Monday, September 4, 2023

Just a reminder about why you can't trust the mainstream news media

 

In case you thought that your local TV station, or newspaper, or other news media was independent and trustworthy . . . think again.




That entire chorus of newspersons are, by definition, lying through their teeth.  None of them can be trusted, and neither can the stations that force them to lie by putting such words in their mouth.  Yet . . . they look so sincere!  I'm reminded of George Burns' famous comment:  "Sincerity - if you can fake that, you've got it made."

If you want to know the truth about what's happening in the world today, read widely, compare reports, and distrust sources that merely echo each other and parrot the "party line".  Try to find those with a genuinely independent view of the situation, compare and contrast them to each other, and you'll be much more likely to understand the situation.

As for those "independent" sources that promise to tell us the truth, far too many of them are just as partisan and biased as the mainstream news media they decry.  It's very hard to know which to trust, and which to regard with suspicion.  I tend to weigh up the whole body of a journalist's or source's previous body of work, and try to figure out whether or not they've proved to be generally trustworthy on earlier occasions.  If they have, I'm willing to give greater weight to their opinions today.

Just a reminder . . .

Peter


10 comments:

Old NFO said...

Always read BOTH the right and left, that way you know what BOTH sides are trying to do...

Anonymous said...

I stop trusting the "news" back in the 1970's
when I came home and Walter was on and lying about shit I knew the army was doing. told my parents also about it.

Elentari said...

I recommend https://www.factcheck.org/ - the least partisan fact-checking website I've found. (Snopes has a leftist bias, although it can sometimes be useful.)

Amahl_Shukup said...

In Knox County, TN, we have three TV News stations but only one news. But these progressive talking heads always spin and bias their so-called "reporting" in predictable and sickening ways. I'm calling out WATE, WBIR, and WVLT by name.

They started using the phrase "gender affirming care" and always call fat ugly men in dressed "she" and "her." I can get the weather from the internet, so I say, A POX ON ALL THEIR HOUSES.

Unreliable liars and progressives won't be aired in my house.

Dave Bagwill said...

A hearty Amen, Peter!

Mauser said...

The story behind that video is that all those local stations are owned by the same company (I want to say Sinclair Communications, but I may be off) which is why the Ad has the same script for all of the stations, just produced with the local "personalities". I don't disagree with your point, but this video was made to produce a false conclusion, likely by someone who confuses FoxNews, the cable channel with the Fox Network, the broadcast company.

JWM said...

I wonder how many of the consumers of television news know enough to say, "Wait. We are not a democracy. We were never intended to be a democracy. The Founders knew better than to propose democracy. That's why we aren't one.
My guess is the "Our democracy" line resonates with the tube boobs the way "Mom, apple pie, and the girl back home" resonated with Americans back when we were America.

JWM

Gerry said...

+1 Mauser

Some stone deaf corporate communications director must have thought this was a great idea. In fact it it blew up in their face big time.

We get the same version of "truth" because the pool of reporters, producers and editors come from the same schools, with the same professors with the same institutional biases. They give each other awards for mimicking the same shared beliefs.

Once a year some reporter will do a story on why don't the ignorant inbred deplorables understand our brilliant insight into all aspects of life. The reporter tries to be one of the gang at a local diner or bar and always comes away confused.

They are not us.

Anonymous said...

Worse yet, the left is planting actors and controlled opposition. Even when they look like they're on your aide, they're not (looking at you, Ramsawaladingdong).
About the only one I trust is actually being genuine, is rfk, and they've already killed his father and uncle, he knows they have his name on a list.

Anonymous said...

@ Mauser

The logos of ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox were accounted for in all of those clips. That covers all four major broadcast outfits. If some specific company has agreements with every one of those broadcasters, to the extent that such talking points are put out into every local feed, no matter who the broadcaster is, then we are screwed.

Same way we're screwed if these broadcasters collaborate to run the talking points.

Four broadcast companies, one talking point set. We're screwed.