Is the Media deceptive?

Discussion in 'Debate Corner' started by Peace and War, May 13, 2010.

  1. Peace and War Bianca, you minx!

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    The newspaper and news channels show their stories to the world, about crime, violence, celebrity culture.
    Do you trust these reports about what's really happening in the world?
    Is it misleading to call people 'monsters'?

    Can we trust these sources?
     
  2. nasirrich King's Apprentice

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    Hmmm well

    That's up for the viewer to decide. I mean I do admit that some of the things that they say can be misguiding. But I don't think that if the news would lie about things that happen in the world. They could lose their jobs, and then what would happen. How would people be able to find out what's going on. I mean even if they read newspapers that too could have things in it that won't always be true. And speaking of this a question has been coming up a lot lately. Do you think that the news, newspapers, and all that published stuff has made it harder for African Americans in the the world? Has it also made it harder for anyone to really trust any race anymore?Then the example about how that married man who was black got shot 50 time before his big day by the cops.After leaving the bar so he could go home and get ready. The reason given(I was told) was that he looked a one of those people that they were chasing from before. And they thought it was him. Did he really have to get shot 50 times. Like they really didn't have to do that. But anyways that's just what I think about it anyways.
     
  3. Misty gimme kiss

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    to the Debate Corner. I'm assuming you accidentally put this in Game Chat, haha.

    But anyway, yes, I do think that the media can be very deceptive. They tend to focus on the negative events in the world rather than report happy news. Now I'm not saying that we should censor the bad things that go on in the world, but I think that it can really affect a person when all day they're hearing about what celebrity is having relationship problems, what country is bankrupt, and what person got murdered this morning.

    As for being untrustworthy? Well I believe that happens to the extent where they report what they want to report. For example, there's the very one-sided stations (like NBC and Fox), and if you watch only one of those, you're going to get their one sided report. So it's like doing any kind of informative research; you have to visit several sources in order to get the whole story. But I doubt that they're directly lying to us.
     
  4. Boy Wonder Dark Phoenix in Training

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    What she said.


    I've yet to find a very objective source of news. The media likes to give you their opinions and conclusions along with the facts to the point where it seems like what they came up with is the whole story.

    And then there's bias (when it comes to things like politics). They will twist the story in a way that makes somebody look either better or worse than they should.
     
  5. Cyanide King's Apprentice

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    Finding a truly "objective" news source is pretty much impossible. Newspapers, news channels, radio stations, etc, are run by people, who by nature have opinions that they want to express, and they will, even if unconsciously, report news in such a way so as to validate their viewpoints. If you were in their position, try as you might, you probably won't be able to give a 100% accurate report of the facts...

    ...although, with enough effort, you could be better than them. Finding a moderately reliable source is not outright impossible, but nowadays it can be kinda sticky to find out what's true and what isn't.
     
  6. EvilMan_89 Code Master

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    i do trust the news sources. i mean even if i didn't trust them, it's not like we have much of a choice as to where to get our news if not for news industries.

    i do believe that there are things omitted here and there and maybe sometimes there is bias and lies. but i don't think they are being overly deceptive to the point where i would actually care. i actually heard that ALOT of statistics are just made up, but at the same time there's usually no way to disprove their statistics. i'm sure things are misrepresented at times to sway people a certain way but it's not that big a deal. to be honest, i don't care that much about the accuracy of news stories, i just read them for fun.
     
  7. White_Rook Looser than a wizard's sleeve.

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    The truth can be, and IS, played with. You should always be critical about the information and things that are told to you. Passive acceptance is the death of thought.
     
  8. Gobolo Traverse Town Homebody

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    Whenever the media has something to report they pick an angle and stick with it in order to never appear contradictory. Once they have picked their angle they go out and find information that supports it. This is what generates the one sidedness that the previous posts outline. For instance this one time I was interviewed for the nightly news about my opinions on the government changing the minimum age on drinking alchohol. I supported the legislation, however on the night they only showed people against it. This is a perfect example of a bias sample. Also they wanted me to find a group of people to be with so it appeared as though there was a big group of people with a united goal. This is also deception.
     
  9. Fayt-Harkwind Where yo curly mustache at?

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    The media attempts to make you believe what they want you too or expect you to be dumb enough to not notice the little lie they said. You'll notice this through weasel words where they have statistics that aren't actually from anywhere E.g. "Scientists have said...".
    It's not just the news but also anything from TV, Radio, etc. They call it the hypothermic needle. I just studied this a week or two ago :lolface:
     
  10. Peace and War Bianca, you minx!

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    Yeah, I had two windows open and posted in the wrong one.

    So if most everyone is in agreement that the news is deceptive in some for or another, where do you all get your news from that you trust?
     
  11. MandyXRiku4ever Twilight Town Denizen

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    Well i don't trust it on celebetray lives because frankly those people will do anything to see a star smack them or cry about etc etc....

    tabliods are a huge waste of time and money.....

    i trust my local news on stories on crimes that have proof not on ones about how a dress can make you skinny.......

    but heres the thing tho stuff on things that your not so shure of? just look it up on bing.

    thats what i do.

    Watch your local news. Thats who i trust (not on weather tho' but yeah)

    Oh and keith countdown,bill press,and gabfest.....

    for polictics at leaste....XD thats who i believe...
     
  12. ^_^zexion's real wife^_^ Traverse Town Homebody

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    Well we can trust them to know what's going on around the world and what events we needed to do soi they are important to listen they even told us about swine flu accident and stuff. so my ansewr is yes it is important.
     
  13. Styx That's me inside your head.

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    That wasn't the question. Deceptive =/= unimportant
    And yes, they know what's going on. That still leaves the matter of whether they'll actually present it to us accurately and objectively.

    You can't trust every news source for current events either. While it's not common to actually make up news out of nothing, media can still filter out information and only show you what they want you to learn.
     
  14. Fayt-Harkwind Where yo curly mustache at?

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    They may be deceptive and pushy of their own opinion but they do still give a lot of good facts along with all the jibber jabber.
     
  15. Radiowave ITSA PIIINCH

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    The media is one of the most biased and misleading forms of information we've got. Often times news reports will "sensationalize" their news: making something melodramatic, bigger/smaller than it really is, etc, because part of the idea is that they need to get viewers hooked (so that they can make money -it is a business after all)

    Its ultimately up to us whether we trust all of it or not, but its smart to always question sources, ideas, etc.