Originally Posted by Yoda
It's stunning to me that no one here is challenging the thread's presupposition that we're being subjected to "state propaganda."
Fair point. I think it's easy to go along with that statement coz of all the war rhetoric that has accompanied the Bush Jnr era. US tv media seems to have echoed some of the broader messages of the current government, in this area, too readily/unquestioningly. (I'm really in no position to judge, but the little i see backs that perception up).
But your right, there's scant evidence suggesting these media are 'controlled' by the government. But there is some that suggests many of the major players are strongly partisan.
Originally Posted by Yoda
Back then, fewer extremists had a seat at the table in American politics.
On both sides yeah?
Originally Posted by Yoda
Haven't seen it yet, though I did talk a bit with OG-, and he relayed a few of its central arguments to me...one was surprising, another was incredibly sloppy, and I had questions about both that the film apparently didn't address. I'll have to see it, of course, but from what Peter tells me (and he's no fan of Bush, as many of you know), the film falls far short of a real indictment.
I still haven't watched it all the way through, but what i saw makes me think it's not as rigorous as i'd like, but it raises intersting points. The claims from ex employees of political bias are fairly damning - given that Fox sells itself as an impartial news source. [anyone who knows Murdoch though knows this is standard practice].
I looked into the study they quoted, which suggested people who get their info from tv media are more likely to hold mistaken views (and that those who watch Fox are the most ill-informed of all when it comes to Iraq
)
An in-depth analysis of a series of polls conducted June through September found 48%
incorrectly believed that evidence of links between Iraq and al Qaeda have been found,
22% that weapons of mass destruction have been found in Iraq, and 25% that world
public opinion favored the US going to war with Iraq. Overall 60% had at least one of
these three misperceptions.
There's some vaguery in the questions posed (i.e. the question relating to connection between Iraq and Al Qaeda - i.e. yes, there are 'links', but no, there's no demonstrated collaboration). So it's a flawed study. But the sample is big, and the other misconceptions are classic
.
These stats related to the three stated mis-perceptions of the war in iraq, and how likely people were to have them depending on their prefered news source:
FOX CBS ABC NBC CNN Print Sources NPR/PBS
None of the 3 20% 30% 39% 45% 45% 53% 77%
1 or more misperceptions 80 71 61 55 55 47 23
http://www.pipa.org/OnlineReports/Ir...2_03_Press.pdf
http://www.pipa.org/OnlineReports/Ir..._03_Report.pdf
Other stuff in the doc was just vaguely disturbing. The blurring between opinion pieces and news was dubious, but what was more disturbing was some of the extreme opinions on display.
I don't think Outfoxed is a concrete indictment of Fox in its entireity. Just a demonstration of its more rabid Bush-admin-backing side
Originally Posted by Yoda
See, I think THAT is the real change...we've gone from knowing nothing to knowing the wrong things. There's less downright ignorance, I'd say, but more misinformation. We know more, but not all of it's true, and frankly, I don't know that that's any better.
Yup
Governing bodies could always spin facts, but now the media that communicates those fact helps that spin get wildly out of control - especially when they're communicating in lowest-denominator terms.
From what i've seen, the likes of Fox are guilty of that. When you add a certain behind-the-scenes bias into the equation, it's easy to see how mass media can become a mouthpiece for government's preferred spin.
Any government would want that level of perceptual control, as far as i'm concerned. Politicians are always going to put spin on things, and media sources are always going to sensationalise the issues. What needs to be tackled is any undeclared partisanship in newsorces that claim to be objective.