Newspapers - Whose Truth Do They Tell?

[Billy_Dean]

"There is no such thing as a free press. You know it and I know it. There is not one of you who would dare to write his honest opinion. The business of the journalist is to destroy truth, to lie outright, to pervert, to vilify, to fawn at the feet of Mammon, and to sell himself, his country, and his race, for his daily bread. We are tools and vassals of rich men behind the scenes. We are jumping jacks; they pull our strings, we dance; our talents, our possibilities, and our lives are the property of these men. We are intellectual prostitutes."
John Swinton, Journalist of the New York Times (circa 1880)


That was written 123 years ago, how do you see the press now?


:)

[J'Pol]

How do you see the press now Billy.

It's sort of a tradition to start these things with your own opinion then invite others to express theirs.

Other than Shared Holder who sees interesting things and posts them here for others to talk about.

[Rat Faced]

Not a lot has changed Billy....

[Billy_Dean]

I don't really have a strong opinion on newspapers JP, as I don't read them.

I purposely chose the above quote because it was 123 years old.

I've heard many people mention the press, and press bias in particular, I saw this as a chance for them to voice their opinions, not share mine.


:)

Edit: spelling.

[james_bond_rulez]

i dont read newspaper man

i am zen ;)

[clocker]

Originally posted by Billy_Dean@11 October 2003 - 05:39
"There is no such thing as a free press. You know it and I know it. There is not one of you who would dare to write his honest opinion.
I thought that the duty of the journalist was to report the news, not offer his opinion.
Although newspapers are money-making entities (in theory, at least), I don't worry too much about their deferring to corporate masters although I'm sure that there are examples aplenty of that very thing occuring.
More worrisome is the amalgamation of media outlets. When the same company owns radio, television AND newspaper companies, then the range of viewpoint and coverage becomes restricted and homogeonized.

[billyfridge]

Sadly, the press are gagged on both sides of the atlantic. we are spoonfed on a need to know basis, (only what they need us to know) particularly recent WMD
exaggerations. we don't do anything about it except gripe to our mates. they blame the press for the poor Brit scientist commiting suicide. we all know the bastard fat cat polititions drove him to it. We had an enquiry, what happened
as a result F--k all I don't blame the press at all, their hands are tied, and i can't see them ever coming untied. :angry:
PS I see i&#39;ve become a newcomer again with only 2 posts thanks guys <_<

[J'Pol]

Originally posted by Billy_Dean@11 October 2003 - 16:10
I don&#39;t really have a strong opinion on newspapers JP, as I don&#39;t read them.

I purposely chose the above quote because it was 123 years old.

I&#39;ve heard many people mention the press, and press bias in particular, I saw this as a chance for them to voice their opinions, not share mine.



What a strange thing to say.

[j2k4]

The press&#39;s hands are certainly not tied, and the press is not gagged, either.

To say so is foolish-no one who reads them would say so unless that person were of the "conspiracy theorist" stripe.

To answer Billy&#39;s query, I would say that in these last 123 years, very little has changed.

Edit: response

[Biggles]

Newspapers have conflicting interests.

There are the views of the owner, the views of the editor and the views of the journalist. They may align or a story may be some horrible hybrid as it goes through the mill of all combined.

I have to say, any story I have read that I had first hand experience of were of such a distortion that they only broadly corresponded to the event. Anyone I have discussed this with has generally reported similar experiences. Consequently, I tend to view any newspaper article as an indication that something happened. It is only by listening to radio, tv and a variety of other sources that even an reasonably approximate guess can be made with regards to the actuality of anything.

Newpapers, in particular, are prone to circulation wars and the need for sensationalist scoops is usually high. Sometimes they get it wrong. Murdoch&#39;s Sun has made a number of boobs - notably, recently, their headline regarding Bruno which was hastily withdrawn on the second edition and followed up the next day by a bit of "we love Bruno please don&#39;t stop buying our paper" crawling.

In short, I buy the paper (Glasgow Herald) that scratches the itch of my political leanings, but keep a healthy scepticism regarding the veracity of any article I read in it.

So, Billy, I think the quote is as good today as it was 123 years ago.

[Billy_Dean]

Originally posted by JPaul+12 October 2003 - 05:30--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (JPaul &#064; 12 October 2003 - 05:30)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-Billy_Dean@11 October 2003 - 16:10
I don&#39;t really have a strong opinion on newspapers JP, as I don&#39;t read them.

I purposely chose the above quote because it was 123 years old.

I&#39;ve heard many people mention the press, and press bias in particular, I saw this as a chance for them to voice their opinions, not share mine.



What a strange thing to say. [/b][/quote]
Is it me you have a problem with JP, or the thread?

Either way, I find your posts uplifting.



:)

[J'Pol]

Originally posted by Billy_Dean+12 October 2003 - 06:26--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Billy_Dean @ 12 October 2003 - 06:26)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'>
Originally posted by JPaul@12 October 2003 - 05:30
<!--QuoteBegin-Billy_Dean@11 October 2003 - 16:10
I don&#39;t really have a strong opinion on newspapers JP, as I don&#39;t read them.

I purposely chose the above quote because it was 123 years old.

I&#39;ve heard many people mention the press, and press bias in particular, I saw this as a chance for them to voice their opinions, not share mine.



What a strange thing to say.
Is it me you have a problem with JP, or the thread?

Either way, I find your posts uplifting.



:) [/b][/quote]
Neither, it was just a strange thing to say.

You feel somehow that if people wish to discuss this matter they are not capable of doing so without you being the catalyst ?

As indeed was "Either way I find your posts uplifting" a strange thing to say.

Is this your new look, reasonable, but enigmatic. I don&#39;t know if it suits you. Perhaps it would have had you started that way.

[Billy_Dean]

Haha&#33; JP you have me in stitches, your wry Scottish humour makes me homesick for the mother country.

Congratulations on Scotland&#39;s win, by the way, I hope you get through the play-offs OK.


:)

[J'Pol]

Originally posted by Billy_Dean@12 October 2003 - 13:02
Haha&#33; JP you have me in stitches, your wry Scottish humour makes me homesick for the mother country.

Congratulations on Scotland&#39;s win, by the way, I hope you get through the play-offs OK.


:)
You are homesick for a country you left because you hated its education system, health service, politics and close ties with the USA.

What a really very strange thing to say.

[Billy_Dean]

Originally posted by JPaul+12 October 2003 - 21:49--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (JPaul &#064; 12 October 2003 - 21:49)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-Billy_Dean@12 October 2003 - 13:02
Haha&#33;&nbsp; JP you have me in stitches, your wry Scottish humour makes me homesick for the mother country.

Congratulations on Scotland&#39;s win, by the way, I hope you get through the play-offs OK.


:)
You are homesick for a country you left because you hated its education system, health service, politics and close ties with the USA.

What a really very strange thing to say. [/b][/quote]
Are you on something hallucinogenic JP?

Correct me if I&#39;m wrong, but I don&#39;t recall discussing my reasons for leaving Britain on this forum. Or do you know me personally?




:)


Edit: Corrected spelling before Granny Paul picks up on it.

[J'Pol]

Originally posted by Billy_Dean@12 October 2003 - 13:53
hallucigenic



I beg your pardon.

[Billy_Dean]

A good start JP, start with pettiness, and work your way up to an opinion.


:)

[J'Pol]

Originally posted by Billy_Dean@12 October 2003 - 14:00
A good start JP, start with pettiness, and work your way up to an opinion.


:)
:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

You really are such a wag. Though once one has seen the show a few times it gets a bit repetitive.

Can&#39;t you get someone to write you some new material, or perhaps try to ad-lib a wee bit. Go on give it a bash, you might be good at it. You&#39;re never to old to try something new.

[Billy_Dean]

I&#39;ve just been looking at your contribution to the list of topics JP, not exactly a prolific thread poster are you? You obviously wait for others to form opinions for you, so you can mock in that inimitable scottish lilt.

:)

[Billy_Dean]

I just thought I&#39;d share this "news" item with you. It comes from the International Express. It reminds me of the story about the guy who get&#39;s a fright in one of his dreams, has a heart attack and dies in his sleep.

Jail-fear driver on the run.

Police are hunting a fugitive who calmly walked out of a court, past a police station, and went on the run after realising he was about to be sent to prison.
Glyn Rowlands, 32, a disqualified driver, had admitted a number of motoring and assault charges.
He said he was going to the lavatory after he spotted two security guards enter the court moments before his sentencing.
Father-of-six Rowlands, of West Coker, Somerset, took their presence as a sign they were about to accompany him to jail and fled the courthouse in Blandford, Dorset.
Magistrates sentenced him to four months jail in his absence.

Can you spot the obvious flaw in this story?

:)

[ilw]

My personal opinion of reading newspapers is to never stick to reading one consistently and to never read tabloids. It&#39;ll be a cold day in hell before i&#39;m a regular reader of the sun, mail, mirror or star. Imo the average tabloid story is either sensationalist human interest rubbish or something just short of propoganda, designed to fit in with what it thinks are it&#39;s readers&#39; world views. I hate being told what i should think, I&#39;d much rather someone laid out as much fact as is known and let me make up my own mind, or alternatively laid out a debate on the issue from both sides in a roughly even manner.
I hate the fact that the best way to make money in any media seems to be to appeal to the lowest common demonination, its lead to crappy tv, crappy movies and crappy newspapers.

Thats my rant for today

As for other media sources, I suppose i&#39;m less picky. For the last couple of months i&#39;ve read BBC news online a lot, I think thats because i generally can&#39;t pick up any obvious bias when reading it and so it tends not to piss me off. I watch euronews and CNN because they&#39;re the only English channels in Switzerland and I find i miss too much when trying to keep up with german news.