Forum Home > Non-Gaming > General Discussion > Journalism Warning Labels
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cpnichol
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Posts: 5684
Journalism Warning Labels
Posted: Jun 15, 2011, 17:14:44
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I'm getting sick of reading opinion dressed up as fact or news, small trials on mice being used to hail miracle cures, outright lies, just plain wrong etc. news stories. So I'd quite like to see these as standard on all news stories:

http://www.tomscott.com/warnings/

I don't mind reading someone's opinion about something, I just like it to be obvious that's what it is. I don't mind reading about small and promising medical trials, in fact I read magazines that report them, but I don't want a headline about a miracle cancer cure only to find out it was actually a small trial that showed a small benefit in mice.

Here's quite an amusing/depressing site that catalogues the various misdemeanors of the British tabloid press:

http://tabloid-watch.blogspot.com/

It goes from the pointless made up gossip stories to stuff that could really ruin someone's life.

I just feel the press should be held accountable for what they print. If they have a front page headline calling someone a rapist and it turns out that person is completely innocent, they shouldn't just be allowed to bury a tiny apology on page 14. It's increasingly common that the media, politicians, pressure groups etc. just say something loudly and a lot and it becomes accepted as fact regardless of whether there is an ounce of truth to it. Here's a good example from the UK government trying to justify their massive cuts and changes to our National Health Service:

http://www.badscience.net/2011/02/andrew-lansley-and-his-imaginary-evidence/

here's the bit I liked from that:


Quote:
The government claims that our rate of death from heart attacks is double that in France, even though we spend the same on health. Health economist John Appleby instantly debunked this claim in the BMJ, and his piece will become a citation classic. From static 2006 figures in isolation the government is right: but the trajectory of improvement in the UK is so phenomenal that if the straight line continues – as it has done for 30 years – we will be better than France by 2012.

XTR3M3
Member
Posts: 2602
Re: Journalism Warning Labels
Posted: Jun 15, 2011, 22:37:49
Quoted Reply
What you are asking for is integrity.....sadly most media outlets don't have any.
"If it bleeds, it leads" is the montra of the media. It is all about ratings, not truth. The "rapist" scenario isn't enough over here. Sure they can print a retraction, but they are still liable for monetary damages for defamation of character and libel...and since they were stupid enough to put it in print, their guilt is not the issue. Only how much the payout will be.

That is why the network news and newpapers are failing so miserably over here. They have less integrity than the internet news sources and are slower distributing said news.

I too hate the "spin" if it is trying to be distributed as fact. I don't mind people like Fox News reporting like they do because everyone knows they are biased way right and I don't mind msnbc because they are obviously biased way left. I listen to them both and draw my own conclusions. What is sad is that a lot of people will only listen to their news from outlets that follow their political beliefs. To do so is extremely closed minded and ignorant. How can you debate with someone intelligently if you don't have a clue where they are coming from and ass-u-me their points? Both the left media and the right media pander to those kinds of people to stir controversy. Frivolous reporting is easy and gets ratings and since the world has the attention span of a gnat, they don't have to be right because the next thing is the "hot topic" and their stupid report is forgotten.
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