taking our lives in their hands with their sheer determination to blast the administration and attempts to ruin Bush.

So yes, we are hurting because of the media. We may all rue the day we ever bought a widget from any of the advertisers of the NY Times and other media outlets who have committed treasonous acts.

Yes, the media & movies are detiorating the morals of many people. Some of them are on the borderline & need guidance, maybe both parents are working because they have to. Maybe they have peer pressure. I guarantee you that there are 1000's of people who don't have the morals that our elders had. Crimes, murders, sex crimes, etc. I truly believe that movies/media has affected many of these people who could have gone the other way. Yes they are not the norm but many people don't have the considerations,morals. Think about how many movies do not have any guns knives or someone getting punched." Don't hit" "Irepeat "don't hit" how difficult is that? When is it appropriate to hit or shoot someone? Huh, when!? Money & greed. Don't get me wrong I have faith in human nature. I' not cynical. The large majority of people are outstanding. I was just answering the Question. Be nice to one another/Pay it forward/& take care of bad people appropriately. Call 911.

Absolutely they are slowly and surely destroying America.

The media of today is nothing like the media of even 20 yrs ago. They may "claim" to be journalists. In fact, all media, especially news today is "entertainment". Journalists are really personalities.

Integrity is simply a buzz word, that means nothing. The quality of the story is now measured by its level of scandal, juice, flesh, gore or mix with commercial advertisers.

I think the best thing that could happen in the future is that the word media is banned and recast as "reality entertainment". Journalists don't really exist anymore. Those that claim to be are kidding themselves...

There has always been war. There has always been disasters. There has always been crime. But now we have the technology to let people know about events at the speed of light. In the age before the telegraph, people didn't know about wars on the other side of the world, or about murders that happend in the next state or even county. But now you do. And we have multiple 24 hour news channels to show you over, and over, and over, again.

It's good to have information but when it's used to make people scared in our own home, in our own country.....it's just gone too far. They need to go back to the time, when they just gave facts. Nothing more, nothing less.