04-13-2022, 02:28 PM
(04-13-2022, 01:41 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: I never did say that, or anything close to it.
What I will offer is that back in the 1990's, when I was taking Journalism classes en route to a Mass Communications degree, our journalism professor stood by one principle. In a nutshell, that principle was "It's not our job to shape people's opinions. We are to report the facts/events, and allow the reader/listener to make up their own minds on what to think of it.".
It would be nice to see the entire news media industry start trending back that direction.
The problem is that the end of the Fairness Doctrine in the late '80s followed by the repeal of the corollary rules in 2000 has changed the landscape forever. When you couple that with the increased monetization of news I have a hard time imagining a reversal of the trend any time soon. News orgs lack an obligation to be unbiased in their reporting and because they are increasingly beholden to advertisers they have to answer to shareholders thanks to the consolidation and corporatization of the industry they will trend towards the poles as they look to satisfy advertisers by keeping their readers/listeners/watchers glued to it.
There is a reason I read the AP more than anything. As an independent, non-profit news agency it doesn't have a lot of the hang-ups other agencies have.
"A great democracy has got to be progressive, or it will soon cease to be either great or a democracy..." - TR
"The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little." - FDR
"The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little." - FDR
