How do you reconcile the "news"

[gordo]

This is mostly directed to US folks because I haven't experienced this situation in other countries.

It seems that the news as you see it on TV presents two very different and opposing views of the state of the Union. Fox News presents the news and facts in complete opposition to how the same reality is presented by CNN or MSNBC.

So, how to reconcile these opposing view of current events? Do you only watch one channel and accept what's presented or do you watch the opposing channel viewpoints and reconcile their versions (if so how do you do it) or do you look at none US based media to get their perspective, or?

 

[Gianni_S]

Gordo if you were italian, probably you wouldn't have any problem listening everything and it's own contrary.
But not being italian I think that this fact could disappoint you.
The italian secret are:
- I search the net to have more and more info and develop my personal idea
- It doesn't matter, let's eat some spaghetti and watch some soccer

I0m italian and personally I prefer the first approach, starting from the fact that any news can be reported correctly due to observer point of view (phisical an mental).
Uniqueness exist only in maths… I suppose.

Have a nice day!

G:

 

[Joe]

I truly believe that most people these days only watch the one that is favorable to their viewpoints. And pity the poor sap that doesn't agree with them.

 

[JustinB]

I look up to the mountains; does my strength come from mountains?
No, my strength comes from God, who made heaven, and earth, and mountains.

He won’t let you stumble, your Guardian God won’t fall asleep.
Not on your life! Israel’s Guardian will never doze or sleep.

God’s your Guardian, right at your side to protect you—
Shielding you from sunstroke, sheltering you from moonstroke.

God guards you from every evil, he guards your very life.
He guards you when you leave and when you return, he guards you now, he guards you always.

Psalm 121

I choose to look at the news through an eternal perspective. My hope is not in the government or its policies and programs.

 

[arossetti]

I listen/read a lot of different sources but choose to ignore over editorialized content. I use google's news aggregator so I force myself to read different media outlets but if I see The Blaze or Huffington Post as the link I skip over it. Wash Post, WSJ, Business Insider, Atlantic, Politico are all companies I tend to read from.

I have some very liberal friends who only read Huffington Post and treat it like gospel. I'm registered as no party affiliation, I think not having a dog in the fight lets me view politics a little more evenly. People align themselves to political affiliations with the same dogma as if it was their local sports team.

 

[OffsetStorefront]

Reading the news instead of watching it on TV bypasses a lot of the subtle and not-so-subtle undertones communicated by cable TV, such as how the anchor delivers lines, the thousands of random "experts" paid to talk about stuff so the news can be going 24/7 (they have lists of people by topic that they can call up at a moment's notice), the choice of footage shown during voiceovers,etc.

If you use a reader (I use Feedly) that aggregates headlines from multiple organization's RSS feeds, you start to get an idea over time of what constitutes quality reporting and what is shallow, clickbait article writing. It's especially helpful to see different news organization's headlines side-by-side in the feed about the same story - that can really highlight the slant they're trying to communicate to you. Adding in some international news agencies also adds perspective on what actually is serious and important and what is noise that will fade in a week.

 

[keith1]

I get most of my news online. 3 or 4 different newspapers, national & local. And Global News, CBC & CTV along with whatever feeds come through. So, I use various sources and it goes into my little brain and comes out giving me a reasonable idea of what's going on (i hope). I take anything that comes from the Trump administration with a big grain of salt. You can't believe anything that comes from him or his lackeys. Amusing, pathetic and sad, all at the same time. Frightening at times too.

 

[mojoprime]

unfortunately, you have to distrust a lot of one comes from both sides. factcheck everything that "feel" right -- the president is not always a liar, but he's rarely correct with the facts either -- and pray to god that he doesn't lose his temper and blow us all bak to the stone age. but, for the news, especially in the days when even local newspapers and news program show bias, it's almost impossible to a completely clear picture. and that's a sad, sad commentary on what we have turned into: a country of reactionaries.

 

[namelessentity]

I'm pretty liberal, but if I'm looking for straight facts I try to stay as close to the middle for my news as I can. WSJ, NPR (although it's pretty clear most of their editorial pieces are left leaning), BBC, USA Today.
I much prefer quick news stories without fluff or writers opinions, I can decide how I feel about something on my own.

I really hate the 24 hours news stations though. The news went from informing the masses to entertaining the masses. They'd rather spend 8 hours talking in circles and yelling at each other instead of just spending an hour actually informing people.

 

[dabob]

I read a lot of news from both left and right viewpoints and from international sources . . . throw it in the back of my mind and let it run around for a while and see what comes out.

I also tell myself that we need to wait for a certain period of time to see what really shakes out instead of the innuendo and slanted points of view on any subject just look at what California's Nancy Pelosi, & Maxine Waters, Texas's Shelia Jackson Lee, Florida's Frederica Wilson -all of the one listed are the loudest and most vociferous tellers of fairy tales around for the left.

For example Sheila Jackson Lee has been heard to say that

“I stand here as a freed slave because this Congress came together.” (She was born in 1950)
Sheila Jackson Lee, February 13, 2013

So I very much consider the source . . .

 

[Digital Press Guy]

http://factcheck.org/ is a good start to filter through all the noise.

 

[mattbeals]

All the media outlets have a particular bias, some more pronounced than others. And as others have said, people tend to follow media outlets that share their viewpoint. The one that blows my mind is MSNBC, I just don't get how that is not named Pravda.

 

[dabob]

Here's a chart I found interesting in rating the news providers . ..

 

[MailGuru]

I watch sports. Even then, it's biased......."That wasn't a clean catch"........"That WAS a clean catch"..........."That's roughing the passer"........"No, the rusher could not stop in time"................

Gimme another beer..................... LOL

 

[wonderings]

Hard to trust any news source. My main source was always CNN and still like them, but it is pretty obvious how bent they are when it comes to politics. You really can't trust any of them and need to read all sides to try and get a real understanding of what is going on. Journalism is no longer unbiased.

 

[PricelineNegotiator]

Every single thing I read is read with a grain of salt. Unfortunately whoever truly controls the news corporations has done a great job at disqualifying 100% trust for every single news outlet. It's pathetic. There are attempts by those outside of the news arena to start out as non-partisan as possible, but they are labeled by the large outlets as being "racist", "underhanded" or any other term that derides their qualifications and worth. The fact is every single news organization that you recognize by name, is either a private company with their own agenda or is a public entity that has been infiltrated and is now has its own agenda (see NPR).

The truth is...there is no way to know whether one side is right or not without being the primary source yourself. Trump could be Hitler and at the same time he could be Jesus, but NONE of us know because the media has done such a good job turning the American public against itself. Civil political discourse is non-existent, you can't open your mouth without polarizing yourself or someone else. Don't get me wrong, we have a great country, but we need to shove the people who are ruining it for everyone else out of the way and make things right. Believe it or not, the "Make American Great Again" should be something every American agrees with, but somehow Cultural Marxists are convincing ~30% of the country that the US was "never great" and "white people are the devil". There is one thing that cannot be argued, and that is the fact that Donald Trump is at least acting in part, in the favor of the American people. Each and every member from the US on this board will benefit from the wall being built on our southern border. Like it or not, the world is not some giant "borderless playground". The press pushing the recent story of a ten-year-old Mexican girl who was "yanked" from the hospital before her surgery is pretty much bullshit. Her parents brought her here illegally - THEY are the culprits and are responsible for this mess. Do you know who would really be paying for the surgery? Yep, you guessed it, the American public - and we would be paying 10-15x the "socially correct" price because our healthcare system is so bloated. But I digress.

Fact checkers like Snopes? You can disregard them. They are completely compromised by their political views.

Our news in the US is completely FUBAR.

"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants."

 

[maas]

By giving us the opinions of the uneducated, it keeps us in touch with the ignorance of the community. - Oscar Wilde on journalism

 

[kdw75]

I listen to https://noagendaplayer.com/

I also watch some Fox News.

 

[OffsetStorefront]

Every single thing I read is read with a grain of salt. Unfortunately whoever truly controls the news corporations has done a great job at disqualifying 100% trust for every single news outlet. It's pathetic. There are attempts by those outside of the news arena to start out as non-partisan as possible, but they are labeled by the large outlets as being "racist", "underhanded" or any other term that derides their qualifications and worth. The fact is every single news organization that you recognize by name, is either a private company with their own agenda or is a public entity that has been infiltrated and is now has its own agenda (see NPR).

The truth is...there is no way to know whether one side is right or not without being the primary source yourself. Trump could be Hitler and at the same time he could be Jesus, but NONE of us know because the media has done such a good job turning the American public against itself. Civil political discourse is non-existent, you can't open your mouth without polarizing yourself or someone else. Don't get me wrong, we have a great country, but we need to shove the people who are ruining it for everyone else out of the way and make things right. Believe it or not, the "Make American Great Again" should be something every American agrees with, but somehow Cultural Marxists are convincing ~30% of the country that the US was "never great" and "white people are the devil". There is one thing that cannot be argued, and that is the fact that Donald Trump is at least acting in part, in the favor of the American people. Each and every member from the US on this board will benefit from the wall being built on our southern border. Like it or not, the world is not some giant "borderless playground". The press pushing the recent story of a ten-year-old Mexican girl who was "yanked" from the hospital before her surgery is pretty much bullshit. Her parents brought her here illegally - THEY are the culprits and are responsible for this mess. Do you know who would really be paying for the surgery? Yep, you guessed it, the American public - and we would be paying 10-15x the "socially correct" price because our healthcare system is so bloated. But I digress.

Fact checkers like Snopes? You can disregard them. They are completely compromised by their political views.

Our news in the US is completely FUBAR.

"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants."

I think the belief that every news organization is out to lie to you, to push some agenda that is counter to the truth, is false. Most people believe what they're trying to persuade others about and there is probably a kernel of truth, however large or small, in their viewpoint - otherwise they wouldn't believe it. There are certainly a few malicious actors or psychos with a platform, but they are greatly outnumbered by people trying to do their job the best they can and tell a story.

The idealistic desire for a non-biased news source is going to bear no fruit in the real world - all stories are told by people and those people interpret things in different ways (which is all bias really is - how you interpret something). The key to this not being a bad thing is recognizing this and listening to what different people are saying about the same thing. If you know Event A has occurred and you hear 3-4 different accounts of Event A, you can easily see 1) the things that remain consistent across all accounts (things people are all agreeing on happening) and 2) the things that vary across accounts (the things people are interpreting in different ways). Then you start to form your own opinion about how things went down and become, yourself, another "biased" account the other people have to weigh against what other people think.

We've been dealing with this for all of human history and it's just a fundamental reality of human communication.

[opinion] It's also really useful sometimes for people in power to demonize this reality and make people distrustful and afraid of everyone else except glorious leader because then those people are more likely to support whatever you want to do than if they had competing viewpoints to weigh.[/opinion]

 

[DYP]

You have to use Common Sense. The problem it is not very common anymore.