This is why, when I homeschooled the boys, they would have to use TWO sources, identify their slant, and then we'd discuss the article. Favorites were BBC online and the English language Deutsche Welle to contrast with any American paper.
Freedom of the press does not mean "Must report only the unbiased truth 100% of the time," as there are ways to bias a statement while still seeming to be objective. Freedom of the press is dead, and has been since the first Gulf War, when the US government insisted that the press NOT announce casualty counts, and made it a crime to photograph cargo planes full of caskets being unloaded to bring home the bodies of American soldiers.
I could start a newspaper tomorrow that has a slant that "Education improves all areas of one's life." and include articles like "How to search the CIA World Factbook," or "What is a political voting record and what can it tell you?" It would deliberately include op-ed pages on the inner leaves, with PRO items on one side, and CON on the other, even if they aren't about similar topics at all.
But, we still BELIEVE that the press should be free and unbiased, when it's very clearly NEITHER. It's harder to fix as the number of news conglomerates decrease.
It's harder to trust, every time a reporter of a reputable media outlet is proven to be faking articles, in part or in whole.
It's harder to think clearly, because what is replacing traditional media are slick productions like Prager U, which are exceedingly biased.
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dancing_serpent
Newspapers
Date: 2024-10-29 02:17 am (UTC)Freedom of the press does not mean "Must report only the unbiased truth 100% of the time," as there are ways to bias a statement while still seeming to be objective. Freedom of the press is dead, and has been since the first Gulf War, when the US government insisted that the press NOT announce casualty counts, and made it a crime to photograph cargo planes full of caskets being unloaded to bring home the bodies of American soldiers.
I could start a newspaper tomorrow that has a slant that "Education improves all areas of one's life." and include articles like "How to search the CIA World Factbook," or "What is a political voting record and what can it tell you?" It would deliberately include op-ed pages on the inner leaves, with PRO items on one side, and CON on the other, even if they aren't about similar topics at all.
But, we still BELIEVE that the press should be free and unbiased, when it's very clearly NEITHER. It's harder to fix as the number of news conglomerates decrease.
It's harder to trust, every time a reporter of a reputable media outlet is proven to be faking articles, in part or in whole.
It's harder to think clearly, because what is replacing traditional media are slick productions like Prager U, which are exceedingly biased.