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A free press should most certainly question authority. They should do so equally and regularly, and while conducting themselves with honesty and integrity. They tend to fail insofar as the execution of the items listed in the second sentence of this post is concerned. And for the record, I did not and would not vote for President Cheeto despite my accepting him as the duly elected POTUS. Trump gives the press a virtually limitless amount of bona fide ammunition and yet there are no shortage of instances for which a majority of the mainstream media have felt compelled to exaggerate, inflame, mislead, or outright lie. I just can't understand why this is considered acceptable and it doesn't make me an alt-right member/sympathizer to question their obvious agenda. People on FOX do the same crap in the opposite direction. It's all style over substance; it's intended to garner ratings, and it serves only to distract the average citizen from the inherent failure of a severely bloated government to serve The People rather than subtly enslave them for their own gains.
Or do you believe that only a media that says nice things about you and Donald should be allowed and all others who ask inconvenient questions are "enemy of the People?"
Without a free press we are nothing but heading for being another banana republic. I can’t believe any citizen of the US would NOT want a free press. Maybe they are better suited for another country.
Or do you believe that only a media that says nice things about you and Donald should be allowed and all others who ask inconvenient questions are "enemy of the People?"
And what is "it's" bias? Any bias that isn't the same as yours?
Here's a thought for you conservatives so worked up about the media: if you don't like it, form your own media outlets.
You already have FOX, Breitbart, Infowars. What percentage of the public do you make up? Quite a damn lot. So there should be enough for people to vote with their ears / pocketbooks and create more outlets with your viewpoints instead of trying to limit other existing ones you don't like.
Out of the three you list, Fox is the only one that gets any major exposure to the public at large.
Liberal bias on the other hand permeates practically every other news source in the country.
Remember the mantra of the Left?
"Fox News lies"????
Where do you think Conservatives learned about attacking the press from?
It's like that old commercial where the Dad finds weed in his son's room and asks him "where did you learn to do this stuff??"
Or do you believe that only a media that says nice things about you and Donald should be allowed and all others who ask inconvenient questions are "enemy of the People?"
Sounds to me that you really don't want an answer as it's clear your mind is already made up by your one sided commentary after asking the question. You were simply looking for an argument.
Obviously, a "free" press is vital. But what is free?
Free from government intrusion?
America rightfully protects the press from government intrusion, however at the same time a select few corporations (all who are players in running the US government through lobby groups, legalized bribery and so on) control the media. How can the press be considered truly "free" when essentially a few business tycoons run the show?
Several things need to happen:
1)Anti-trust needs to be pursued to break up the media empires into smaller companies. Companies that have media arms need to be forbidden from making any kind of political donations to political parties or candidates.
2)American cable companies need to forced to provide alternate, global news to American audiences.
3)There needs to be some state run media arm that is answerable to the people and not large corporations! Something like NPR but a TV channel. Some of the best and most respected news arms are that of the state like BBC and Al-Jazeera.
4)There needs to be a moratorium on this "fake news" crap which is only used to censor smaller, dissenting voices. I have never seen in my life such a threat to the freedom of the press as this "fake news" craze.
5)The internet and freedom there in needs to be preserved! The US government needs to set up large domain hosting organizations that allow everyone to host their content, free of corporate censorship. Legislation needs to be passed limiting what companies like Google and FB can do to censor the content - or anti-trust laws need to break them into smaller companies. Preserve internet neutrality!
And if "free" involves hogging the microphone and preventing your fellow reporters from having their turn, then obviously there is a problem with free.
The other reporters aren’t complaining, so why are you?
Welp. The OP was seeking to have a decent and fact-based discussion.
But leave it to literally the very first reply, and we get (look at the screen name I'm quoting) to start pointing fingers at the group of people who have different views/opinions than him.
I'm shocked, I tell you. Completely blindsided.
First of all, the question is asked only of conservatives, so the OP is trolling.
Second, it's not really a question suitable for debate because the polls on the subject are so well known.
Third, one would have to have been literally living on a deserted island to not know that distrust of the dinosaur media crosses all political boundaries.
Fourth, it is a loaded question and straw man because a corporate-owned press that habitually misrepresents the facts and purposely omits certain information from news stories can neither be a "free press" nor "vital for democracy."
"More than 3-in-4 of 803 American respondents, or 77 percent, said they believe that major traditional television and newspaper media outlets report “fake news,” according to a Monmouth University poll released Monday, marking a sharp increase in distrust of those news organizations from a year ago, when 63 percent registered concerns about the spread of misinformation."
The other reporters aren’t complaining, so why are you?
It’s called having an opinion!
You have a lot of em. Even though most are inane and prejudiced, you still express them. Why would you deny that right to someone else?
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