CNN: Fact or Fiction?

[Rogue666666]

In many of the political debates going on their have been references to CNN and other news organizations as to whether they report the news correctly. Many seem to believe that CNN is absolutely fiction. What do you think?

P.S. I'm holding my own opinion back for now. :D

[Gloer]

1. CNN is a firm that is in the business of producing real time content. Just like any real-TV.

2. CNN does show the material in a format that they have picked. They can't choose the happenings or the lead stars but they certainly pick an angle and they do try to flesh them out.

3. CNN is known to compromise verification of the facts if they want to be first on the story.

4. Most important is to try to NOT to accept the angle any news provider has. Al Jazeera can provide more information than CNN but I think people in USA prefer CNN because they don't like the way information is packaged. And arab prefers Al-Jazeera for the same reason. Both respondents actually expect a certain world view and easily accept intrepretations, speculations and even fiction if it fits that world view.

5. I like to get all the views. The news provider needs to take an angle, I accept that. I also understand that the news prodiver must present its story as a fact to remain in the business. The facts are bones to the news, but it's realy the skin and flesh we see. The full package is mainly fiction.

[reem]

i agree with Gloer. but then again, almost all news stations are guilty of fabricating here, changing a bit there, adding some spark here...you get the picture. the media in general isn't really devoted to giving the truth. they just try to get the highest ratings.
reem

[Legolam]

That's the problem with a commercial news station - they need the ratings and that interferes with the provision of unbiased and unsensational news. I don't think CNN deliberately misinform, but I think they do pick and choose what they say to boost ratings.

Just one last thing - I was in America a couple of years ago and found myself watching the news (can't remember if it was CNN or not) and they had a 60 second world round up of the news. 60 seconds!!!!! I couldn't believe it:rolleyes:

[Nóm]

Check this thread that Arvedui started awhile back...

Can CNN Be Trusted? (http://www.thetolkienforum.com/showthread.php?threadid=6936)

:D

[DGoeij]

Originally posted by Nóm
Check this thread that Arvedui started awhile back...

Can CNN Be Trusted? (http://www.thetolkienforum.com/showthread.php?threadid=6936)

:D

You took the words right out of my mouth. :) My post in the thread mentioned by Nóm is appropriate here too.:


As every news agency, CNN works with deadlines, competitors and a home-country. As a result of that, their 'news' can be as plain wrong or biased as that of any other agency.
I generally do not trust any 'news'. It's usually the 'olds' that are more trustworthy, but that still depends heavily on the 'writer'.

To put it as black and white as 'fact or fiction' isn't the issue. I agree with the comparison made by Gloer between CNN and Al Jazeera. They both tend to have an angle on happenings, and both should be taken with a grain of salt.

[Valdarmyr]

I believe CNN largely reports fact. Yes, it's a business, but when I compare CNN's facts to those of other media news sources, CNN has been accurate most of the time. Sometimes in the media, especially in smaller cities, there are inexperienced news writers or reporters who can get things twisted around, which the anchors then relay, but I say that inexperience is never an excuse for not getting the facts right. People, including CNN personnel, do make mistakes now and again, and media outlets should issue corrections when they do. I also believe news should not be slanted one way or the other, but the facts should be kept the facts.

One newsman I knew used to have a motto that was, "Get the facts first, but first get the facts!"

[Rogue666666]

Whats funny is, many people seem to believe that CNN puts a slant on things leaning TOWARDS america. But from my point of view, CNN currenty does NOT like our government, mainly because it is bieng run by republicans. When President Clinton was in office, everything they said about him was nice and friendly. They never critized his actions or mentioned him in ANY derogatory way. Thats because he was, for the most part, popular. On the other hand, when the election was going, they reported every thing that the democratic party could find that might in some way slander Bush. NOw though, they don't critize him, because he has over an 80% approval rating, which is higher than Clinton ever had. Now they just report what the "rest of the world thinks about him". So CNN does report the facts. But ONLY the facts THEY want reported.

[Kiroshar]

Originally posted by Rogue666666
Whats funny is, many people seem to believe that CNN puts a slant on things leaning TOWARDS america. But from my point of view, CNN currenty does NOT like our government, mainly because it is bieng run by republicans. When President Clinton was in office, everything they said about him was nice and friendly. They never critized his actions or mentioned him in ANY derogatory way. (snip) So CNN does report the facts. But ONLY the facts THEY want reported.

CNN reported plenty of bad things about President Clinton; they just didn't report it like Rush Limbaugh, so it wasn't to your liking.

Fox News is far worse at reporting "facts they want reported", and although they try to hide it to the public, it is well known.

I do not trust any of them, because they don't report all that much that the people in Corporate America don't want to hear. They also both fail to report what is going to happen to the Government, taxes, and Social Security once the Baby Boomers are well into retirement. They are gutless.

[Ciryaher]

The only two news-sources that I truly respect the opinions of are FOX News (mainly the O'Reilly Factor and Hannity & Colmes) and the BBC World News Report on PBS. BBC is more news, and OReilly and Hannity & Colmes do more focusing and investigation on specific subjects.

[Rogue666666]

Look, everyones view on whether a news station is biased or not is based on that persons opinion of international affairs. So I supposdly don't like CNN becuase they don't report stuff like Rush does. Well, I could say you don't like Rush because he reports stuff that you think is wrong. So, your opinion is heavily swayed by YOU.

[Kiroshar]

Rush doesn't have any press credentials, uses hearsay, and doesn't use academic sources for most of his comments. He believes if he says it, it must be true. Rush is an example of a talking head that is closer to facsist propaganda than to news.

What was your purpose for this thread?

Why do you single out CNN when Fox News is much more suspect?

Do you just want replies from people who agree with you? If so, go back to listening to Rush and watching Fox News, because they will certainly just give you more of what you want to hear and nothing else.

[Rogue666666]

Don't act stupid Kiroshar. I want everyones opinion, not what I want to hear. Thats ridiculuos.

And who is to say the Fox is much more suspect? You would prefer to single out Fox for the very reason you accuse me of singling out CNN.

Anyways, I was planning on expanding the discussion to EVERY news station. The reason I pointed out CNN is because this is a global forum, and CNN is recognized almost everywhere, unlike FOX which is mostly only found in the United States. As I am an American citizen living in Taiwan, I don't have a chance to watch Fox at all. All I get is CNN, and I'm sick of it.

Ok, Finally, I would put Rush into the class of comedian, not a political figure. YOU on the other hand CAN'T stand him, becuase he makes fun of your beliefs. Well, Its a free country, so get over it.

[Arvedui]

I'm a bit luckier than, you, obviously, since I get both CNN and BBC World Services. Makes me able to get the news from at least two sides.
What I believe is the main weakness of ANY News-service, is that they are easy to "use" for those who know which buttons to push. I know, because I have done so myself on a couple of occations.
Reporters/journalists have this thing called 'deadline' hanging over their heads, and if one are careful on how you present your case to them, it will get far before any discover that it was just 90% truth. And no news-service is eager to admit not being quite right.
That's just the way things work.;)

[Rogue666666]

I see. Well, isn't there a way that you can just state the facts without any drama or anything? I mean, just the plain, boring facts.

Of course, even then, the news ageny has to decide WHICH facts to report, so that could also affect someones decision on whether a news group is biased or not.

[Arvedui]

You don't need to do anything else than state the facts. The Media itself adds the drama. When I said 90%, I meant 90% of the facts.
Keep in mind that a lot of the politicians throughout the world, react to what they get from the media. That is why it is important for some people to be able to know how to "push the right button".
Why do you think that the majority of corporate and government spokespersons are former journalists? Because they know how the system works.