Absolutely! Common ground between parties is all but gone. However it’s hard to find common ground when one is having socialism shoved down your throat and allowing people to break the laws.
4 Likes
When you intentionally filter the facts to fit your agenda or ignore stories that don’t cater to the political perspective you are pushing I believe you become fully culpable.
Perhaps some of these news organizations believe they are presenting the “truth” (at least as they see it). Maybe they even believe they are acting in in the best interest of their audiences instead of just using bias and sensationalism to make money. But if you follow left or right leaning news these days you are only seeing a small fraction of reality presented with the clear intent to manipulate instead of inform.
3 Likes
Ha ha, no, I don’t believe that for a second. News organizations are just perverted entertainment businesses. They cater to whatever audience will watch. As you stated, they use “bias and sensationalism to make money.” 100%.
I can’t find anything but right or left leaning news. I’d be happy to pay for a neutral, boring, just-the-facts news site, but I haven’t yet found one. Probably because they don’t generate enough interest to survive in a crowded field of so-called news organizations.
3 Likes
Agree, there are some that might lean a little less than others but I can’t think of a single source that just presents the facts on all sides of the issues and allows the viewer to draw their own conclusions.
I do think though that there are some in the news biz that truly believe that presenting their biased views of what is right while labeling everyone else as wrong will somehow make the world a better place.
4 Likes
chemicals… can be used to subvert some minds…
was a time when people said there was no date rape drug…
word in the intel community was YEP and the other side would use it on you…
and now we see info on it and people fallin prey to it…
watching some of this happen and who is doing it makes me think…
some one may be applying some sort of drug to a mind already on the edge…
and then tellin em… you go for it???
Yes. A lot of bias can be unintentional. Back when news organizations claimed to be unbiased, they still talked about how difficult it was to actually be unbiased. I’ve noticed that few news companies even claim to be unbiased, anymore. They wear their bias on their sleeve, because that’s how they get their viewers and readers. I wonder if that’s how they teach journalism, these days?
I also agree that some seem to be so delusional that they think they must spin the headlines and hide inconvenient facts. It’s part of the era, I guess. I see things I never expected: internet censorship, the U.S. President calling for more internet censorship, and a significant part of the U.S. public that thinks “Free Speech” is a bad thing.
3 Likes
I think hate is a very powerful drug on its own. It can and has been used to easily manipulate others. Especially those that lack solid connections with the world around them or a meaningful purpose in life.
4 Likes
It’s hard to be a racist when you talk to people from different races. You realize how much of what you see on TV and in the movies is complete fiction.
5 Likes
Divide and Conquer.
1 Like
The hate spigot, aka, MSM. I see noone protesting at ABC, CNN, MSNBC offices, demanding they take Joy Reid or Joe Scarboro off the air, for their hate speach.
3 Likes
FWIW, I actually took a class in White Supremacy taught by our State DOJ several years ago.
The course dealt specifically with white supremacist groups, not other racist groups.
In brief, the takeaways were:
- There is an unholy connection between meth and White Supremacist groups
- Teens especially are sought after and groomed by White Supremacists using social media, providing a “family” structure for teens lacking a healthy family life.
2 Likes
I don’t think a journalistic source with no viewpoint is possible. There are people involved after all .
I think the trick is to seek independently confirmable facts, and learn to separate them from the conclusions and opinions almost inevitably present. The important thing is to not think that retweet plagiarism is the same as multiple sources; and to try to avoid sources with a demonstrable history of obvious nonsense.
To pick a few examples, if people want to believe that facts reported in common by NPR, WSJ, National Review, and The Atlantic are too “fake” and conspiratorial to be considered — then I have no help. That is an alternative universe bubble I cannot advise. But whatever source(s) seems comfortable, never lose sight of the verifiable fact that they are all coming from somewhere, going to somewhere, and have a value system and point of view from which they report. Potholes don’t prevent driving, but they require attention to reach your destination.
2 Likes
Even the worst examples of propaganda and fake news (and you mentioned some of the worst offenders, NPR, The Atlantic, blehhh) rely on some facts. You can distill them if you learn to blank out illogical conclusions, bias and unwanted opinions. This is how Soviet citizens read the Pravda, between the lines. Shame this is happening in America in the 21st century, but intelligent people can deal with it.
3 Likes
One place to get a sense about unfamiliar sources:
Reminder: “Center” is not necessarily correct/truth/accurate — it’s just a conceptual place which claims to sit someplace which is neither “this extreme” nor “that extreme”. Truth is somewhere, but it could be anywhere.
5 Likes
AllSides is a good site actually. I judged this by looking at what sources they presented that were disputing human-caused climate warming theory so popular lately.
3 Likes
It sounds like a lot of us suffer from the same malady of unreliable news sources. But it makes me feel better that so many of us are aware of the problems in the news industry.
4 Likes
I hear ya’, Colion. But we knew that. 
Maybe too much coffee for preaching the choir.
Have a muffin. Maybe run for Governor. 
1 Like
I wonder if and what type of meds this animal was on.
…or should be on.
1 Like