Where Do You Get Your News?

December 12, 2005 at 3:10 pm nathan118 8 comments

I stumbled across a website that only reports Happy News. A few posts back we touched on alternative news sources. It is amazing how our sources of information influence our opinions on current events.

Drudge has a link to a poll of Iraqi people showing that 71% say life is going good. The link is to ABC News, so I thought I’d check their frontpage and see what they consider the "top stories." The top headline reads "Bush: 30,000 Iraqis Killed," and below that is a link that says "Related: Iraqi Poll." Several things jump out at me. First, the main headline is presented in a very manner of fact way, as if 30,000 regular old Iraqi citizens have been killed. No mention that most have been terrorists, or the enemy, just "Iraqis." Then the link to the poll is generic (as if it’s not important), and the first line in that article says "Surprising levels of optimism prevail in Iraq…" well no duh idiot! You morons at ABC love all the bad news, god forbid you notice the good things happening. Here is a screenshot in case it has changed…

Larry Elder made a great point the other day. He said that if your only source of information is the nightly news, you will have a perception that crime is very high. However, if you stopped watching that trash every night, your perception of crime around you would be quite different. Whether your news sources only focus on the bad, or has a particular slant (any which way), we must understand that news and fact are not the same thing.

Politics alternative news sources, drudge, god, iraq, iraqi citizens, larry elder

Denise

Indeed, one could hardly call what is generally presented on the evening news “News,” in the strictest sense of the word. If dog attacks, car chases, and murder trials are “News,” then I’m the Easter Bunny. As far as a meaningful collection of stories about ongoing world events which are comprised of viewpoints from those on both sides, well, sorry but I haven’t seen it anywhere but Fox News.

Theologically speaking, there are dangers in insisting on focusing only on bad events or only on the negative aspect of multifaceted events. When we are so bombarded by the negative, we end up lumping things into the same category. Hurricane in Louisiana, stolen car rates and the nasty health effects of beef-all one category. And if we only have so much time and money to devote to these various causes, we don’t need help obscuring the relative importance or unimportance of various events. And the evils of reporting on only one side of the issue? No good can ever be done if we cannot recognize it. If our worldviews (the war is wrong or Bush is bad) so cloud our thinking that we cannot discriminate between good and bad outcomes of events, what hope have we of expecting those who disagree with us to demonstrate respectful, realistic evaluations of our own activities?
http://multioptipupiloptomy.blogspot.com ~kevin

ahhh, the good old days, when my source choices for information were Romper Room and Sesame Street. But then I guess you could make some good arguments that the choices really haven’t changed much.
http://www.theblarg.com nathan118

haha, and not to get off topic on my own post…but look at pooooor Tookie the murderer. Poor tookie wookie.
http://multioptipupiloptomy.blogspot.com ~kevin

and to bring it back on topic, the NEWS wants us to feel sorry for the Tookster now, and they want to pin his death on Schwartzenegger. Our local news did an entire piece on his childrens’ books and “changed” life, followed by quoting The Governator’s final decision to deny clemency. They didn’t mention the people he shot in cold blood.

50 Minutes Tookie.
http://www.theblarg.com nathan118

Yah, a couple things about the tookie case bothered me. In the governors denial for clemency he said there can be no redemption because he never admitted blah blah blah. I don’t care if he says he did it and says he’s sorry, that’s not a grounds for clemency! You murder 4 people, you get killed. The whole “but he wrote children’s books” bit is also retarded. Estimates I’ve heard is that one book sold about 300 copies, and the other like 5. Big woop, that’s nothing. Getting the death penality is a punishment, and clemency is a last means effort to ensure that innocent people are not put to death. This guy has been on death row for 24 years, and he’s had appeal after appeal, but nobody on the news talks about that. Just because some of the crazy black leaders start yelling “he’s innocent” or “he doesn’t like gangs anymore” doesn’t mean diddly.
http://alberico.net Angelo

Let Tookie Live, Tookie Don’t Deserve To Die… too late!!

I thought the best argument against Tookie was made by the man who claims he formed the crips (like there’s pride in that!). There was video of him (on the news) all yoked and sweaty with his boxing gloves over his shoulder (like he just came from the GYM) and he was yelling about how he formed the crips and introduced tookie to people and after tookie killed those people he was bragging around the neighborhood about it… the man then stormed off shouting let tookie die… That’s Classic!

TV news is lame and is comprised of a simple formula: (shootings, stabbings, murders) + (paris hilton, jessica, nick, and whatever primetime show their promoting, say American Idol) + (USC, Lakers or make that Clippers instead this year and No LA Football Team) + (STORMWATCH 2005) = Dog Poo!

I’m glad there’s an Internet and Talk Radio to pull news and get opinions from.

[Spell check's going to love all the tookies in this post!]
http://alberico.net Angelo

Sorry, Just read the last post…

I agree even if he did admit to the killings and had remorse it wouldn’t have been enough for clemency…

Because he’s not sorry or taking responsibility… whatever good he’s done (the books or whatever, which are lame and written in hood speak from what i understand) is null. How can he be so good if he can’t even own up to his own mistake(s) and apologize to the families?

Handel was on Fox 11 Morning news. Jillian (the cross-eyed,) was arguing for tookie and she brought up the same old *but he’s done good since* and Handel is his tactful way really put her in her place and shot back at all her arguments… *have you read any of the books* and *i was recently nominated for a Nobel prize, it’s that easy* It was very funny and I was glad to see someone speaking out and shooting down Jillian, the Pop Cultured Moron!
http://www.theblarg.com nathan118

Nice, that would have been fun to watch. Al Rantel was interviewing the crazy bay area socialists that were camped outside San Quentin yesterday, that was funny. People saying stuff like “The government has done worse things than Tookie Wookie!”

Where Do You Get Your News?

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