[NLA] Media Alert

[AndresMuro@aol.com]

Vicky wrote:

"Whether it's newspapers or radio or tv or the internet, each station/channel/site has its own bias."

This is not completely accurate, and that was the point of my reference to the book by chomsky and Herrman.

It is not true that different news media have different biases and all biases and ideologies are expressed equally. however, it is true that to be a mainstream disseminator of news, you need tremendous amount of capital and support from corporations. 

News media, therefore, all have a bias to support the flow of capital for themselves and the corporations that sponsor them. News that donnot support the continuous flow of capital will of course not get dissemniated. So, it is not the case that there are different biases and they all have equal access and possibility of dissemination. It is the case, however, that within the bias of corporate captialism and globalization there are differences that may be disseminated. 

Because, news media show some difference in arguments, we believe that all differences are being exposed. This is the image that the media wants to portrait, and this is false. 

The news is all between the center and the right. The right argue that the center is the left and they are in the center. However, we see Pat Buchanon and other people at Fox all the time. The representative of the 'left' is Chris Mathews. How often do you see Chomsky, bell hooks or Cornell West on TV. Nobody will advertise if they were invited regularly. 

Andres


  





In a message dated Tue, 15 Jan 2002  1:14:01 PM Eastern Standard Time, Vicki Trottier <628091 at ican.net> writes:

> 
> > 
> > At 07:25 PM 1/14/2002 -0500, you wrote:
> >> I would be very interested in where others are getting news that seems
> >> accurate and unbiased--
> I want analysis,
> >> politics and public policy.  Thanks.
> >> 
> >> Andrea
> 
> I think by it's very nature it will be difficult to find news that is
> unbiased in some sense -- it is written by humans, after all, and we all
> have our biases although some are more successful at hiding them then
> others.
> 
> You say you want analysis -- you're going to get the bias of the person
> carrying out the analysis!  If you have a right wing commentator, you'll get
> that slant and so on.
> 
> Economic analysis is a good example:  One economist will interpret a news
> item as doom and gloom and forecast a recession; a second economist will
> interpret the same item completely differently and talk about how it
> indicates coming economic growth.  So who's right?  Both are highly
> educated, trained professionals but they perform their analysis based on
> their own experiences and inherent biases and come up with different
> interpretations.  In this case, hindsight is the only winner -- we don't
> know who's right until well after the fact.
> 
> Whether it's newspapers or radio or tv or the internet, each
> station/channel/site has its own bias.  It's up to the end user to determine
> which one they can live with the most or which one they feel gives them the
> "fairest" reports.  Even if the news items are reported with just the facts
> and no analysis, the very choice of which items to air and in which order
> indicates a bias.
> 
> I think that in order to get the complete picture, you need to turn to a
> variety of sources and use your best judgment to form your own analysis.  In
> terms of literacy education, this also provides a good teaching tool for
> learners, i.e. You can't believe everything you read/hear.  It's important
> to listen to the facts, check sources and then reach an opinion.  The media
> isn't always "right".
> 
> Vicki Trottier
> Literacy Council of South Temiskaming
> 
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