Do You Want The Media To Be Liberal, Or Just Fair?

[THUNDER HANDS]

When you pick up a paper in the morning, or view a tv broadcast about the news, do you want it presented to you with an obvious liberal/left bent to it - or do you prefer straight, old school, non-biased reporting?

Me, I'd take the non-biased over a bias I necessarily agree with.

[NaderIsMyHero]

1. Whats the difference?

One of the main characteristics of liberalism is being fair to all people even when it hurts you personally. I refrain from voting in this poll since it doesn't really make sense. Name one conservative that isn't all about ME ME ME ME. Name one true liberal that doesn't treat all fairly.

[HawkerHurricane]

2. quote I heard

"Liberals are happy just to have one voice promoting thier views; Conservatives are angry unless all of them promote theirs."

[IrateCitizen]

3. I'd rather the media was not a corporate mouthpiece

The media is neither "liberal" nor "conservative" in its present form -- it's corporate. It is run by corporations to represent corporate interests.

While in many ways such an agenda may coincide more with the "right" than the "left", it is more of a convergence of interests than a conscious decision.

Read Chomsky and Herman's Manufacturing Consent: A Propaganda Model for an excellent analysis of this phenomenon.

[Djinn]

14. bang on

I'm with IrateCitizen.

also applies to governments - I don't really see the BFEE as right wing so much as corporate shills

[Catfight]

4. I'd rather hear the ugly truth, than a beautiful lie

[Dhalgren]

5. One problem with the current media's approach to "ballance"

is what it is they mean by "ballance". A reporter will come on and say (for example) "The President said that his new bill package will be the best thing ever for American working families. Senator Kennedy, speaking in the Senate, said that this package would be the worse thing ever for American working families. Back to you Cheryl." That isn't ballance, that this drivel. Real, fair reporting would explain what the package is and why each side says what it does. This, of course, is what Morrow and Cronkite used to do, but it will never happen again (except on "fringe" shows like "Now, with Bill Moyers" - which, by the way, is a great news program).

[bryant69]

6. The assumption on both sides of the fence

is that if the Media is fair and balanced it will largely favor my point of view. Conservatives attach themselves to that belief a bit more than liberals, but both have it to a certain extent.

The hardest thing to do is accept that there's a person who is as smart as you, as dedicated as you, as moral as you, but who has come up with a different answer to the important political questions. Most people never really accept it, and assume those that disagree with them are crazy or immoral or ill-informed (and to be fair there are plenty on all sides of the spectrum who fit those descriptions).

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[Fluffdaddy]

7. Unlike Fox news

I want my News media to be unbiased. Fox news is so biased for the GOP and Pro Bush I have to lean left in my chair to keep from falling off. :D

[LTR]

8. Just plain-old straight news

The way it used to be. The way NewsWorld International does it.

No shock and awe. No news anchors ramming opinions down throats. No fluff. No J-Lo stories. No fireworks.

Just plain and simple news. I'll interpret it however I feel.

[BlueEyedSon]

9. 10 years of real liberal media might fix the mess we are in.... nt

[Festivito]

10. I'd rather KNOW the biases than that lying non-biased garbage.

At least on FOX I know I'm not getting news I'd need.

But, these other charlatans filter out stories then pompously self-aggrandize themselves as perfect humans capable of lacking all bias. The are full of their own doo-doo.

We may not get the news we need, but, by golly, our reporters have the best coiffed hair in the whole world. Big deal.

[FDRrocks]

11. Fair

News should be "Yea this happened, right here" not "This crappy crap happened in this crappy place, and heres people to give 2 sides of the issue". The latter is demeaning to the audience, almost like assuming the viewer cannot make up thier own mind.

[adjwilli]

12. I'd rather news be openly biased...

but that an people had equal access to all biases, so that they can spend time analyzing each, then decide where they want to get their news from.

In our system right now, we have the choicec between various internet news sources that proclaim their biases loud and clear, and the wolves in sheeps' clothing on TV (with the exceptionf of FOX, who only fools morons into believing they're 'fair and balanced'). But props to FOX News for being openly biased. What we need is an equal share of all other biases, regardless of their feelings towards the US Corporatism.

[IkeWarnedUs]

16. I thought "news" by definition meant an unbiased account of events

That'll show you how old I am.

[MinnFats]

13. Let's try one or the other for a while and see how we like it.

Either one would be something new and different.
Let's just start with 'fair' and see how that works.

[NuttyFluffers]

15. i want the media to be diverse

i can handle a range of opinions. i expect bias whenever a human touches *anything*. just be open and honest about it. that's all i ask.

i can't stand fox, but that's because they pass themselves off as not a conservative channel, but as a fair and balanced channel. if they'd just come out and say we like to kiss power's ass and are wholly a talking piece for the white house, i'd be ok with it. it'd be utter crap in my opinion, but it'd be honest about what it is.

that's why i like air america. it's unabashedly liberal. it says yes we have an opinion to go with the facts we have. for each concrete detail we have a commentary that's wholly ours to be responsible for. i dig that.

be whatever they want, just give me the spectrum, be honest about what you are, and let me choose.