A media missive

I don’t disagree with anything you have written in this post, Kong. As you note, bias has always been in news reporting, but the Internet and 24/7 cable news have greatly impacted how we get our news. I think relatively bias-free news can still be obtained. While we no longer have giants like Cronkite and Huntley and Brinkley, I think the Big 3 networks – ABC, CBS and NBC – still report the news without much bias. BBC, NPR and even Al Jazeera American are pretty even-handed. CNN has a bit of a liberal slant, while MSNBC and Fox are clearly biased. Sites like Breitbart, Infowars and Realpolitics are wildly biased and, in addition, propagate “fake news” to their patrons.

I would make several comments about news bias. First, biased news reporting appears to be desired by many folks. Posters here have repeatedly stated that they are happy that, in Fox News, conservative have their “own” news network. This tells me that these folks are not so much interested in the news as they are in the spin (bias) with which it is presented. Basically, we look for bias that agrees with our own “confirmation bias.” I’d chalk this up to human nature. I also think people may see bias where little or none exists; when the reporting does not conform to their confirmation bias, viewers may conclude the reporting is biased the OTHER way.

The antics of the current occupant of the White House is having a significant impact on reporting by folks on both ends of the political spectrum. Despite my disagreement and intermittent bashing of conservatives, I do respect the intelligence and thoughtfulness of conservative pundits such as David Brooks, George Will and Charles Krauthammer. All three have recently penned op/ed pieces excoriating Dolt 45 for his egregious behavior. Meanwhile, over at Fox, some of the more reasonable news anchors, Shepard Smith and Chris Wallace, have likewise taken Agent Orange to task for his nonsense. I got a chuckle the other day when Allen posted here that she is watching less Fox News because she feels they are veering to the “left.” As you stated, Kong, these are strange times that we are living in: views of conservatives and liberals with regards to Drumpf are actually converging.

While we are on the topic of news reporting, some posters here have repeatedly trumpeted Fox’s being the most widely viewed cable news network. I read several days ago that MSNBC is has supplanted Fox in this position. I’m not gonna say a word.

I recently read this article from Scientific American. Thought it connects well with what you and Doc have been talking about regarding people reading from their "trusted sources."

opentextmining.org/scientificamerican/jo...american0417-60.html

"While we are on the topic of news reporting, some posters here have repeatedly trumpeted Fox’s being the most widely viewed cable news network. I read several days ago that MSNBC is has supplanted Fox in this position. I’m not gonna say a word."

Fox News did this to themselves. Sounds like a lot of their "faithful" viewers are disgusted like I am and are not tuning in. If they want to veer left, so be it. They will drop in the ratings since they are not "experts" yet at hateful and dismissive speech toward anyone on the right. MSNBC deserves the top spot---they have a hotline from the "unnamed sources".

As I tried to articulate above, the thinking conservatives at Faux have, at long last, come to the conclusion that Dolt 45's behavior in his first 100+ days in the White House clearly show he is unqualified and unfit to be in office. This conclusion is not a liberal/conservative issue: it's common sense. The "faithful" viewers are the Trumpanzees that he was addressing when he said he could should someone on 5th Avenue in NYC and not lose votes.