Wouldn't a little real journalism be nice?

It's sad indeed when I watch the news channel for comedy and the comedy channel for news. I think the Daily Show and Colbert Report are as close to "real" journalism as you are going to get these days. Give it a try, it's mostly political commentary, but both programs are well informed and insightful. If anything, they will make you feel better as both programs address your problems with "mainstream news media" in an incredibly satisfying way.

40% of all Americans watch and a good percentage find value in stations like Fox and to a lesser extent MSNBC or CNN.

All three have various ideologues and pundits who do this country and their viewers only a limited service. The spew REALLY however comes from Fox, where it's a highly crafted art. I'm not saying MSNBC doesn't have guys "working" the problem but mostly it's just people reacting to Fox rather than going on their own screeds.

In that way, Fox has become the new yellow Journalism due to Mr. Murdoch's total control over content and his HATRED of journalism because of what he saw as media over-involvement in Viet Nam.

Perhaps it's because I'm older and have started to choose what I expose myself to or I have done what I can to basically stop watching television. About the only REALLY valuable material is going to be what - a nature or science program or some awesome drama. Either way, I'll hear about it around the office and download it or buy the DVD if I'm really impressed.

Otherwise I recommend everyone tune Fox and friends out, just stop watching, you'll be suprised how much happier you are and if you get a local paper - not owned and operated by one of the big conglomerates, or just Google News, you can stay reasonably well informed. But even on Google News, I source check and double check entries in Wikipedia because you have companies and countries and organizations that will "craft" the entries about their staff or interests which affect them.

In that way, if I want to know something about the Middle East, wikipedia might not be the best measure because everyone alters everyone else's pages , but CIA or some other intelligence service will offer usually pretty good basic information about some fact.

Even on TV, you have awesome channels, you have C-SPAN and Book-TV and other channels where pundits only occasionally rear their heads. Public Television - has a known slightly liberal slant, and if you are aware of that going in - you are fine, and will get balanced reporting totally unlike Fox which will twist and turn any which way.

That's what I'd say, it's MUCH more work for a citizen to become informed.

Worse, for my money is that Fox has gone to the low of catering to the John Birch "demographic", basically trying to froth up any conspiracy nut or off-range theory about stuff. It would be comical if it wasn't for the fact that they're given to putting genuinely unwell individuals (such as Glen Beck) on air.

Who - although he's obviously an entertainer - not a newscaster mixes his opinion with nutjobbery and occasionally some actual news and really shows how poorly educated people and mental instability can be used to keep people misinformed / mis-edutained.

For my money it seems he alternatively cries, shouts incites to violence or sedition or something or another which is actually quite harmful because some day - someone is going to march into a school or a courtroom or something with the excuse that "I did it because of ....Fox News...".

I am an old man and believe me, it was not the panacea you seem to be presenting. Sure, we got our news at 6pm on a few television networks, but we only got the news the news editors decided to give us. When you consider the average news show was only 22 minutes long (allowing for commercials) had a weather segment and at least one frivolous segment dedicated to fashion or entertainment news, you only got about a 13 minute summary of whatever items the News editors selected from among the thousands of items available.

It was also pretty remarkable back then as now, how all three networks always had the exact same news items and the exact same spin. That was the era of the network news monopoly. They closely shaped what we heard and saw.

The first major break from this only occurred when the Drudge Report first burst on the scene. The now infamous Monica Lewinsky affair was broken by Matt Drudge on his fledgling web site. It turned out the regular news services already had the story but were sitting on it.

Sure, there is the opportunity for anyone to make any claim but there is equally an opportunity to find out the truth as well. Believe me, the newspapers are not going out of business because they are doing too good of a job. The Network news is not loosing viewers because they are too fair and balanced.

Do you think we would ever have had any idea what was in this Health Care Bill if we only got our news from the networks? Hey, if you like the networks you can still watch them. Actually, you can just pick any one because they all report the exact same thing in the exact same way, except for Fox. That is why Fox is ahead in the ratings. Good or bad, at least they are different.

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There are still some reliable places, like Bill Moyers and Jim Lehrer on PBS. Although, even the News Hour has started to decline in the last couple of years in the ongoing campaign to be 'balanced' which in many cases mean bringing on two opposing views and pretending that both are equally cogent. The hosts job should be to call out political hacks and expose lies.

does that mean that now one still cannot see the trees from the forest?

if you want real well researched up to date accurate news stories and actual events written by professional reporters on the spot in various locations around the world and who are the source for many many news papers around the world then you may take an more average interest in the guardian weekly like a duck takes to the water.

Ok, for the first time I have to agree with Incarcerated Bert and Mussman. Journalism is dead, both left and right have staked out areas and now promote whatever they are trying to get out in terms of propaganda and talking points.

You have made a point that is hard to argue against. The only argument I can give is that neither of us lived in a time before media bias. Andrew Jackson used it extensively in the late 1820s.

Yes Thank You. All local news channels now are like TMZ. Disgraceful. Have to watch BBC for news if I want something other than garbage.

The so called journalists now days are nothing more than propaganda outlets for the left and George Soros. I quit watching them a long time ago.

Journalism is a lost art.