Red and Blue do not make green - they make purple
Just because it is written down, and the source makes itself seem like a news source. This is a strictly opinion peice. And I think some would view it as a fictional work.
I tried to stay out of this thread, but sometimes I have to just voice my OPINION. And the media is really irratating me.
Spence, I do disagee with your opinion that the right attacks what it views as a left wing point of view and the left attacks the right on behavior. We do agree that the truth is not clear. And the media has watered it all down.
But I believe your opinion is based on the media outlets you use to inform yourself coupled with natural human behavior. Before reading this thread, I had the completely opposite opinion. Then I took some time to think about how and why our opinions could differ so greatly - this is what I came up with.
I think the real problem with the media is that it is never fair and balenced. Aside from Fox News, Sean Hannitty, talk radio and The Wall Street Journal, all major media outlets lean decidedly left. The outlets in the previous sentence lean right. And there is very little in the way of fair and balenced reporting on the issues.
I agree, the situation is Iraq is not a rosey one, but I believe it is a necessary one, and will be viewed as the correct decision in history books. As previously stated the success/failure of this war will be measured in decades. But their are positive stories that could be portrayed to the American public. Stories like the Navy Chief and Duke posted about a real American hero - 1st SGT Brad Kasal. Or some of the more human interest pieces that Sgt Kasal lists in his interview; when the American's open a school of fix a sewer. What about the thousands of Iraqis that would love to have power and water and sewer, unfortately, the insurgent are destroying the services the United States Armed Forces restore.
I see a lot of people ask why? My opinion, which with $5.00 will get you a Starbucks, is they are too busy pushing their agenda. Fortunately, this is not my opinion alone, it is shared by many. So I will give it some merit. The liberal mainstream media is so concerned with discreditting the President and his adminstration, they do not report the news in an objective, fair and balenced manner. This is not to say the the republican media outlets are objective, fair and balenced.
I will now focused on what is most upsetting to me, the majority of left leaning major media outlets. They should no longer be considered objective journalist. If the any media analyst or corporation cannot remain objective, they should not consider themselves journalist or reporters, they should refer to themselves as what they are .... propoganda spreading shills. Maybe to be more Politally Correct we could identify a nice euphanism, like Liberal Advertisers, or Propoganda Spreaders. Axe Grinders...oh...oh...I know, Agenda Drivers. That is not too harsh and it is accurate. The media is not about objective reporting of the truth. News story selection and spin are given to further drive an Agenda - like discrediting the Presidential Administration.
If there was ever a truely objective reporting of the days events around the world, we could all be better informed and make wiser decisions. But we are stuck with what we got. And as such, it is normal human behavior to hear what you want to hear. We all take bits and pieces of news articles. We watch, listen, read sources that spin their articles to support their agenda in the same direction that we lean. I like Fox News. I like talk radio. I like the Wall Street Journal. I do not like CBS, NBC, MSNBC, ABC, CNN, the Boston Globe, the New Yorks times or any other left wing media outlet. That is not to say that Fox, talk raidio and the Wall Street Journal are objective, I just like their spin. And as long as both parties have media outlets that report what different groups want to hear - there is going to be a great divide.
As a result we each form our opinions on flawed and bias news sources. Or our opinions are formed lacking some truely necessary information, because we did not see or hear it from 'our' media sources. I think that is why our opinions could be so radically different.
Want to know why I voted for %$%$%$%$...or more accurately against %$%$%$%$%$. %$%$%$%$%$ was not strong enough on defense. This doesn't come strictly from right wing media outlets, it comes from the former candidate from MA's own lips. That and his horrible record for showing up for work, while working for the tax payers of MA. And lastly, I cannot trust him. No matter what you say about spin, he is a waffler.
"I voted for it before I voted against it"
He is all over the map and never takes the same stance twice.