ThinkProgress uses deceptive photo to make gun rights activists look threatening

[BigStick]

The picture is really a microcosm of all of the information they put out. They have to twist and destrort the truth, or just tell straight up lies, because the truth destroys any arguments they are trying to make.

 

[mancat]

Unfortunately, the AP has slipped. AFP is still pretty good, but Reuters has just gotten far too British.

I think the problem is that raw news has fallen out of vogue. It used to be that you turned on the tv, and there was an anchor reading news reports. Occasionally they had someone in the field reporting. But now, everything is just rival commentators who look like they're ten seconds away from turning into ancient Roman gladiators. If you get actual news, people get bored.

Not a lot of people here care about Serbs on trial for war crimes or a contaminated beef epidemic in the UK, and that's exactly the sort of raw news I've seen on AJE. Instead, we want to hear about wars on Christmas, pop stars in rehab, missing white girls, and a whole bunch of drivel.

And if you're like me and just want the raw stories that matter, then you're weird.

I remember watching CNN in the late 80s and early 90s, when it was just anchors behind a desk, reading NEWS 24/7 and not OPINION sold as news.

CNN Third Hour June 1, 1980 - YouTube
CNN Daybreak 1990 - YouTube

 

[xymotic]

I think it's kind of interesting that you guys think the second photo is any less threatening to people than the first.

Waving a flag around in a parking lot is not the part people take issue with.

And every single law ever written was written to curtail behavior of people that should have known better, but couldn't police themselves. They have a 'right' to be there, doesn't make it a good idea any more than Westboro telling a grieving widow at a military funeral her husband deserved to die in Iraq because of the gays.

 

[xymotic]

I remember watching CNN in the late 80s and early 90s, when it was just anchors behind a desk, reading NEWS 24/7 and not OPINION sold as news.

CNN Third Hour June 1, 1980 - YouTube
CNN Daybreak 1990 - YouTube

You mean back in 86-87 when the fairness doctrine was still in effect and Fox hadn't yet started kicking their buttz in the ratings with their infotainment programs?

Strange, I WONDER what could have caused the dumbing down of American Media!? It's a real mystery!

 

[mancat]

You mean back in 86-87 when the fairness doctrine was still in effect and Fox hadn't yet started kicking their buttz in the ratings with their infotainment programs?

Strange, I WONDER what could have caused the dumbing down of American Media!? It's a real mystery!

Given the state of today's news media, I honestly think we should revisit the fairness doctrine, or something very close to it. I understand the implications it has on the 1st amendment. I also understand the implications of having a mainstream press that has no obligation to factually report the news in an unbiased manner, which is what we see today across the board, from CNN to MSNBC to FOX, from the NY Times to the Wall Street Journal, etc.

Of course, the debate will never happen because the media has a vested interest in crushing or ignoring any new calls for it.