Why is this NEWS?

[storm1977 0]

Why is this in the top 10 stories on CNN?

http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/07/21/jenna.bush.ap/index.html

Quote

WASHINGTON (AP) -- When first lady Laura Bush counseled her twin daughters on how to behave while campaigning with their father, she may have skipped the part about not sticking your tongue out at the media.

That's what Jenna Bush did Tuesday after President Bush arrived at St. Louis' Lambert International Airport.

After Bush joined his daughters in a limousine, Jenna stuck her tongue out at about a dozen photographers and reporters.

As the reporters started to laugh and snap photographs, the 22-year-old looked at them for a few more seconds, smiling and laughing.

The Bush twins recently joined their dad on the stump for his last political campaign.

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Sometimes it is more important to protect LIFE than Liberty

[CrazyIvan 0]

Because J-Lo is not getting married again

__________________________________________
Blue Skies and May the Force be with you.

[CanuckInUSA 0]

Of course it's not news.

But what would be newsworthy was if the twins were to enlist in the military with the expressed desire to be shipped off to Iraq (hey there is a shortage of fighting men and women isn't there) to support their daddy with his war. Now that would be news. But it'll never happen. So we must be content with news stories about them sticking their tongues out to the media.

Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

[Zennie 0]

I saw the photo, it looks like she's doing it with a bit of a smirk on her face... which makes me think she was doing it in jest... probably to one person in particular as a joke and all the news media flipped out.

- Z
"Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

[kallend 2,174]

Same reason Princess Di was news, Chelsea Clinton was news, Linda Bird Johnson was news, Caroline Kennedy was news, Princes William and Harry are news, Tricia Nixon was news, Amy Carter was news....

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[PhillyKev 0]

I have no idea.....who cares.

[JohnnyD 0]

Because news is a consumer product and people want to see and talk about it.

[PhillyKev 0]

Bzzzzzttttt....wrong. If that were true then how do you explain the liberal media bias in a country dominated by the silent majority of conservatives. Clearly the media is a tool of secret liberal power brokers that manipulate it at will to influence the American public.

....sorry, Bizzaro-PhillyKev took over for a second

[Zennie 0]

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Because news is a consumer product

Purveyed by very large corporations who really only care about increasing proifits.

It's why I check multiple news sources before forming an opinion about something and also why I laugh when I hear the tired-old "liberal media bias" complaint.

You know who owns NBC? GE. Yep, the same GE that has multiple defense contracts with the US military. Like they're really going to do anything that would jeapodize THAT cash cow.

- Z
"Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

[JohnnyD 0]

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Bzzzzzttttt....wrong. If that were true then how do you explain the liberal media bias in a country dominated by the silent majority of conservatives. Clearly the media is a tool of secret liberal power brokers that manipulate it at will to influence the American public.

....sorry, Bizzaro-PhillyKev took over for a second

I've never seen so many conspiracy theorists in my life. I know you were kidding, but for others, think of it this way: if the news was as blatantly biased as some people seem to think it is they would never generate advertising revenue or would become a niche news source for people who only want to hear something specific.

[JohnnyD 0]

Quote

Quote

Because news is a consumer product

Purveyed by very large corporations who really only care about increasing proifits.

It's why I check multiple news sources before forming an opinion about something and also why I laugh when I hear the tired-old "liberal media bias" complaint.

You know who owns NBC? GE. Yep, the same GE that has multiple defense contracts with the US military. Like they're really going to do anything that would jeapodize THAT cash cow.

News sources are companies in business to make a profit. I'm sure they are always walking a fine line between alienating revenue sources, reporting news accurately , and increasing viewership. Its a business. They have board meetings and try to find ways to make more money. They don't sit in smoke filled rooms and discuss how to slant all the news to make political candidates look either good or bad (unless they think it can make them more money )

[Zennie 0]

Totally agree.

My main point is that if the news were as slanted to the left as many people think, I can guarantee you the parent companies would be losing money in a big way.

American media is subject more to sins of omission rather than commission.

- Z
"Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

[JohnnyD 0]

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American media is subject more to sins of omission rather than commission.

That's why I believe there is such a rush to get breaking stories out. You have to be out fast, if not first. Report something - right, wrong or indifferent and update it later when you know what really happened.

[storm1977 0]

What about the LAtimes? NYTimes? Not liberal? And not the papers of record?

I always here the line that BIG BUSINESS owns these media outlets.. they are coservative, why would they lean left?

Well first of all the CEO of GE isn't lining up the top stories on the news tonight. Secondly GE is in the business of making money. Money at any cost. They don't own media outlets because it is a cool thing to do, they own them to turn PROFITS.

The Natn'l Equirer tells LIES everyday. They are in the business of lying, but they make MONEY!!!! People eat that shit up.

If a Republican was told leaning left in his news would help sell more advertizing he would intentionally lean it left. That is NOT what is going on however.

What is going on is "Selling" a story. In doing so the media has a tendency to always side with the "little guy". Also american media has a way of sympathizing with the enemy (again the little guy compared to the US). That is just the way it is.... Everyone spins (even FOX) as a teaser to an upcoming segment or a headline to catch the readers attention, but in doing so sometimes is skews the facts surrounding a story.

Chris

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Sometimes it is more important to protect LIFE than Liberty

[PhillyKev 0]

Don't disagree, but it only perpetuates a bias if you only give cursory attention to the news. If your source of news is the one line teasers, or the 20 second stories on local 1/2 hour news, you can't expect to be well informed on the issues. Also, I think it's a matter of perception. Just like people only focus on when bad things happen, or things that you don't like, etc. You remember those things because they stimulated you in some way. I'd bet when a die hard Bush supporter hears news that supports Bush, he doesn't get an emotional charge out of it to the same degree as he would when he hears something critical of him.

[storm1977 0]

No, you are right, but one must understand that unfortunatly there are alot of IDIOTS in this country. And, also it is unfortunate that these IDIOTS votes count just as much as yours and as mine.

Many people think certain ways without even realizing it, but they were influence by something they heard or saw.

It is sad really....

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Sometimes it is more important to protect LIFE than Liberty

[storm1977 0]

Here is an example of a BAD headline. Not biased, but generally not great.

Al Franken Beats O'Reilly in NY Radio Matchup

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20040721/media_nm/media_airamerica_dc

Quote

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Despite the rocky start of his liberal Air America radio network, political humorist Al Franken surged past conservative nemesis Bill O'Reilly in the first quarterly ratings matchup between the two in New York City.

See how they set this up.... They go on and on about Fraken and then they dump this small bit in:

Quote

O'Reilly did slightly better than Franken in the broader demographic of all listeners aged 12 and up. But they were each eclipsed by Limbaugh in both demographics.

Do you see what I mean???? The truth is O'Reilly did better in the general Demographic and Fraken did better in the smaller demographic and RUSH blew them both away!!!!



Chris***

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Sometimes it is more important to protect LIFE than Liberty

[PhillyKev 0]

And that's exactly why a lot of the people on here, who are intelligent and well informed even if they disagree philosophically will bash the tactics of politicians on the other side. Because politics is a low margin high quantity game. The spin-meisters cater to the lowest common denominator, because that gets them the most results. It's done on both sides, there are sheep on both sides. It's silly to call one group sheep and insult their intelligence because they see things differently than you.

[PhillyKev 0]

That's a perfect example of why people think the media is biased. Because they'll read that first article and say, "look, they're printing another story supporting the left". If you read the next paragraph, it's obvious that the article is not slanted, but is trying to tell both sides of the story.

[rushmc 23]

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Bzzzzzttttt....wrong. If that were true then how do you explain the liberal media bias in a country dominated by the silent majority of conservatives. Clearly the media is a tool of secret liberal power brokers that manipulate it at will to influence the American public.

....sorry, Bizzaro-PhillyKev took over for a second

Now we agree

"America will never be destroyed from the outside,
if we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Abraham Lincoln

[lawrocket 3]

I dunno. They aren't talking about that as much as talking about Kerry's daughter's see-through appearance at Cannes..

My wife is hotter than your wife.

[peacefuljeffrey 0]

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Totally agree.

My main point is that if the news were as slanted to the left as many people think, I can guarantee you the parent companies would be losing money in a big way.

American media is subject more to sins of omission rather than commission.

One example in recent memory of left-leaning news bias: coverage of the "assault weapons ban," not limited to what it made illegal, what will become legal again if it sunsets (and I hope it does), and what the affected weapons are capable of doing.

CNN ran a story that had to be corrected later (and the "correction" even hedged) that had a Florida sheriff "demonstrating" why a "banned" rifle was so much more devastating than an unbanned one. He fired the "banned" one into a cinderblock and it shattered. He fired the unbanned one into the ground. Of course, the cinderblock was unscathed. (Duh) The major news outlets continue to lie that the AWB is what is protecting us from guns that "spray bullets" and are "high powered military rifles."

Do these claims fit more with a right-leaning bias or a left-leaning one?

-

-Jeffrey
"With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"