International Opinions re on-line and other news sources:
7/29/2007--Comment from Canadian resident about North America ....
The UK press is quite distinct from the North American press. Certainly in Canada there is nothing quite like it, in hard form or online. That's not always a good thing. If you want to make a poor caricature of the UK media it is that most things are a controversy, while the rest are a CRISIS. There is no consensus. The national (rather than predominantly regional or local, nature of the media (both press and tv) in North America) creates a sort of hothouse country-wide environment of panic and argument. It's ultimately a bit unhealthy for the majority of people who influence world events purely by a vote here and there, as you are constantly under the impression that the world is going to hell in a handbasket. But it is very entertaining, and rather addictive. Hence my presence on this blog ... too often....BobbieJohnson
7/29/2007--fred 2
You mean the world isn't going to hell in a handbasket?
Yeah, I know what you mean, and I'm aware I'm involved in massive generalisations, and that consensus can be a dangerous thing. I suppose I think there is a difference between a media that uses controversy as its means of selling copies (or page views, or tv views), as opposed to a (old print) media which still sees its function as telling news. It does not apply to the likes of CNN, but North American newspapers are by and large incredibly moderate, old fashioned and colourless from a UK perspective. They tell the news in a fairly flat "here are the facts" fashion, and leave the readers to make their own judgements. That's why, for instance, the Guardian looks good from a web perspective to North Americans. I sometimes miss the BBC, and I still read the Guardian online, but I'm also sometimes glad to be free of "Paxman nation", where you can't do anything without having the necessary heated debate about it on Newsnight.
7/30/2007--christov
I can honestly say that fred 2 has made one of the most ludicrous and ridiculous comments i have seen lately. nothing personal fred, but to say that american media is"incredibly moderate, giving just the facts and leaving the reader to make his own judgement" is absolutely knuckle-headed. most of the american media is liberally biased to the nth degree and prefers to make judgements for the reader rather than let us dummies decide for ourselves. it's not the new york times "news" of the day, it's the new york times "views" of what they want people to think. did i says n.y. times? i meant n.y.slimes. just as bad as washington compost newspaper. moderate? just the facts?
pahleeeeeeeez
7/31/2007--Vannek
"to say that american media is 'incredibly moderate, giving just the facts and leaving the reader to make his own judgement' is absolutely knuckle-headed."
Amen. As a DrudgeReport reader this is why I enjoy links to UK media, as well as media from other countries, major metropolitan areas, other states, etc. I want to see how the same story is reported by different people and from different perspectives. I used to be brainwashed into thinking that what I heard/read from the news media was objective and balanced until I started reading other sources online. That opened my eyes! It's all subjective, and better to read lots of versions/opinions and make a decision than to unquestioningly drink the Kool-Aid.Sure, I'll look at your adverts if you mix in some US or UK companies that sell online to overseas addresses.
7/31/2007--vectis6
Fred, It is amazing how our perceptions of the different media can vary. I have been staying in Canada recently and found that media there were a lot like the UK in that there is a pc view of almost everything and that whether you read a nominally right wing paper like the Telegraph or left like the Guardian there is amazingly little diversity. Iraq is always wrong and to the same degree and for the same reasons, the US is always wrong, Bush is an idiot, Palestinians are an oppressed minority who only do something wrong because they are desperate, Jews are war mongering oppressors, Global warming is proven fact etc etc.
Actually when I think about it is hard to tell the CBC from the BBC.
In the US the success of right wing radio is readily understood as a counterpoint to a similar PC monolithic mind set seen in the mass media....California
7/31/2007--nicemerkan
It always shocks me how much our "friends" to the north in Canada hate us. A good friend moved there with her husband and children...he was from there. Right after 9/11 she called me crying saying the Canadians hated us and thought we deserved 9/11. Nice huh?
I was naive and thought they were our best friends. Guess not.
I talk to people all over the world and the hatred shown is hurtful...but they give the old "well I'm not talking about you..but" speech. Yeah, you are talking about me...America is my country...where I was born and raised. My Mom and Dad never taught me to hate any other country...I guess I thought the same was true elsewhere....I was wrong.
7/31/2007--jerrywhelan
Properly spoken, nicemerkan. They ALL hate America and Americans, and it's the dirty little secret that the world keeps behind our backs -- though they sometimes let it out, not much caring much how they injure innocent and nice people like yourself. It's the little game the world plays, jealous of America's wealth and influence but continually seizing on America's weaknesses and follies in order to: a) feel better about themselves, and b) divert attention, under a brave attack on our unshielded backs, from the utterly putrid series of horrors that is known as "world history".
7/31/2007--pennypurdy
While it is interesting to be directed to articles from UK newspapers, to see how they are covering events, we do not actually go there to get accurate news. It is safe to say that there is not a single high-quality newspaper in the UK. Each paper is a propaganda medium for a particular political and social point of view. The practice of the few excellent American papers is to try to separate news from comment about the news. A world-class paper like the Wall St. Journal does this very effectively and conscientiously. The NY Times often slips, not so much in a particular story as in its choice of stories. e.g. the Times favors homosexual marriage, so has published stories of happy homosexual families, but none of failed or abusive homosexual marriages.
A paper like the Guardian of course does not even pretend to be objective and is virtually useless as a news source.The Economist, which we would call a magazine but calls itself a newspaper, is of world-class quality, but openly editorializes within news stories. However, its reporting is excellent, and I've subscribed to it for years.
7/31/2007--pennypurdy
Because the British media are propaganda media rather than news reporting media, they do not understand the American ideal of separating news from editorial comment. They berate Fox News, but in fact I wonder how many have ever watched it.
Fox in its commentary is unabashedly conservative, though they do bring on Democrats and allow them to debate. But Fox does report the news in an objective manner, including stories that do not support Fox's editorial line. They make a clear distinction between news and commentary that is foreign to the practice of the European media of combining the two. |
