Do you think you will ever have faith in the media again?

[G4Hillary]

Do you think you will ever have faith in the media again?

[freethinker]

no

[Laura Cereta]

No.

[Bad Kitty]

Nope. Never again.

[Horizon]

hell No!!

[Annie]

Do you think you will ever have faith in the media again?

NO... they are like parrots parroting Obama's talking points. No true journalism anymore.

[joeysky18]

No.

I never watch MSNBC. But CNN used to be my first source. Not anymore, CNN has lost all the credibility.

There are only 2 news sources left that I still trust: the Financial Times and Bloomberg News.

[Bad Kitty]

Came back to vote in the poll.

[Memphis_Blues]

I actually used to but never again after this, so I voted NO.

Ignoring Iraq-gate while reporting on trooper gate reveals their lack of integrity in spades.

[eviee]

No!....and if Obama is elected, never!

[Tea toaD]

NO with a 1,000 !!! points:rolleyes:

[Lillie]

Nope.

[Vinnster]

One thing this election has done better than most is it has exposed the bias in the MSM that many previously did not recognize.

I would encourage folks to apply your newly found knowledge to all subjects reported on by the MSM. Subjects such as Anthropometric Global Warming, the economy, the war, why we went to war, Conservatism, racism, terrorism, capitalism ....The MSM is just as guilty in misrepresenting these subjects as they have in their reporting about Hillary.

[Annie]

Came back to vote in the poll.

Me too.... check out this site which includes the Call to Prayer about to happen in Boston..... something has to be done quickly to make sure McCain/Palin get the Presidency and not Obama/Biden
http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/022741.php

[michu]

Somebody will sure file suit for noise pollution. :/

[Karen Keefe]

Will be one of those irascible American Citizen challengers of the press the rest of my life.

[FlaDem]

As a pubicist I never had faith in the fourth estate. All the shananigans exhibited during the presidential campaign just confirms my opinion.

[NBM]

Being a little older than some, I trusted the media through the Cronkite years. Then - I learned of the bias that was even happening during the Cronkite years. Then it got worse. It's gotten so bad now, one has to take several reports from different sources, and then still wonder what we're not being told.

We're also not supposed to know everything (!)... that's why there's classified info that a president will have. Yet we're in an age where the media thinks we should all form snap judgments on everything, with the least amount of info.

It's how the media feeds and controls people - with biased reporting and unfair public opinion polls offered under the guise of democracy.

[G4Hillary]

Being a little older than some, I trusted the media through the Cronkite years. Then - I learned of the bias that was even happening during the Cronkite years. Then it got worse. It's gotten so bad now, one has to take several reports from different sources, and then still wonder what we're not being told.

We're also not supposed to know everything (!)... that's why there's classified info that a president will have. We're in an age where the media thinks we should all form snap judgments on everything, with the least amount of info.

It's how the media feeds and controls people - with biased reporting and unfair public opinion polls offered under the guise of democracy.
Can you explain how this transformation of the media took place? Was it subtle and slow or was there a particular time when everything changed altogether?

[NBM]

Can you explain how this transformation of the media took place? Was it subtle and slow or was there a particular time when everything changed altogether?

G4Hillary, from my perspective, it's been a slow transition... although there's no doubt media bias has always existed to some extent.

As a former Democrat, I believed most anything in the news for years, because it was generally presented from a more liberal viewpoint, with little to challenge it.

It seems to me that, once such critical mass was reached in liberal reporting, it was broken wide open and finally exposed with the advent of FOX News. There were mainly conservative magazines and newspapers holding down the conservative viewpoint before this. Since FOX News, partisan reporters have run to their respective corners and the battle is on. And there's been some bias on both sides.

I'm sorry I'm not astute enough to give a clear timeline otherwise. And this is JMHO - I can only report on what I've witnessed with my own eyes and ears... and that bias (especially liberal bias on TV) has been around much longer than I knew, and was covered up much more than I realized at the time.

And this election period has finally exposed it in it's raw fury for all to see, and like I've never seen it before!

(I'll add that during Viet Nam, there was quite a bit of biased reporting by Cronkite that put him at odds with both presidents Johnson and Nixon. The media had an effect on the war and the presidencies. This can probably be researched through Google, if anyone's interested.)

[Tim4Hillary]

A big fat NO!!!

[Angelica91]

NO!!!

[G4Hillary]

G4Hillary, from my perspective, it's been a slow transition... although there's no doubt media bias has always existed to some extent.

As a former Democrat, I believed most anything in the news for years, because it was generally presented from a more liberal viewpoint, with little to challenge it.

It seems to me that, once such critical mass was reached in liberal reporting, it was broken wide open and finally exposed with the advent of FOX News. There were mainly conservative magazines and newspapers holding down the conservative viewpoint before this. Since FOX News, partisan reporters have run to their respective corners and the battle is on.

I'm sorry I'm not astute enough to give a clear timeline otherwise. And this is JMHO - I can only report on what I've witnessed with my own eyes and ears... and that bias (especially liberal bias on TV) has been around much longer than I knew, and was covered up much more than I realized at the time.

And this election period has finally exposed it in it's raw fury for all to see, and like I've never seen it before!

(I'll add that during Viet Nam, there was quite a bit of biased reporting by Cronkite that put him at odds with both presidents Johnson and Nixon. The media had an effect on the war and the presidencies. This can probably be researched through Google, if anyone's interested.)

Thanks for sharing that NBM. From the time Hillary was running in the primaries to seeing Sarah getting decimated now, I have realized a lot that I had never thought of before. It is astonishing that Hillary and now Sarah had/have roughly 70-80% of negative press on a daily basis while Obama gets the same amount in positive coverage. It's been an unfortunate eye opener to say the least.

[RE:]

This election has taught me to never say never!! So I said 'not until they show some consistent fairness'. I almost put no, but I thought I would never vote for a Republican either..:eek:

[NBM]

Thanks for sharing that NBM. From the time Hillary was running in the primaries to seeing Sarah getting decimated now, I have realized a lot that I had never thought of before. It is astonishing that Hillary and now Sarah had/have roughly 70-80% of negative press on a daily basis while Obama gets the same amount in positive coverage. It's been an unfortunate eye opener to say the least.

Well, I know what you mean, and unfortunately, I can only say that knowing about media bias for the time I have doesn't make it any less disturbing. I'm just as shocked as you are. It's just a good thing we have brains, or we'd never question it. :)

[Vinnster]

Can you explain how this transformation of the media took place? Was it subtle and slow or was there a particular time when everything changed altogether?

Things really changed after WW2 and the rise of Communism. There were Liberals and Conservative in the PRINT press (TV was not in everyones home yet) and they battled it out, but Liberals believed Communism would and should be the next form of government for the US. Many in FDR administration admired Communism. If fact many (including members of the press) went to Russia to learn of all its great wonders (of course the fact mass murders were occurring was concealed from them).

About this time the PRINT press started to take a hard turn to the Left, pushing Communist ideals and discounting Capitalism.

Then came television to the common man. When Kennedy (a Conservative Democrat) was elected the three broadcast networks were fairly balanced, but Vietnam came along and they all took a hard turn to the Left. They could report anything they wanted and it was accepted as irrefutable fact. Cronkite was "the most trusted manin America"...that is not fiction. He really was trusted more than anyone else in every poll taken. But Cronkite was a Liberal and he reported from that perspective.

I believed him as did everyone...then the Vietnam soldiers started coming home. I was about to reach draft age, so i wanted to know what to expect. My friends who were older and returning told a completely different story than what Cronkite was telling...that was when I realized you can not trust the MSM. And from that time forward until Reagan the Democrats controlled everything. Every MSM reported painted Conservative Republicans in the negative and the Liberal Democarts as gods.

Reagan was the first to figure out how to get around the MSM and get the message of positive side of Conservatism out. He won in true landslides. He was demogoged in the MSM from day one...and if you were not alive to witness it you do not know the truth about Reagan or his policies.

That puts us at 1987...Then something happened that changed everything and broke the MSM monopoly on information Americans heard, and that was Rush Limbaugh. Rush provide the balance to the MSM, but one thing he did from the beginning was he admitted he was a Conservative and proud of it. For the first time everyone heard “the other side of a story.” Another aspect you probably do not know unless you were there is Rush exposed the fact most Americans were Conservatives, but they did not know they were in the majority. Because the MSM always reported things from the Liberal perspective implying everyone agreed with them. Suddenly everyone was looking around and saying I thought I was the only one.

Rush gave the Conservative side to stories reported in the MSM. He carried the water until the advent of the Internet in the early 1990s. Once the Internet started to be in every home the MSM was fully exposed.

And you folks are living proof it is still happening today. As time passes more will see what you now know and will be better informed and understand the world better.

[NBM]

Vinnster, thanks for explaining that in more detail. Rush was a big factor in changing perspectives on the "silent majority." FOX News, as TV, reached farther into American homes.

I also believed at the time that Cronkite was "the most trusted man in America", but now see it almost like CNN being "the most trusted name in news."

I also reached draft age near the end of the Viet Nam War... so we're about the same age. My draft number was too high so I didn't have to go (although I misread the draft number in the newspaper and prepared myself all day for a life change, only to reread the paper that evening and notice my mistake.)

[Mrsawd]

It has been very evident now more than ever before the media is scrupulous !


Any on can seem to pay them of for passing along lies or stopping the truth !


Never with out some other Kind of Proof !

[HumbleDave]

Being a little older than some, I trusted the media through the Cronkite years. Then - I learned of the bias that was even happening during the Cronkite years. Then it got worse. It's gotten so bad now, one has to take several reports from different sources, and then still wonder what we're not being told.

Cronkite! We were stomping the NVA after the Tet Offensive and that jerk Cronkite comes on and pretty much makes it out that we've just lost the war. I hope he's rotting where he is now.

The media has been getting worse and worse in their biased reporting and attempts to paint every picture as bleak as possible. If it bleeds it leads.

I can't say in public what I wish upon those talking heads. :mad:

[Vinnster]

I also reached draft age near the end of the Viet Nam War... so we're about the same age. My draft number was too high so I didn't have to go (although I misread the draft number in the newspaper and prepared myself all day for a life change, only to reread the paper that evening and notice my mistake.)

Yikes. That had to be the longest 24 hours of your life! I pulled #331 when they were only going to take up to #120 so I did not have to go. Thank goodness.

[Vinnster]

Cronkite! We were stomping the NVA after the Tet Offensive and that jerk Cronkite comes on and pretty much makes it out that we've just lost the war. . :mad:

As an example for folks here to know how Cronkite reported:

Yesterday 60 American soldiers were killed when there position was over run by the North Vietnamese Army.....he would leave it at that...he would not tell you 4 hours later the US called in air strikes and tanks and retook the position and killed 300 North Vietnam Soldiers.

[NBM]

Yikes. That had to be the longest 24 hours of your life! Yeah, it made for a pretty long day. :) I mis-traced the number on the page from my birthdate to #113. That night, after I had resigned myself, I looked again - #278.

[CT-Hilltopper]

2008 is truly the year Journalism died. I believe Hannity said it originally, and he is dead on.

I always took most things said with a grain of salt, but now, I don't believe a word they say anymore. After watching them bend and stretch the truth, and outright lie, to achieve their own ends this year...never again...

[ivotedforhillary]

I will Never have faith in the media.

[Donald]

Its obvious that we will never be able to trust media again..The best we can do is try and listen and decide for ourselves..Don't believe anything you hear or read..The internet is just as bad..Today for instance, Obama in Nevada gave a speech, in that speech he continues to mislead..Two networks keep showing him talk about Phil Grahm, and that this man is a lobbyist who is on the McCain campaign..This is not true...I have only seen one network even question Obama comments...I have had all week to really study the differances of MSNBC,CNN, and FOX...I am on vacation..Its really disturbing what people say and get away with..They have fact checked 10 times a day anything Palin says, and maybe once what Obama or Biden says and then they turn it around and talk about Palin again...I am not a republican..I am a democrat who has found all this very disturbing.

[ivotedforhillary]

I think the way the Biased media have acted is Tragic.
I Don't trust them.

[abw11]

It has been frustrating to me that while we now have the most current (timely) news reporting, with lots of video, and multi-media (including newspapers, magazines, network news, cable news, and the internet) - with all of that the news seems to more biased than ever before.

Maybe it was always biased and I just didn't know it.

But I do enjoy getting on the internet and reading all of the different views and inputs. In general the internet has been a help to finding the truth. And in pointing light into dark corners.

I hope we do start to see more reporting and less agenda driven propaganda.

People need to be willing to hear all sides. Some of the media feed a particular type of person who only wants to hear or read their favorite philosophy praised and the opposition totally trashed. Life is a lot more complicated than that.

[Hillarysmygirl08]

I will never trust the news media again. I have always known that media bias has existed. I always knew that before Fox that the Republican side wasn't being told. I also know of how the media protrays poor Urban people and that alone makes me distrust anything about the ghetto or its people. I have never thought that the media would interfere with an election because the Republicans have had to use other tactics like the October surprises to compete with the Liberal Media bias.
The forefathers gave us freedom of press but they did not intend for the Press to do anything but report the truth. They are not the fourth branch of government and should stop acting like they are.
I blame the press for George W. Bush and also for Barack H. Obama.

[Donald]

The American people can change this...keep calling,emailing and writing letters do the networks and cable outlets...Let them know when you think they have crossed the line..Many of us did this and we are seeing some changes being made at MSNBC..Its not enough, but if you let people know how you feel, you can make a differance..Cable news especially needs major overhauls...Opinion programs need to be labeled, and clearly stated.. News should not ever be presented by the likes of Kieth Olberman...So if you still watch, let them know..let their parents company know. I do not write MSNBC anymore, I write NBC.

[mavfin]

never did, not going to start now

[thebword]

.
No!
.

[nette60]

No Way, No How, No MSM

[AnnaB]

I think that in the end, MSM will be the biggest loser of all.

[Afa1234]

Remember Orwells 1984? Tyranny must be in control of the media in order to control the citizens. Education is the enemy! And haven't you noticed that our educational system is in a steep decline. It's not by accident......it's by design!

[mjoynaples]

NO

[G4Hillary]

Its obvious that we will never be able to trust media again..The best we can do is try and listen and decide for ourselves..Don't believe anything you hear or read..The internet is just as bad..Today for instance, Obama in Nevada gave a speech, in that speech he continues to mislead..Two networks keep showing him talk about Phil Grahm, and that this man is a lobbyist who is on the McCain campaign..This is not true...I have only seen one network even question Obama comments...I have had all week to really study the differances of MSNBC,CNN, and FOX...I am on vacation..Its really disturbing what people say and get away with..They have fact checked 10 times a day anything Palin says, and maybe once what Obama or Biden says and then they turn it around and talk about Palin again...I am not a republican..I am a democrat who has found all this very disturbing.

Obama lies and doesn't know much about the issues. This is precisely why he didn't want to do town halls with McCain. Obama would be exposed.

[coyoterex]

I think there is a chance the media will be able to be trusted again, but before throwing all that rotten fruit, let me finish. :D

I think that the current media is going to go the way of the dinosaur. We are already seeing it with newspapers going out of business, and the drop in ratings for most broadcast news. They have been blaming it on the advent of the internet, never wanting to admit that it is their own bias that is the driving force behind their demise. Why should anyone pay for a paper, or watch the evening news, when they can get more timely and accurate information for free.

There is a possibility that the next evolution of news gathering, via the internet, will become the primary news source for most people. Citizen journalists like Michael Yon (http://www.michaelyon-online.com/) for war coverage, and places like right here, and other political forums, for the dissemination of election news.

[NBM]

Yes, coyoterex, that is the direction news is headed. Over a period of years anyway, network news and newspapers/magazines will fail.

But they'll still need an outlet for news and propaganda. If it's all on the internet or cable, it will still be biased.

[Patricia GA]

NO!

[sflady]

My first biggest disenchantment with the media was during the Terri Schiavo situation. I participated, along with many other bloggers, in getting congress to pass the Schiavo bill -- by writing emails and letters. I am not religious but saw this as a human rights issue. I watched in horror at how the media portrayed it as a religious right movement... us bloggers, wanting to see her live, were, for the most part, not.

Another instance of bloggers vs. the media was the Duke Rape case. The media went on a witch-hunt and roasted the suspects, even though the evidence was overwhelmingly pointing to their innocence. It took bloggers going to the courthouses and getting public documents, posting them, and going to the places of interest to take pics... etc, to get the truth out. The media bias was unbelievable.

And now, my goodness, I am so done with the media. I never thought I would see the day that this country would tilt away from its Democratic principles... (In 2000, yes, but this is somehow worse)

Hannity, somehow, was always on the right side of all these issues.

[Tom Terrific]

Do you think you will ever have faith in the media again?

If it's earned.

The MSM took our trust for granted. It still does. To them, we are sheep needing their shepherding, to be sheared on a regular basis.

Like anything else, we have to take responsibility for our own edification. No, we can't go ourselves to Timbuktu or wherever, to verify their reporting; but we can maintain a healthy skepticism and make them prove their trustworthiness. Further, major issues require major skepticism, major verification, no matter how trustworthy they've proven themselves with minor ones.

The MSM has trashed its reputation, built painstakingly over the past 40 years. Now it will have to rebuild that reputation, if it wants to endure as a credible news source. What a waste.