Thread: CNN & MSNBC are a joke

Originally Posted by northpaw

I'd be curious to see the relationship between news network preference and hours of TV watched per week.

news network viewing increases as total TV hours decreases. Regardless of left or right political view.

Originally Posted by Desdinova

news network viewing increases as total TV hours decreases. Regardless of left or right political view.

That's not quite what I was after, but my post was certainly ambiguous. What I'd like to see is this:

Those who prefer
Fox News: typically watch A hours of TV per week
CNN: typically watch B hours of TV per week
MSNBC: typically watch C hours of TV per week
etc.

Originally Posted by northpaw

That's not quite what I was after, but my post was certainly ambiguous. What I'd like to see is this:

Those who prefer
Fox News: typically watch A hours of TV per week
CNN: typically watch B hours of TV per week
MSNBC: typically watch C hours of TV per week
etc.

What will this show you?
What do you suspect the outcome will be?

JMS - I suspect that if these numbers were taken in combination with other new sources, it may give a fuller picture of why the ratings are the way they are.

Because if we're going to accept the idea that Fox is conservative and MSNBC is liberal (I'd choose differently words for both, but that's me), then there's really no reason MSNBC's ratings would be much lower if everyone from both camps watched TV for their news. The political opinion break-down is relatively even.

I suspect the internet, age, income, and other factors have something to do with it.

I don't watch TV at all. I do watch things online, but I don't even own a TV. Though I assure you, if I did, I would not be watching Fox News.

So, someone like me who doesn't get news from TV at all (and there are more every day) is rendering these polls meaningless, because the assumption people are making is that fewer people watch certain channels because there are fewer people of that opinion. That simply isn't the case.

I think MistressNomad brought up what I think is the most important part of this discussion, and although it is her/your quote in this instance I am not directing my assertions to her/you. It is a phrase I have heard many times, and well as the 180 deg. POV, just change fox to any of the other networks.

MN "Though I assure you, if I did, I would not be watching Fox News"

I'm not implying, that only the liberal minded, close themselves off to opposing POV's, it happens on both sides, but its only a contridiction on the liberal side as far as descriptions go, is it not? IMO, it seems to happen the most the further left or right, away from center one gets, since those not of our thinking are just not enlightened enough to fully comprehend it.

IMO, we only grow physically, when we challenge our bodies just as our intellect grows, only when we challenge it and we cant do that if we only expose ourselves to what we already believe, or if we allow others to do our thinking/research for us. I watch Fox, CNN, and even Msnbc from time to time, I have seen mistakes, lies, and misinformation, (even those mistakes listed by Commiecat, but that doesnt mean I believed them just cause I was stupid enough to be watching fox), on each of them, hell nobody is perfect, but I found those mistakes by actually watching and using my own reason/mind. I even forced myself to read "the promise of american life" which is one of the most cited progressive 'handbooks' out there, a glowing tribute to Teddy and Woodrow, it was the longest week of my life, and how wrong its conclusions were, I lost count on the times we were described as a democracy, but I still exposed myself to the other POV. If our opinions are so frail, we cant challenge them, I think it proves them false, or at the very least not complete. Truth needs no other protection, than to let all sides be heard, leaving the people to come to their own organically grown opinion, anything else is tyranny of the mind and is oppression. Difference of opinion is what advances society, not retard its progress, thats what group think does, as well does close mindedness, even if its a group of closeminded 'progressives', of which we have plenty of instances in our history to pull from, and have been clothed under the banner of both left, and right, democrat and republican and many, many other descriptions, the first thing any of them have done is made it illegal, or at the least very uncomfortable, to hold opposing POV's.

I'll quit my now.

But you failed to ask me WHY I don't watch Fox News on TV.

It isn't because I'm closed to other points of view. I watch plenty of Fox online. Although I admit I don't do it for my education of current events, since I don't consider Fox to have a good enough track record for me to trust anything they say.

Here's a hint. It's related to the reason I don't own a TV.

TV's are a one-way system of communication. As such, they are far more suited to propaganda, on either side, than they are to education.

I do not want to lend the ratings that keep channels like Fox News in business, and I certainly don't want to pay money for it.

Online, I watch Fox, CNN, MSNBC, BBC, and pretty much anything else. I do so to educate myself not of the news, but of the current methods of propaganda. And I do it online so that I will not be helping support what I see to be an inherently faulty method of education.

Particularly in the case of Fox News. Other channels may be slanted in speech, or occasionally lie by omission, but they tend not to outright lie the way Fox News has, over and over again.

All the same, it doesn't matter. I don't like any of the news stations, though if I had to pick I'd probably go with the BBC just on the sheer breadth of the news they report.

If I want news, I read an article or analysis. I don't watch TV.

Originally Posted by MistressNomad

Particularly in the case of Fox News. Other channels may be slanted in speech, or occasionally lie by omission, but they tend not to outright lie the way Fox News has, over and over again.

I'm interested in what you say. Could you be more specific as to how you determine when they are lying and when they are not, what lies (FNN vs. CNN, MSNBC, CBS, etc.) are you referring to and how you tally your results that result in the determination of who lies more. I would be interested to know...Thanks

=MistressNomad;571423]But you failed to ask me WHY I don't watch Fox News on TV.

I tried twice to explain that my remarks werent aimed at you, but at the statement that was made and the problems I have with that line of thinking which that statement implies, of course all of which is and was and always will be nothing but my opinion. I am glad though to see that you narrowed your statement to "on TV" Thats what we are here for, to keep each other honest, which only happens when two or more views are allowed to be heard and examined.

It isn't because I'm closed to other points of view. I watch plenty of Fox online. Although I admit I don't do it for my education of current events, since I don't consider Fox to have a good enough track record for me to trust anything they say.

This statement is a contradiction, in itself. How can one be open to another point of view, if said person already believes that they cant trust "ANYTHING" the opposition view says. Sometimes one needs to search through a dung hill to find a diamond. Thats why I watch ogerman, from time to time, yet I have yet to find that diamond.

Here's a hint. It's related to the reason I don't own a TV.

I would suspect that not having a TV is a very large contributing factor as to why you dont watch Fox on TV.

TV's are a one-way system of communication. As such, they are far more suited to propaganda, on either side, than they are to education.

The same could be said of our current education system, atleast until graduate school, save for a few fields, such as philosophy. Even with philosophy, though, I would bet that if ones view of nietche, went completely against what the instructors opinion was, decent grades could be hard to come by. Just because certain people have titles, doesnt mean that their opinion is 100 percent correct and unquestionable and should be open to rebuttle.

I do not want to lend the ratings that keep channels like Fox News in business, and I certainly don't want to pay money for it.

Online, I watch Fox, CNN, MSNBC, BBC, and pretty much anything else. I do so to educate myself not of the news, but of the current methods of propaganda. And I do it online so that I will not be helping support what I see to be an inherently faulty method of education.

If you dont want to support Fox, you might want to quit looking online as well, granted its not the nelson ratings, but page viewership counts towards their advertising also, from which they get their sustanance, however I see from a later comment that it is only TV and not Fox you are boycotting.
I do agree about news channels being great at showing the latest techniques of propaganda, but instead of stopping at the propaganda, we should try to see through it, imo, and gain knowledge of something that before we hadnt known. Every opinion in the world is biased, if we only open ourselves to one bias, we already 'believe', we will never know, as Paul Harvey says, the rest of the story. Finding the bias is the first thing I try to do when starting to read, or listen to anything. Once the bias is established the rest of the works, are easier to dissect and get something from them.

Particularly in the case of Fox News. Other channels may be slanted in speech, or occasionally lie by omission, but they tend not to outright lie the way Fox News has, over and over again.

All the same, it doesn't matter. I don't like any of the news stations, though if I had to pick I'd probably go with the BBC just on the sheer breadth of the news they report.

If I want news, I read an article or analysis. I don't watch TV
.

Do you atleast put CBS news on the same list, remember dan rather, that chose to repeat rather than report(pardon the pun). They all distort the truth, to some extent to suit their opinion, its just that imo, Fox is always wrong, according to liberals, because Fox is contridicting so much they already 'know'. So they focus on the disortions, in order to not have to question what they've been taught. Which takes us back to the gdeat education system which is in place.

P.S. I just caught myself lying to you, check out the typo in the last sentence, I put a d where a r was supposed to be, hope you havent lost all hope for all of my opinions because of it.


P.S.S. I broke your quote up, not so that I could pick it apart piece by piece, but so that I didnt get too far off track or as long winded, as I find myself getting sometimes, alright most of the time and it didnt seem to help much this time either. I am only human, after all. Admitting to have a problem is the first step, right?

Originally Posted by JMS

What will this show you?
What do you suspect the outcome will be?

Like Mistress Nomad says, it could shed light on what the poll does or doesn't really indicate, for one thing.

I suspect the outcome would be that those who prefer Fox News tend to be more avid TV viewers. As to what that would suggest, well, I guess people would probably interpret it in different ways.

Since we don't have those figures at the moment this is all hypothetical, of course, but if it were true, what would it suggest to you?

Originally Posted by northpaw

That's not quite what I was after, but my post was certainly ambiguous. What I'd like to see is this:

Those who prefer
Fox News: typically watch A hours of TV per week
CNN: typically watch B hours of TV per week
MSNBC: typically watch C hours of TV per week
etc.

they would all see the same trend.

newsjunkies are newsjunkies, regardless of political views