But, we here in OT, often argue over news sources and I wondered, what criteria each of us uses to "trust" a news source? Is it the actual brand [i.e. Fox News, CNN, ABC News, etc.]? Or do we trust certain journalists and/or commentators [i.e. Diane Sawyer, Bill Moyers, Sean Hannity, etc]? Or do we trust the news that gets delivered in a way that doesn't upset our comfort zone? I wonder about this last one in particular because objectively, the news should just be the news, regardless of who delivers it or their political persuasion.
I say this as a person who has worked on every school newspaper in every school I ever attended. I began writing news stories when I was 8 or 9 I think. I still do some editorial pieces for different publications. I was a journalism major in college, although changed my major to political science somewhere along the line. Straight news should be the same regardless of outlet, journalist, or POV.
I realize that now we have commentators to "explain" what the "facts" of a news item really are, and we've gotten so used to these explanations that I think basic news and straight news has gotten lost in the effort to 'explain' what the truth really is. But, how do we choose who we are going to let "explain" it to us?
I will admit that I listen to commentators that demonstrate an ability to process complexity. You can determine it in the actual questions they ask guests. As a matter of fact a lot can be gleaned from the questions and follow up questions a news person will ask. Does one question follow the next based on the actual answers, or do the follow up questions ignore the actual response and push in one direction [like a prosecutor would in a cross examination]? Do commentators actively follow an agenda, and if they do, what kind of opposite perspective is shown to offset the bias of the commentator. All of these things are the things a straight news journalist would use to choose a news source.
In layman's terms, how smart is the newscaster? If the commentator or journalist isn't smart enough to ask the right follow up questions, then how can they "explain" complex issues to me?
What do you use to choose a news source? What gives you a sense that you can trust that news source?
I know this will degenerate into a "Liberal News" blah blah blah, but that's OK. Let's state at the onset that news sources are indeed biased. If they are, how do you pick a news source you can trust?
http://www.huffingto..._n_4579420.html
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The chiefs of CNN and Fox News Channel are throwing shots at each other, each suggesting the other's network is essentially out of the news business.
Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes struck first, saying in an interview published this week that it was interesting for CNN "to throw in the towel and announce they're out of the news business." It was a reference to CNN President Jeff Zucker's efforts to expand CNN's offerings beyond breaking news.
"We happen to be in the business, as opposed to some other fair and balanced network," Zucker responded at a news conference on Friday.
He suggested that Ailes' remarks, published in the Hollywood Reporter, were silly and an attempt to deflect attention from "The Loudest Voice in the Room," a book on Ailes and Fox by New York magazine writer Gabriel Sherman that is being published this month.
Zucker said he hadn't read the book, but that from what he heard it confirmed that "the Republican Party is being run out of News Corp. headquarters masquerading as a cable news channel."