There’s no disputing bias perpetrates the media, but hypothetically at least, the BBC should be far more even-handed because it is a corporation funded by tax payers with no corporate sponsorship or political affiliations.
I once read an interesting article though, that suggested that the bias of a nation’s media reflected it’s government structure. Thus in a totalitarian government there is only one media line (just as there is only one party) with no other media bias allowed. In a pluralistic democracy there are a plurality of different media biases, but the main views tend to reflect the main views of the political parties around the centre, whilst radical viewpoints are marginalised.
So the difference between the biases of CNN and (for example) BBC reflects the difference between the US political system, where both parties are generally in consensus ablut a lot fo issues and there are not many viable outside parties (or organisations such as trade unions), and the UK system which has generally tolerated a more politicised left wing.
Where are these wanton wenches and how do I find them? Do they speak French? Are they anti-American? Will they loot the contents of my trousers? (I mean pockets)
Propaganda is such a great tool. Give the people heros!
All countries do that in time of war and it works more or less. While we smile at these corny tricks used by american media, it looks like it working pretty well on the people it’s targeting.
Add a nice layer of paranoia on top of that, and you have a winning team. It works perfectly in North Korea, and does pretty well in the US : we have informations that terrorists may attack somewhere, sometime, somehow…
I used getting laid at Vibe as an analogy to show just how easy it is to denounce America these days. And yes, getting laid at Vibe is that easy. So easy it isn’t even sport; just like knocking the States is no longer a challenge.
But beware of the corner monsters; these are much worse than anything you ever imagined to be under your bed as a child.
I really wish I could support the US of A because it’s one hell of a good concept. They’ve just got to give me something to work with though because I’ve got my minimum standards. It just seems though that everytime I lift up a rock, something else slithers out:
Blueballs123, what’s your secret? How do you keep the faith through thick and thin? Are you just a better man than the rest of us or is in-breeding the key to understanding your unwavering support of Pox Americana?
[quote=“Sir Don”]I once read an interesting article though, that suggested that the bias of a nation’s media reflected it’s government structure. Thus in a totalitarian government there is only one media line (just as there is only one party) with no other media bias allowed. In a pluralistic democracy there are a plurality of different media biases, but the main views tend to reflect the main views of the political parties around the centre, whilst radical viewpoints are marginalised.
So the difference between the biases of CNN and (for example) BBC reflects the difference between the US political system, where both parties are generally in consensus ablut a lot fo issues and there are not many viable outside parties (or organisations such as trade unions), and the UK system which has generally tolerated a more politicised left wing.
[/quote]
or look at it this way:
In markets where broadcasters and newspapers face competition (e.g. the UK and Taiwan newspaper markets, both overcrowded) your best chance for market share is to have a distinctive voice and a clear target audience. So Fox News, the Mirror in Britain, the United Daily News here all have clear ‘biases’. It makes good business sense. For all our professed desire for independent media, the evidence shows that when there’s a choice, most of us choose an outlet with a political slant (presumably one we agree with).
In markets where there’s not so much competition, the sensible media boss doesn’t want to turn off any segment of his target audience and so likes to be perceived as unbiased. So the BBC, which for a long time had a monopoly on British broadcast news, and many US newspapers, traditionally monopolies in their own areas, invest much more than Fox News and the Dail;y Telegraph in being seen as objective.
I am afraid to ask. You mean there is actually a name for wanton wenches at VIBE who sit in corners. I hesitate but have to ask you to describe them.
In the meantime, now that the media has made it clear to me that the French are evil, I shall avoid them like the plague, I mean SARS, and now the Iraqis are friends of the Americans but the new found friends the Russians are back to being bad and the British are still good, but the Germans are an “?” or was that the Russians. That said, I have never liked the Koreans but the Chinese (mainlanders) are reforming so we can like them even though they took down that American spy plane (gosh was that only two years ago?) So many new people to hate in such a short time.
I read a very similar account in a German magazine (link below) on the 16th of April already about Lynch’s rescue as that posted by Gavin before, couldn’t at the time verify it though.
It was also mentioned that there is video footage of the rescue but only some of it had been given to the media - for well known or rather obvious reasons if we trust those reports.
That said I don’t know what to believe anymore though I feel that CNN is more than biased and avoids a lot of negative reports.
Run a search on cnn.com with the following query and see what turns up: ‘palestine hotel iraq’. While the last reports regarding the incident are dated 9th of April other media have provided updates which indicate that it was neither self-defense nor an accident but rather a “mistake”.
Though again the US seems to be stretching the word “self defence” in their favour again while the mainstream media like CNN conveniently overlooks any new developments in this matter …
I don’t think Gavin’s point were the doctors and how they treated Jessica but that the rescue operation might not have happened in the “heroic” way the US media presented it.
Gosh I didn’t expect such a reaction Blue Face! I was simply commenting on a Web site for crying out loud! Those are the facts.
(Do you see how reducing contexts down to the discrete level can make them seem innocent? As in, “Iraq violated clause blah, blah, blah?”). Never be fooled by those tricksters.
I remember reading (was it George Orwell?) that, " . . . a well-trained dog jumps when its master cracks his whip, however, the REALLY well-trained dog jumps even when the master isn’t there . . .".
I will get a life, and continue to expose such crap for what it is. The day people stop that, is the day you will have real problems.
I’m no more anti-American than Alexander Solzhenitsyn was anti-Russian. There’s more to it than that. I just don’t believe that that confederacy of dunces and whores at the helm in Washington today is ‘America.’ To me they’re sellouts and religious extremists who don’t care any more about the American people and American ideals than Saddam Hussein cared about the Iraqi people.
To me America is the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. It’s the legacy of Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Dwight Eisenhower, the soldiers of the First and Second World Wars and the Korean conflict – and Senator Robert Byrd. I respect and honor that America to the core and would fight and die for it – as any man I served with in the US Navy will tell you. I was always the last man standing, the first man in the water and the last out.
My problem is I’m a purist. I believe that if you stand in front of the American flag and say something it damned well better be true or you’d better have some good explanation as to why you we’re wrong. I won’t accept anything less.
So to that end I’ll make you and my apparently growing fan club here at Forumosa a simple and fair deal and will put it here in writing for all to see: show me any weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and I will forever shut up at Forumosa about the United States. You won’t hear another peep from me. The only requirement is that they have to be visible with the naked eye, a fair minimum requirement, I think.
Until then no one here is qualified to lecture me about principles unless they’re wearing a Medal of Honor on their chest.
(Now that I’m in this Mr. Smith Goes to Washington mood of high and mighty dudgeon, I’m feeling guilty about capping on Blueface666 so much. Blueface, I’m sorry man. I was outta line. If it’s any consolation to you, I was always just kidding because I knew you had a sense of humor and could take it. I was always kind of hoping and expecting that you’d give it back to me but you – generally – remained a gentleman above the fray.)
I suggest you get sent into combat in the middle of night sometime. Have people seriously trying to kill your ass and then come back and tell us about heroism.
And oh yes, don’t forget to change your wet pants.
Blueface, did you notice that you always come up with this kind of reaction if you have no counter-arguments? I mean some of those comments are highly entertaining and funny, but that doesn’t mean those reports were wrong.
Else I can only reply with what I said before: join the Army yourself at the front line, then come back and talk about how just a war can be and if it’s worth all the lives lost (on either side).