This Guys Pretty Much Nails It

[eric1978]

A man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest.

[ozark trout fisher]

The local media news are pretty good it seems most of the problems go to the National News Services. I really think its more about being #1 to get headlines then it is about accuracy and truth. They are not held accountable. But now with the IRS, BENGAZI, and the AP wire taps or whatever it really is, WILL things change? Seems a lot of crow being eaten in as much as more and more people are now wondering is the National News covering up and even protecting the current administration? Heard a LOT of talk about it on the net the last few days from all kinds of different places and from ( people) of all different affiliations and walks of life.

Reporters are human. Not every mistake is some kind of conspiracy. The only time mistakes really bother me is when A, it's a total disregard for even trying to confirm what a source said is true, or B, the person in question won't admit to their mistake and keeps trying to rationalize it. Those two things happen from time to time, but from what I can tell, most of the mistakes that make news outlets "eat crow" are simply the results of humans being humans and messing up a proportionate amount. You can see more into if you like, but if you expect perfection from them you're never going to get it.

Now I'm talking about real news outlets here. Not talk shows or other outlets that are openly partisan either to the left or right.

[Feathers and Fins]

OTF, I am talking about things like the reports out of Sandy Hook and other big stories where they rush for the story and facts be dammed they will say the first thing that comes up out of fear of someone else getting it.. That isn't news its gossip and could harm someone else.

[ozark trout fisher]

Of course there are cases of irresponsible journalism. You could name a million of them, just like you could for doctors, lawyers, mechanics, any other job or profession. The "get the story first ethic" is troubling. But those of us who watch the news demand stories as they happen. The market supplies that, sometimes at the cost of accuracy. It's more of a societal problem than anything if you ask me. Maybe we should demand high quality, highly accurate news, instead of really fast, sometimes accurate news. But we want it to be both really fast and totally accurate-and that's impossible. We'll get one or the other. I know I'd choose accurate over fast in almost all cases. But that's simply not the majority opinion.

I'm not a journalist, so I in no way claim to be an expert on this. It's just my observation.

[Al Agnew]

I agree with OTF, I'd rather have accurate than fast. In fact, if you want fast, there are sites all over the internet that specialize in that. And I wonder if most people ACTUALLY want fast over accurate, or if it's gotten to be a thing where it's conventional wisdom among the news outlets that they have to be the first or they might as well not do it, while the reality is that people don't care who is first, they just want accuracy. After all, everybody has their own favorite news outlet, it's not like they are going to be switching channels constantly to see who gets the story first.

[Justin Spencer]

A man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest.

when I left my home and my family I was no more than a boy.

[Feathers and Fins]

Al, here is what I want ( this is just me though ). I want News that pertains to my area first ( Local ) second I want News from the ( Region ) and then National News. Let me be specific though. National news should be news about the NATION not some doctor being found guilty of Murder for abortion or some High Speed Pursuit in Cali. Those are Local events and need to stay Local. Even Sandy Hook was a local event and had it stayed that way we would not have gone through the great Gun Grab Scare of 2013. In fact if you look at many of the " National News Stories " they are politically motivated the Dr I mentioned above should have never made national news But here we have it being used to fuel the Abortion Debate! This is not Journalism this is Media influencing Political Agendas! The media is suppose to be unbiased yet clearly covers these type of stories to fuel ratings when they are nothing more than local events.

Frustrating when you look at so many events that shouldn't be anything more than local coverage or a mention on the news that are used for politics.

[Chief Grey Bear]

Let me be specific though. National news should be news about the NATION not some doctor being found guilty of Murder for abortion or some High Speed Pursuit in Cali. Those are Local events and need to stay Local. Even Sandy Hook was a local event

I really can't say anything to this that wouldn't sound like I was being a smartass or attacking you and I don't want it to come off that way. All I can say is, I couldn't disagree more. I like to know what is going on around the big sphere.

[eric1978]

when I left my home and my family I was no more than a boy.

Good job, Justin. Thanks for restoring my faith in people...for a brief moment.

[ozark trout fisher]

Those are Local events and need to stay Local.

Well, every national news story is a "local event" in the sense that it happens somewhere, usually not right in my backyard. But that doesn't mean it isn't important. Sure, I like to know what's going on within a relatively short radius of where I live, it's important if there are tornados touching down 30 miles west of my home. But significant events that happen to occur in California or New York or anywhere else are also something that I feel the need to know about, as long as they are within the United States. I can't just live in my own state or region and pretend like everything else doesn't exist. We're long past being able to do that. Many news events that occur elsewhere in the country have the capability of effecting me. Or things of the same nature could in the future. I think it's important to know about them then.