Is this where we went wrong?

[Binarycow]

We are in a hotel in Dallas which provides free satellite TV, I was channel surfing and ran into the NHK channel. I am very impressed with it so far. It provides amazing news, I say news like we used to get, about politics, technology, medicines, news on international level, not the useless kind of crap about stupid celebrities, stupid partisan crap thats always on with CNN, Foxnews and so on with American news networks. I actually learned more about what is going on around the world in the last half an hour than hours and hours surfing for news or watching crap shown on our national news networks.

How can the average American be informed about the world around them from the kind of news they get here? is this what went wrong with our country? we are becoming on average more biased, opinionated, partisan, and ignorant. The average person is becoming more and more like a mindless drone, regurgitating the same crap they got from the "experts" and spin doctors on TV provide them 24/7.

I also went to NHK English web site and guess what they have that takes up a large portion of their front page? it's about Curiosity lands on Mars! Our Curiosity! Now go to cnn.com or foxnews.com and see how much is said about the same amazing feat that has just taken place in space tech.

it's Sad, so Sad!

 

[MisterJackson]

IF I watch the news, I prefer to watch BBC. American media blows ass.

 

[Anubis]

IF I watch the news, I prefer to watch BBC. American media blows ass.

this, the BBC is what i watch as well

 

[slsmnaz]

the Mars landing is featured on both websites you mentioned. There was also a rather large story about a mass shooting but those 2 are the leads

 

[StrangerGuy]

IF I watch the news, I prefer to watch BBC. American media blows ass.

Last time I heard the British are increasingly disliking BBC for being a loony PC left wing outlet.

 

[mmntech]

MSNBC going on about partisan crap while the Aurora shooting was going down speaks volumes. I don't watch TV news. I'll listen to 680News radio since I used to work there. Most comes from online.

 

[Texashiker]

How can the average American be informed about the world around them from the kind of news they get here? is this what went wrong with our country? we are becoming on average more biased, opinionated, partisan, and ignorant.

Our news would rather follow a celebrity then report on the real issues.

aljazeera is where I get the best news from.

 

[uhohs]

too bad no one watches nhk

 

[jagec]

Our news would rather follow a celebrity then report on the real issues.

aljazeera is where I get the best news from.

I've heard that they are really good, but I haven't checked them out yet.

 

[Texashiker]

I've heard that they are really good, but I haven't checked them out yet.

I usually watch the streaming video at 9pm central time.

They talk about all kinds of stuff that you will never see from a US based news agency.

 

[CycloWizard]

The problem is that Americans are taught that opinions are more important than facts; emotions are more important than thoughts. They therefore seek out something that makes them feel good and tells them how to think to save themselves the trouble of analysis. Opinions are presented as facts to cater to the zombies among us.

 

[BrunoPuntzJones]

Al Jazerra is usually pretty good too. People flip when you recommend it, saying it's biased cause it's run by brown people :|

 

[GagHalfrunt]

Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

Is the average American a brainless drone because the news makes them that way or is the news biased, braindead and focused on celebrity rather than issues because that's what the viewer demands?

I think it's the latter. There have been attempts at unbiased, issue-oriented newscasts in the last 20 years and they fail. The average viewer does not want to be informed or to hear a reasonable attempt at explaining both sides of an argument. The viewer wants to hear the talking heads agree with them so they can feel smart and right.

 

[Sheep]

BBC, NHK, Al Jazeera, RT and the like don't have nearly enough coverage of important events like who got eliminated on last night's Dancing with the Stars or what's going on in Kim Kardashian's love life.

 

[kranky]

There was a time when the media felt a moral obligation to be unbiased and thorough. But when "news lite" brought in higher ratings and more advertising money, it put pressure on the others to follow suit.

Now they don't even pretend. The public wants to be entertained, not to be informed. That's why the news here is the way it is, and why I got out of the journalism field.

I'm not surprised that there is an E! network. I am surprised that the demand for celebrity news is so great that one network can't satisfy the demand, and every media outlet has to spend time on it.

 

[WelshBloke]

Last time I heard the British are increasingly disliking BBC for being a loony PC left wing outlet.

Where did you hear that?

 

[kami333]

There was a time when the media felt a moral obligation to be unbiased and thorough. But when "news lite" brought in higher ratings and more advertising money, it put pressure on the others to follow suit.

Now they don't even pretend. The public wants to be entertained, not to be informed. That's why the news here is the way it is, and why I got out of the journalism field.

^ This.

BBC and NHK are primarily supported through TV license fees (good luck getting Americans to pay) and Al Jareeza is bankrolled by the Qatar government (which brings up issues of journalistic independence).

 

[JTsyo]

There was a time when the media felt a moral obligation to be unbiased and thorough. But when "news lite" brought in higher ratings and more advertising money, it put pressure on the others to follow suit.

Now they don't even pretend. The public wants to be entertained, not to be informed. That's why the news here is the way it is, and why I got out of the journalism field.

I'm not surprised that there is an E! network. I am surprised that the demand for celebrity news is so great that one network can't satisfy the demand, and every media outlet has to spend time on it.

News is entertainment, where have I heard that before. It's a business and they sell what people will buy. Those that want objective news will just be a niche. Wonder how things like PBS news fare.

 

[Vdubchaos]

What do you expect? All of news networks are owned by handful of Corps.

I never watch ANY o fit (even local).

It's all negative. I'm pretty sure they are the #1 reason why Depression is so widespread in this country (Pharma loves it for sure).

 

[mmntech]

Where did you hear that?

BBC does drive on the left hand side at times. Especially on the environmental stuff. CBC is like that too, though I must say I do like their web coverage. Much better than the TV side.

 

[God Mode]

American news is simply mind shaping the audience and where national economic interests trump all.

You cant teach critical thinking skills to someone that blindly follows and accepts their single source of information as absolute.

 

[WelshBloke]

BBC does drive on the left hand side at times. Especially on the environmental stuff. CBC is like that too, though I must say I do like their web coverage. Much better than the TV side.

It was more this bit.

Last time I heard the British are increasingly disliking [the] BBC

 

[Binarycow]

BBC, NHK, Al Jazeera, RT and the like don't have nearly enough coverage of important events like who got eliminated on last night's Dancing with the Stars or what's going on in Kim Kardashian's love life.

:'( I am crying for our society as a whole.

 

[zinfamous]

The only good American TV news program is Newshour, and it is exceptional.

After that, I watch BBC.

 

[Nintendesert]

You have the internet, you have nobody but yourself to blame for not being educated on world events.