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clintonesque
07-10-2003, 01:56 PM
What in your opinion are your best source(s) of unbiased media
information/sources.

This may include specific columnists

Online publication

Offline publication




PS
I'm trying to update my lists.

Here are a few of mine:
http://www.c-span.org/
http://www.drudgereport.com/
http://www.sacbee.com/voices/national/buckley/
http://news.google.com/
http://www.nypost.com/
http://www.theonion.com/
http://www.stimson.org/
http://www.london-daily.co.uk/
http://www.stratfor.com/
http://www.latimes.com/
http://www.independent.co.uk/
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/
http://www.nypost.com/
http://www.cpost.mb.ca/
http://www.nationalreview.com/
http://pppp.net/links/news/
http://nytimesfax.com/
http://www.topstory.ca/papers.html
http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/

ilw
07-10-2003, 02:46 PM
http://news.bbc.co.uk they won a whole bunch of european awards for the reporting and layout. Generally a good mix of comprehensiveness and speed.

http://www.newscientist.com for all the latest science stuff

evilbagpuss
07-10-2003, 02:51 PM
aye, BBC is very good.

A non-commercial organisation that has a long history of fair reporting and who's impartiality is enshrined in UK law. Its a pretty unique organisation and one that most UK citizens are very proud of.

Illuminati
07-10-2003, 02:58 PM
The Mirror (newspaper) - www.mirror.co.uk

AFAIK one of only three in the UK who didn&#39;t follow the government without question. I was impressed that while they took a strong anti-war stance at the time, they did allow those in favour of war a voice in the matter - One thing I like most of the pro-war newspapers didn&#39;t do significantly for the anti-war supporters <_<

Still, even without considering the war reports - The amount of stuff that&#39;s been in it the past 2-3 years has made me think about a lot of stuff :)

Neil__
07-10-2003, 03:02 PM
Isn&#39;t "UNBIASED" with respect to media purely a matter of opinion?

Thanks for the links will take a look.

Neil.

evilbagpuss
07-10-2003, 03:06 PM
Originally posted by Neil...
Isn&#39;t "UNBIASED" with respect to media purely a matter of opinion?


Not really. To me unbiased means showing both sides of the story and not trying to support one side over the other.

Compare the BBC to any British tabloid and you&#39;ll see what I mean.

clintonesque
07-10-2003, 03:10 PM
Thanx all, I&#39;ll check them out.


j2k4, Where are you?

ilw
07-10-2003, 03:12 PM
IMO the daily mirror is about as unbiased as the daily mail. The fact u say they &#39;took a strong stance&#39; kinda implies that they were being biased doesn&#39;t it?

myfiles3000
07-10-2003, 03:16 PM
Originally posted by Neil__@10 July 2003 - 16:02
Isn&#39;t "UNBIASED" with respect to media purely a matter of opinion?
indeed, the search for "unbiased" media is a lost cause, its like looking for "nice people." As i have posted several times in the past, however, i happen to think that the best journalism comes from those that are somehow politically motivated (as opposed to following the politically-neutered creed of "objective reporting"), but follow rigorous standards in the practice of their trade. This i call good bias (talkingpointsmemo) as opposed to bad bias (fox news). So, you can respect a journalist who doesn&#39;t share your political perspective because s/he is honest, fair and rigourous, and is a worthy opponent.

"Objective" reporting too often leads to mindless apolitical stories about X number of dead in country Y, or who&#39;s sleeping with whom, the latest celebrity gossip, or irrelevant human interest stories of brave, intelligent sisters joined at the cranium.

"objective" reporting is the creature of business not journalism; poltical commentary alienates readers, and gathering readers is how media make their money. so we have objective reporting at the lowest common denominator, and murdoch et al make a fortune selling our attention spans to companies.

Neil__
07-10-2003, 03:18 PM
Originally posted by evilbagpuss+10 July 2003 - 16:06--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (evilbagpuss &#064; 10 July 2003 - 16:06)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-Neil...
Isn&#39;t "UNBIASED" with respect to media purely a matter of opinion?


Not really. To me unbiased means showing both sides of the story and not trying to support one side over the other.

Compare the BBC to any British tabloid and you&#39;ll see what I mean. [/b][/quote]



I agree if all sides are given equal weight and thought and I knew the reporter had no axe to grind then I would call it unbiased.
But if I had any real agenda then I could concider any opposing view biased.
I also find it hard to accept that any "for profit" organisation is ever truely unbiased
especially one run by Murdock.

Neil.

j2k4
07-10-2003, 03:19 PM
Originally posted by clintonesque@10 July 2003 - 10:10
Thanx all, I&#39;ll check them out.


j2k4, Where are you?
I get my news from everywhere; I form my own opinions and come to my own conclusions.

Whether a news source is biased or not is indeed strictly a matter of opinion also, and I&#39;m willing to leave each to their own.

To tout the "Biased/Unbiased" conflict as one suitable for debate here is to commit many pages of a thread to meaningless blather; luckily for us all, we are only wasting "cyber-ink".

I&#39;ll opt out of this one, thanks. ;)

clintonesque
07-10-2003, 03:30 PM
I get my news from everywhere; I form my own opinions and come to my own conclusions.

Whether a news source is biased or not is indeed strictly a matter of opinion also, and I&#39;m willing to leave each to their own.

To tout the "Biased/Unbiased" conflict as one suitable for debate here is to commit many pages of a thread to meaningless blather; luckily for us all, we are only wasting "cyber-ink".

I&#39;ll opt out of this one, thanks.&nbsp;


Yeah, we all make up our own opinions & come to our own conclusions based on what we gather from many sources.

I take it you don&#39;t want to reveal any of your favorite online readings? ;)

Neil__
07-10-2003, 03:45 PM
I get most of my better information from what politicians DON&#39;T say.

If you listen a lot it all becomes clear.

Neil

j2k4
07-10-2003, 03:50 PM
Originally posted by clintonesque@10 July 2003 - 10:30

I get my news from everywhere; I form my own opinions and come to my own conclusions.

Whether a news source is biased or not is indeed strictly a matter of opinion also, and I&#39;m willing to leave each to their own.

To tout the "Biased/Unbiased" conflict as one suitable for debate here is to commit many pages of a thread to meaningless blather; luckily for us all, we are only wasting "cyber-ink".

I&#39;ll opt out of this one, thanks.


Yeah, we all make up our own opinions & come to our own conclusions based on what we gather from many sources.

I take it you don&#39;t want to reveal any of your favorite online readings? ;)
I get very little on-line; as I generally read opinion pieces, money must be spent to get access, and I spend that money on printed material that I can read at my leisure. The titles of these publications I will keep to myself.

I also read books, 4-5 at a time, so my eyes get a workout.

I haven&#39;t the ability to read from a CRT for too long, as I am middle-aged and cursed with the patience of a ten-year-old when I am forced to confront my infirmities.

clintonesque
07-10-2003, 03:58 PM
You do alot more reading than I.

Think I&#39;ll turn in, have Three Twelve hr. night shifts comming up
Thanx. :)

Rat Faced
07-10-2003, 05:20 PM
Two of the suggested sources really stick out as very biased (of the ones I know)

DailyStar.......Is very Right Wing.

Daily Mirror leans to the left.


BBC does its best to be unbiased...as to be otherwise is expensive for it.

For every "Left" viewpoint it has to allow the same amount of airtime to the "Right" viewpoint....occasionally it gets it wrong, and broadcasts a public appology, stating when and WHY it was wrong.

j2k4
07-10-2003, 08:48 PM
Originally posted by Rat Faced@10 July 2003 - 12:20


BBC does its best to be unbiased...as to be otherwise is expensive for it.

For every "Left" viewpoint it has to allow the same amount of airtime to the "Right" viewpoint....occasionally it gets it wrong, and broadcasts a public appology, stating when and WHY it was wrong.
How can the Beeb&#39;s views be legally and effectively stipulated to be unbiased?

Who determines whether the BBC is being biased?

Who determines whether the "bias determiners" are biased?

See what I mean?

Tony Blair is of the opinion the BBC is biased; is Blair wrong because the law says the BBC is unbiased?

My God, I have gone off my nut and have nothing but questions&#33;

(I just couldn&#39;t go a whole post without declaring SOMETHING)

Rat Faced
07-10-2003, 08:53 PM
EVERY UK Government says that the BBC is biased.

Strange how its always being accused of leaning the Opposite way to whichever government is in Office (by the Government of the time), even though its own editorial staff and journalists havent changed.

They must be some of the most confused Journalists on the planet... 1 week they are Commies, the next Capitalist Bastards. ;)

The most ammusing thing is that the Opposition is usually calling them Biased the opposite way.



There is a complaints commision, and they take their job VERY seriously. The results of the Complaints are public, together with reasoning and evidence...its very transparent.

All you need is to send a Self Addressed envelope to....

Neil__
07-10-2003, 08:56 PM
j2k4
The BBC was government funded and government accountable
and had a major problem in the past with manipulation by Thatchers government.
They say the accountability link has been broken but while their budget is decided by Downing Street, Can anyone say they aren&#39;t manipulated by the Cabinet.

Rat Faced
If the government was pulling my strings I&#39;d be speaking out against them also.
And it dodges the people who claim a link,

Neil

j2k4
07-10-2003, 08:57 PM
Originally posted by Rat Faced@10 July 2003 - 15:53
They must be some of the most confused Journalists on the planet...I week they are Commies, the next Capitalist Bastards. ;)
SEE?

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Rat Faced
07-10-2003, 08:59 PM
You know what i mean j2k4 :P

Rat Faced
07-10-2003, 09:06 PM
Originally posted by Neil__@10 July 2003 - 20:56
j2k4
The BBC was government funded and government accountable
and had a major problem in the past with manipulation by Thatchers government.
They say the accountability link has been broken but while their budget is decided by Downing Street, Can anyone say they aren&#39;t manipulated by the Cabinet.

Rat Faced
If the government was pulling my strings I&#39;d be speaking out against them also.
And it dodges the people who claim a link,

Neil
Thats not strictly true.

The Government tells them the maximum that can be charged for the license fee.

They are free to raise any other funds they want as they see fit...EXCEPT they would have to get permission to advertise on BBC1-4 or BBC Radio 1-5 and the world service (plus all those Regional Radio Stations)

However they sell program related products/video&#39;s and also own the UK range of digital channels (UK Gold, UK Style etc) which are quite profitable and they can advertise on them.

In addition, many of the programs are sold abroad, raising more capital.

They have their sticky mits in other pies too...such as education (remember the old BBC model B computer ;) )

Just as well, i think the license fee just about covers the paybill of the EastEnders cast ;)

j2k4
07-10-2003, 09:13 PM
Y&#39;know, oddly enough, apart from their news coverage (which I really don&#39;t find all that bad-somewhere this side of appalling :D ), I have to say I enjoy their programming; love the "humour", as you say.

Neil__
07-10-2003, 09:14 PM
Rat
So things have changed a little then but ultimately it&#39;s the goverment that decides how much revenue comes in from the licence fees. considering there is no choice you have to have a licence.
so there is room for influence.

At the end of the day the news media aren&#39;t much more than a bunch of professional rubberneckers.

Neil

Rat Faced
07-10-2003, 09:17 PM
At the end of the day the news media aren&#39;t much more than a bunch of professional rubberneckers.


This is so true.

We get arrested for stopping to look at the accident and causing traffic chaos...they get awards. :D

Neil__
07-10-2003, 09:24 PM
This is so true.

We get arrested for stopping to look at the accident and causing traffic chaos...they get awards.

7 people died today in a tragic minibus accident and a news reporter said
"the emergency services are trying to remove the bodies with some dignity"
(Not an exact quote but thats what she meant).

A bit hard with a telephoto lens shoved firmly between your arse cheeks though.

Neil

j2k4
07-10-2003, 09:25 PM
Originally posted by Rat Faced@10 July 2003 - 16:17

At the end of the day the news media aren&#39;t much more than a bunch of professional rubberneckers.


This is so true.

We get arrested for stopping to look at the accident and causing traffic chaos...they get awards. :D
Let us not forget:

Put a reporter and a "news team" (with camera) on a street corner; things will happen that otherwise would not.

They foment news.

Neil__
07-10-2003, 09:27 PM
j2k4

girls will get their tits out
guys will flash their arses
Johnny knoxville will pass by.
and people will turn and look and crash their cars.

Neil

j2k4
07-10-2003, 09:34 PM
Originally posted by Neil__@10 July 2003 - 16:27
j2k4

girls will get their tits out
guys will flash their arses
Johnny knoxville will pass by.
and people will turn and look and crash their cars.

Neil
Just so...... ;)