What's your opinion of the media?

shifty_uk

shifty_uk

shifty_uk

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I watched Nobody speak: Trials of the free press on Netflix last night; If anyone hasn't seen, it follows Hulk Hogan suing Gawker Media for publishing a sex tape he had no idea was being filmed.

The documentary was pretty biased, in my opinion; Free press should be protected therefore allowing them the right to publish what they want...

I'll start by saying I'm all for free press and well conducted investigative journalism, the notion of government controlled media obviously doesn't sit well. On the flip side, the right to publish unsupported, unfounded nonsense doesn't either.

From broadsheets or tabloids, everything seems to be completely unfounded clickbait these days. From papers ruining careers to celebrities committing suicide, who draws the line?

Being a business owner, I take a particular interest in the goings on of businesses, CEOs and the like. The amount of media slander against individuals that's went on during and before this pandemic is shocking. A single piece with no evidence from a newspaper causes an outcry across social media, the masses don't even need to read articles, they scan a newsfeed, see a headline, make up an opinion and post hate as a result.

I'm not saying this is a new phenomenon but in the age of social media, competition amongst publications the chasing of clicks, it all seems way more vicious and damaging.

Let's not even get started on Brexit and the unfounded scaremongering that led to that...
 
It's all well and good talking about a free press (that government doesn't control) but what we have today is a massively centralised corporate media monopoly with only a few corporations controlling what information people are given, if they don't like a particular government and their policies they can effectively wage war to oust them by chipping away at their popularity, we've already seen it with Trump. I think over 90% of their coverage about him has been negative (Fox news aside).

They exaggerate the stories that fit their agenda and under-report (or ignore) the ones they don't, ie. Trump brags about women letting him touch them because he's rich and there's a massive media storm about it, Biden is accused of sexual assault and they just ignore it. Covington kids get plastered all over the news and are attacked relentlessly for a fake story which the media later had to pay compensation for, whereas information about the whistle blower who triggered the whole impeachment charade (whose name was public knowledge) is censored into oblivion so as to prevent "doxing" (or rather people discovering that he also has a clear bias). Numerous "conspiracy theorists" or "hate speakers" are banned from social media platforms and payment processors within 24 hours of one another in a clearly co-ordinated way but it's just a coincidence I guess. British media was the same during Brexit they were clearly biased towards remaining. On top of that social media companies (corporations) in co-operation with the corporate media have fiddled their algorithms to give prominence to corporate media and to hide, block and even demonetise independent news creators. It's even reached a point where if you say something our corporate overloads don't like you could lose your job from the corporation you work for and because of Covid we're going to have even fewer small businesses and thus giving corporations even more power, what can possibly go wrong? lol

In summary, we do not have a free press it's all heavily centralised and controlled top down by corporate billionaires who have so much money their only interest nowadays is power, that being the 1% who so-called liberals used to protest against but now actively defend and somehow think that they can do no wrong and everything they say is 100% true.
 
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I think tbh the freedom of the press is a good thing, but it should come with the responsibility to report things with a certain level of integrity and it certainly shouldnt grant carte blanche to lampoon individuals with minimal basis.

The problem is the modern media has a nasty habit of racing to be the first to report a story, rather than being the one with the most accurate portrayal.

Of course bias is always going to be a problem, no getting around that no matter how hard you try, its just going to have to be down to the individual to review multiple sources and generate their own opinion taking into account the different spins.
 
I've just seen that Dave Rubin has just uploaded this and it pretty much sums up what I was saying abut how the corporate media treat the same stories completely differently depending on the circumstances and whether it fits their agenda.

You don't have to watch it all just the first 10mins.

 
mmj_uk said:
In summary, we do not have a free press it's all heavily centralised and controlled top down by corporate billionaires who have so much money their only interest nowadays is power, that being the 1% who so-called liberals used to protest against but now actively defend and somehow think that they can do no wrong and everything they say is 100% true.
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Let us savour this rare moment when I find myself agreeing with something in one of your posts (I'll skip over your need to include a dig about liberals). Rupert Murdoch in particular has much to answer for.

My particular ire is reserved from the likes of the Mail and Express with their click bait titles and fact twisting stories designed to get their readers frothing rather than tell them the truth. Especially when it comes to the good old habit of blaming someone else (immigrants, benefit claimants, the EU) for our own problems.

I'm all for a free press, but if you are claiming to be a news outlet that must come with a certain responsibility to accurately reflect the truth and not launch unwarranted character attacks and try to spin everything to show (for example) one political party in a good light and the opposition parties in a bad light.

adolf hamster said:
I think tbh the freedom of the press is a good thing, but it should come with the responsibility to report things with a certain level of integrity and it certainly shouldnt grant carte blanche to lampoon individuals with minimal basis.
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Pretty much this.
 
My opinion could really not be any lower.

I do not, nor will I ever pay a single penny for 'news' media ever again.
 
The media has long since abandoned journalistic integrity for subscribers.

Even "news" programmes are classified as "entertainment" these days. There's no such thing as public service broadcasting or impartial journalism.

Probably because all the papers etc are owned by people like Murdoch with their own agendas and axes to grind.

Frankly you can't trust any of it. Even the BBC is not what it used to be.
 
Most reputable news sites are free unless you wish to contribute so *shrugs*

My view on the media is conflicted. I think that even the 'good' outlets are prone to bias and bad reporting but that is a drop in the ocean compared to the willfully destructive providers who misreport, distort, falsify, and magnify whatever their angle is. Fox is an easy example because it's a children's entertainment channel dressed up in its mother's news attire but there are examples of the same poor practice on the far left. The difference with Fox is that this is the news source for many people.

I think everybody should hold themselves accountable for what sources they consume and critically evaluate what they're seeing/hearing.
 
My opinion of the media is that it's a massive industry that far too many people take far too seriously.
  • Don't use social media, it's hopelessly flawed and a dangerous echo chamber.
  • Don't buy tabloid newspapers, they are utterly vile.
  • Try to avoid opinion pieces, you don't need to be told what to think.
  • Don't get your information from an unregulated source.
  • If you're not paying for it, then it's you that's the product.
 
There are still many reasonably reputable news sources, just they are drowned out by a plethora of right wing dross that has indoctrinated the general public to be asshats. :)
 
The Daily Mirror is read by people who think they run the country.
The Guardian is read by people who think they ought to run the country.
The Times is read by people who actually do run the country.
The Daily Mail is read by the wives of the people who run the country and think Hitler was rather a nice chap.
The Financial Times is read by people who own the country.
The Morning Star is read by people who think the country ought to be run by another country.
The Daily Telegraph is read by people who think it already is.
The Sun is read by people who don’t care who runs the country, as long as she’s got big ****.
The Daily Sport is read by people who don't know what a country is. But they like ****!
The Star is read by people who think that everyone should run their own country, with girls with BIG ****!
The Express is read by people who hate their country, everybody else's country and themselves, and everything in general.
The Independent is read by people who own the newspapers.
 
The media is probably 90% opinion pieces these days.

When they decided to compete with the 24/7 internet news they lowered their standards.

Instead of just being informative they have to fill the air with their own opinions.

Why do we need some political editor giving us their opinion?

And why does the BBC seem to act like every news broadcast is to the world and talks about our country like its another country? i.e. "The British Prime Minister...", instead of "The Prime Minister". I'm getting sick of this imperialist mind set that seems to be espoused by a certain class of people who dominate the media industry.
 
The media will only publish things that they can get clicks, sell papers. The problem isn’t the media, it is the public’s appetite for gossip (crap)
 
As others are saying, it's only about the clicks these days. That's why the typical daily rags always post up about Britain facing coldest winter on record every October/November.
 
Syria - White helmet actors and staged chemical attacks.
Russia gate - No grounds whatsoever of any proof of collusion with Trump.
Quid pro quo - Would there really be as much of an outrage if Obama had the exact same phone call.

Absolutely no integrity.
 
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I think these days you have to pay for quality.

The journalism that you get in the likes of the Financial Times and the Economist is excellent. The FT in particular is very well written and the comments are 99% a joy to read. Articles on complex topics are supplemented by comments from knowledgeable people that contribute to the article and benefit everyone. Unfortunately, both are not cheap.

That said, there is a place for free media, the Guardian generates some gems with its environment reporting and some of the investigative stuff. However, even the Guardian has some drawbacks, some of the opinion pieces are awful. I'm on the fence with BBC News, some of the sub-elements like Newsnight and their international arm produce really good reporting, but their political reporting is garbage. Their obsession with balance got to the point during the Brexit campaign where they were giving a lot of airtime (and therefore credibility) to idiots, mis-truths and such like.

At the very bottom of the pile and without being too mean, the rags like Daily Express, Daily Mail (and maybe the Sun) are just right-wing nonsense that are designed to spread hate, misinformation, sensationalised news and, unfortunately, are aimed at the uninformed. It is my view certainly have freedom of the press but they should be held accountable.

I really hope that we start to become aware and can evaluate sources of information for what they are.
 
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