How trustworthy is the media?

[Haney]

our society is frequently seen as one which is run by the media. TV, radio, magazine, newspapers...etc.

Which do you find the most trustworthy and why?

Which types of media do you use the most?

And if you don't trust the media, where do you get your information from?

[bohemian03]

Well I don't think any media is trustworthy but I do look at several different sources that are thought to be "trustworthy" like BBC, CNN, NY Times and compare all the information.

I guess I read newspapers the most... well on the internet. I don't really listen to the radio since I live in the Netherlands and I don't understand Dutch Same with the TV here haha.

[Vvi]

I read news online mostly, from about 4 different sources (BBC, 2 Finnish newspapers and one Israeli one). I know what political stance each newspaper represents, and I don't read the ones on the political right because I'm a "Democrat" (not in the American sense, but just more left-wing). I also avoid Fox because I think they blab too much and don't really give me anything subtantial.

I don't really trust any news that I'm given, especially if it's on the tv because the tv stations manipulate images (e.g. they only show images from one side in a war) and use emotive language to try to convince the watchers that the way the news station is covering the event is right. Generally, BBC isn't bad although they just had some big fall-out with their viewers over the neutrality of a reporter that was covering the conflict in Gaza.

Who here believes in press censorship? I'm not talking about torturing journalists and preventing them from writing anything at all, but things more related to censorship of sensitive court cases and military-related stuff. The Israeli press isn't allowed to report on new military developments unless they've been okayed by the military PR team (for obvious reasons, I don't think any country wants others knowing how it's defense systems run). Every week there's always a gag order lifted on some court case where people are being tried for treason/attempted terror attacks. I'm not sure exactly why there are gag orders on those kind of cases though, maybe they don't want the press getting involved and pressuring the judges. On the whole though, there's freedom of press here and everyone is always criticizing the government openly, and there are lots of protests by both left and right-wing people about government policies/gay pride/whatever else you can think of.

Also, press censorship of rulers can be pretty strcit in other countries. In Kenya the president's wife stormed into a press office a few years ago and slapped some reporter on the face for writing "defamatory" things about her (he had written some article about the president's mistress and she was insulted). Other countries like Egypt, Jordan and Thailand also have censorship of their rulers. Obviously you need to preserve national unity, but not letting people say anything bad is kind od backward, since how can you develop and change if everyone thinks things are going just fine?

[Chelleee]

hmm a tricky topic,

personally i do trust the media to some extent, but i tend to try and have an open view on whatever i see as, it is not unusual for the media to blow things out of proportion to try and generate interest - eg. the recession, swine-flu (i'm not saying they're not major issues and that they aren't currently happening, i'm just trying to say that the excessive media coverage has made the situations seem worse than they really are)

if i just want a general update, the news will do

if i want the details, i'll go and read online newspapers and check out a couple of articles before i decide or make my mind up on something

[Bandev]

This topic seems kind of comical to me considering that my course at uni focuses on the media.

If you want some really solid views about the media I would suggest reading Habermas, Focault, MacLuhan and so on and so forth.

@Vvi All forms of media manipulate images it is not just TV and all forms of media use emotive language. Also what is so wrong with emotionality in the media, if balanced with a deal of rationality, it can provide a good, level and human view of the world. Being solely rational amputates a part of humanity that everyone would say adds a great deal of vivacity and worth to life.

[Vvi]

Some of the ways the media manipulate information are very subtle. For example, if there are scenes of war on screen there might be sad, wailing music playing softly in the background. I think that the media needs to cut this kidna stuff out and provide just the news without any extra things, so that we can form our own opinions of events. How am I supposed to be able to come to a balanced conclusion on what I think about anything if the media is trying to manipulate me to think like they do by playing certain kinds of images and avoiding mention of the other side?

Also, the methods that journalists use to get thir video footage are extremely disturbing in some cases. During the Gaza war, many journalists who were filming the aftermath of the air raids used to film wailing and sobbing mothers. One journalist went up to one of these mothers and asked her to hit her head with her hand and cradle it in her hands afterwards, so that her grief would seem more dramatic for the cameras. If that isn't manipulation, I don't know what is.

[Mattias]

our society is frequently seen as one which is run by the media. TV, radio, magazine, newspapers...etc.

Which do you find the most trustworthy and why?

Which types of media do you use the most?

And if you don't trust the media, where do you get your information from?

well, i actually dont trust any source of information unless i see it myself

definitely not the internet

maybe book sources

but really i don't trust much unless i see it myself

thats why science labs for chemistry are so cool

[Vvi]

Going all TOKy on you: You can't always trust what you perceive with your senses. Seeing something doesn't mean it's real, as is the case with optical illusions.

[Bandev]

Some of the ways the media manipulate information are very subtle. For example, if there are scenes of war on screen there might be sad, wailing music playing softly in the background. I think that the media needs to cut this kidna stuff out and provide just the news without any extra things, so that we can form our own opinions of events. How am I supposed to be able to come to a balanced conclusion on what I think about anything if the media is trying to manipulate me to think like they do by playing certain kinds of images and avoiding mention of the other side?

I don't deny that some of the emotional manipulation the media does can be over the top, when you say that media should cut emotion out of reporting completely, it brings forth two questions: could the media ever be emotionless? as it communicates in language and all language is charged with emotion. Is a lack of emotion in the media an effective representation of reality? Most people (bar psychopaths) take emotions into account when forming an opinion.

[genius wannabe]

I think the only time media's emphasis on emotion becomes a problem is when they're trying to evoke a certain emotion in you, the viewer/reader/whatever. Isn't the whole point of media to inform you, so you come up with your own response and your own emotions, after seeing their broadcast .. ? Its different if they're trying to portray the emotion they themselves feel (which a lot of journalists nowadays seem to think is necessary - for us t know what they are feeling), but once they start implying that that's what the viewer is supposed to feel, they lose my interest and respect.

For example, this morning there were broadcasts on Canadian news networks about the D-Day celebrations in Normandy. There were all kinds of dignitaries and veterans and students and so forth, and instead of focusing on the actual events that were taking place, and letting the viewer listen to the speeches and so forth, the anchor went on and on for about 30 minutes about how it was raining there, and how that should make us, the viewer, feel horrible and depressed and realize that somehow the rain connected to the invasion of Normandy. I didn't really understand that. but I got the impression she was telling me how to feel,instead of just telling me what happened. Isn't the whole point that the viewer make up their own mind? I don't know.

Nevertheless, I don't think media is that trustworthy anymore. Ever source of media is bent toward one stance or the other, and there is bias wherever you look. I personally read any and every news source I can find, because even though I may not agree with say Fox News, their report may have something that other more 'liberal' stations refuse to talk about, you know? So i do think its absolutely imperative that you take into consideration every view of the story, not just the view you personally like best. then, you are fully equipped to make up your own mind :]

[Tilia]

I don't think that they would lie deliberately, but sometimes they twist things to make it more interesting and they it's easy to misunderstand.

You should be cautious when it comes to medias, and triangulation is a good way of making sure that they at least appear to know what they are talking about.

[wikinerd]

Google search: "media bias".

11,900,000 results.

Hmph.

Edited June 16, 2009 by wikinerd

[Bandev]

And google is just another media

[Feist]

Oddly enough, I did something generally on this topic which was sent off to IB.

Firstly, we need to understand what the media is there for. We as human beings can't be there at all times to see everything that is going on. It's just not possible. As much as we'd like to see all the events that are going on firsthand, we have our own lives to move on with. So that's what the media is for. To inform us. To be our eyes, if you will.

So, are our lenses fogged by the media, and, consequently, are our perspectives blinded by it?

Yes.

The media always has some sort of censorship. Something that they don't want us to know for a variety of reasons - it's classified information that could harm an investigation, it's not completely verified, in other words, it's just not ready - nor may it ever be ready - for the world to see.

But I do believe that the information they radiate out to us is, for the most part, true. Maybe not the internet, but widely popular news broadcasts and newspapers. Especially for bigger stories - maybe not the details, but the main story should always be true since it can be verified with so many different mediums and amongst the same medium between a variety of sources.

In short, I don't think the media would lie to us, but I think they would withhold information from us. Silence is neither true nor is it false.

Edited July 22, 2009 by Feist

[Peachez]

We would think that we should trust what we hear about what is happening in the world. But think about the way they contribute the information to the people. On the TV, for example they can show a video clip of what is really happening there, on the newspaper they use words to describe what they saw and sometimes they exaggerate or even over exaggerate at times. Also, when talking about politics, the journalists are not allowed to talk about some things that truly are happening, they may touch on what it is, but not always. This is a very tricky topic, I am writing my EE on Journalism and it is extremely hard to find the information about such things.

[Harley Vee]

For what it's worth, I think that in order to get trustworthy information you should take various media and contrast what they state about the subject in particular which you are investigating, that way you are avoiding bias, which is very likely to be present in most every media, including those that are most trusted (I mean, more often, or generally), because they often have different party sides or ideological sides, which can influenciate how they transmit or present the information.

Vee

[Alison Vicrobeck]

This is definetly a tricky question. I'm currently taking a class in school call French Media. It really teaches me to have a more critical view and media. But my opinion really changes all the time. I want to be a journalist, but at the same time, i feel like that whole system is flawed. It shows you what it wants you to see, or what you want to see, but it's not necessarily the truth.

The media, and especially advertising, is currently corrupting the younger generations. You can now see 12 year old girls stuffing their bras, wearing revealing clothes (even if there isn't much to reveal yet) and they tell you they're trying to look "sexy" for boys.

This is not how our society should be, I think we really are in a time where the influences around us are very strong, and more than ever we have to be aware of what's around us and what the media is doing to our subconcious

[Amber]

You should trust media, with common sense. Example don't trust those gossip magainzes, but dont give 100% faith into anything. The most important thing is to remember that people make money off of it, and to be smart.

[Austin Glau]

The media is actually pretty trustworthy at some things, like news and rumors. But be carefully whether the news and rumors are not influnced/started by some compnay, like GM taking out its name in a news of a car crash or something like that.

[-PakistaN-]

They're all untrustworthy. Always hiding and censoring. If you want to know what's really going on , go there yourself