Do you believe mainstream media?

[jujiju]

I don’t. I used to and I miss being in that safe bubble. I still have a look to see what is being reported, but I’m no longer in that place where I just assume what I’m being fed is correct without doing my own research.

I mean, nothing is completely unbiased. Learning to read the spin or bias on something and look to the original source for more detail is as important as reading the content itself.

Also a lot of things as reported in popular media sources (for example research study findings) lack nuance or detail because journalists aren't necessarily experts in the topic and there are conflicting agendas at play - one of which is to get eyeballs, reactions or shares on their publication.

But I honestly think that to have a blanket scepticism over "mainstream media" is just as blinkered as blindly believing everything you read/see, and shows that you've been pulled into conspiracy thinking.

As a journalist I’m very alarmed at the total levels of media literacy on this thread. MSM isn’t perfect but you “alternative source” experts are absolutely ripe for misinformation and AI manipulation.

I trust what they tell me because they are legally obliged to tell the truth (when it comes to news reporting anyways).
I dont trust that they will tell me everything though or that they will report things unbiased.

Each outlet has an editorial slant and as long as I take that into account I’ll still read or listen.

No trust in the MSM whatsoever.

I think they are all biased towards whoever is paying them. Rupert Murdochs media was biased towards the Tories in the same way as the Reach group that own the Mirror etc are biased towards Labour. It works as well because the media did a fantastic job of smearing Corbyn, I say that as someone who wouldn’t have voted for him as well. Same in the US, certain outlets are in Trumps pocket and the others are paid by his rivals. We can’t be sure we ever get the whole information to make an informed opinion on anything, Putin recently spoke on Croatian tv and we never had any coverage of what he said because MSM don’t want us to think for ourselves, they want to tell us what to think and hand pick our information.

No sorry it was a lie 😄

Any random that's watched a disaster movie could tell you that

They were worried about ppe for the doctors and how that would look, plus keeping businesses going for as long as possible. Same with the eat out to help out. Evil

But its done now, and it's a lesson learned for me, who used to believe in politics and doing good

Clicking links that turn up in your social media feed is not the same as ‘doing your own research’

Yes, we see this when they refuse to report on the dangers of Puberty Blockers and cross sex hormones, on women losing their jobs for saying sex is real, and instead they post a load of positive drag queen stories. The BBC lost credibility a long time ago.

Yes, it's amazing how many people don't seen to understand (or remember) how little information and understanding there was about a brand new (novel) virus. Researchers and medics were scrambling to understand everything about it, including transmission, so obviously advice was also a rapidly changing landscape.

While you should obviously consider bias, and the general record of that newspaper or other media outlet, as well as that of the individual journalist, and read/consume a range of sources, no, I don't think that this mean that some swivel-eyed random on TikTok has the truth of the matter. Or that 'your own research' (which usually means 'Google') has any particular validity.

Yes that was also an aspect of it. I don’t know what news sources you read but the message was perfectly clear here in Ireland about masks - initially they were thought to have limited value and we were asked to leave them for medical staff who needed the supply. Then when the science found that asymptomatic and aerosol spread was common and there was enough masks for everyone the advice changed.

But either way - this advice was worldwide and came from the scientific community not the media making it up.

I think the problem in the UK and the pandemic is that the government lied and kept things open too long and the whole eat out thing - but again the source of the lie was the government not the media.

Changing your message when the facts change or are better understood is not lying

reporting on the people who change their message when the facts change or are better understood isn’t lying

Jesus Christ, this is basic stuff

Those 'standards' are up to shit, and they can post complete bullshit. Look at how they call male rapists 'she'. Press standards don't exist.

Well Russia has provably paid right wing influencers in the US (see Tenet media) but I'd be interested to know what media is paid for by Trump's rivals?

Curious as to why media should be covering Putin speaking on Croatian tv? Should they cover it every time a leader of a foreign country speaks on another foreign country's tv? Or am I missing your point?

People who 'do their own research' would be well advised to spend some time first researching human psychology and how social media algorithms operate. It could potentially be very helpful to them in assessing the information they're receiving.

I think most if not all media has its bias. I don't think there's any media that simply reports facts without any bias.

The best way to get information is to read a wide variety of mainstream sources and so you'll read the same basic information written in different ways and form your own opinions with all that in mind.

Mainstream media has no legal obligation to tell the truth even if there was one “truth” in any particular story. They often give a very biased account and then pretend it’s unbiased or balanced

Enlighten me - do you think they left wing, right wing or what? Why do you feel they cannot be trusted?

Being a complete rando with a twitter account or a phone for publishing a podcast doesn’t mean you’re immune to lying or being a moron either.

The problem is a lot of the mainstream media has the same bias and there is a lot of lazy reporting where they repeat each other’s reporting or ap or Reuters claims. It’s very very easy to manipulate

@xanthomelana

Grok, Elon's own AI, thinks Putin's speech very like didn't happen. Does this change your opinion at all?

https://x.com/grok/status/1898264069959733345

That’s correct of course. But very few think the “rando” on Twitter are unbiased whereas lots of people seem to think the BBC is.

I agree with this. It's the 'slant' and the words they say that can point you in one direction or the other. The facts are probably true, but opinions are just that - opinions - and none of the sources are clear about where the facts end and the opinions start.

i know! that's pretty hilarious