No not really unfortunately, I think every media outlet is biased. Le Monde Diplomatique is my favourite media outlet and I still think it’s biased.
I’m critical of all media when I read it and I think that’s the only way to be in the age of disinformation. It’s really funny to me that people rely on websites to tell them if media outlet is biased or unbiased because it’s apparent that those sites themselves are biased.
IMO It’s better to read theories, different takes on history, and then approach new news under different mental frameworks when trying to assess the reality of situations. But generally a political economic framework (ie power structures) is how I approach news articles for international events.
It’s really funny to me that people rely on websites to tell them if media outlet is biased or unbiased because it’s apparent that those sites themselves are biased.
Are they, though? They can’t all be biased and they can’t all be lying at the same time, especially when they provide a transparent analysis of their findings that you can click on. And even then, you don’t just blindly trust what a remotely credible website says because they could be mistaken, or things may have changed. Nobody’s promoting that you blindly trust a website, but we know that the website has built a reputation through their verifiable work until proven otherwise. And even then, an inkling of your own criteria and discretion is always adviced which should go without saying.
I think it’s weird to brand anything and everything as state-owned or irreparably biased to the point of not being able to trust anything or anyone. It’s exactly the other side of the coin to the post-truth world you sneered at. We see with the alt medicine movement all the time. They trash postigious institutions out of ignorance and then mislead those who don’t know which side is up. What you’re saying could be just as dangerous.
That said, I also find it deeply cynical that pretending that the golden hammer to all this is an abstract personal “political economic framework” because a lot of us do work hard to rein in order and truth. For this I point to the crowd source that has built Wikipedia, the open source community, the so-called skeptic movement, and so many others that work in cooperation all the time for the good of humanity. Why is news and politics the exception? Good will is out there and it does exist.
I guess what I’m trying to say is, don’t let any fool out there tell you that the only ground you can step on is the one you built for yourself. If you don’t trust a source, so be it, but be specific why instead of trashing everything altogether indiscriminately.
To me, the only ground you step on is the one you build yourself is the only way to read the news. Maybe it’s extra work and it’s cynical but I’ll read an article about something, say a riot in Haiti. Then a couple months later I’ll read that it wasn’t actually a riot, but it was a peaceful protest and mercenaries employed by the government started shooting at people to break it up. The media reported it as a riot and never followed up that it was a peaceful protest. Turns out the President of Haiti is allied with the west for exploitation of labour and resources of that country. So now most people think that Haiti is just disorganized and needs strong western leadership, meanwhile the opposition is being repressed and the media is supporting the western narrative by not following up on the “riot”.
That example is what I mean about not trusting anything I read until I’ve read different takes on a situation and considering my own skepticism.
But it’s a fair point that not all state owned media is bad, but I would just never trust a state owned media for any foreign/international issue for not having a slant in favour of the reporting state.
No not really unfortunately, I think every media outlet is biased. Le Monde Diplomatique is my favourite media outlet and I still think it’s biased. I’m critical of all media when I read it and I think that’s the only way to be in the age of disinformation. It’s really funny to me that people rely on websites to tell them if media outlet is biased or unbiased because it’s apparent that those sites themselves are biased.
IMO It’s better to read theories, different takes on history, and then approach new news under different mental frameworks when trying to assess the reality of situations. But generally a political economic framework (ie power structures) is how I approach news articles for international events.
Are they, though? They can’t all be biased and they can’t all be lying at the same time, especially when they provide a transparent analysis of their findings that you can click on. And even then, you don’t just blindly trust what a remotely credible website says because they could be mistaken, or things may have changed. Nobody’s promoting that you blindly trust a website, but we know that the website has built a reputation through their verifiable work until proven otherwise. And even then, an inkling of your own criteria and discretion is always adviced which should go without saying.
I think it’s weird to brand anything and everything as state-owned or irreparably biased to the point of not being able to trust anything or anyone. It’s exactly the other side of the coin to the post-truth world you sneered at. We see with the alt medicine movement all the time. They trash postigious institutions out of ignorance and then mislead those who don’t know which side is up. What you’re saying could be just as dangerous.
That said, I also find it deeply cynical that pretending that the golden hammer to all this is an abstract personal “political economic framework” because a lot of us do work hard to rein in order and truth. For this I point to the crowd source that has built Wikipedia, the open source community, the so-called skeptic movement, and so many others that work in cooperation all the time for the good of humanity. Why is news and politics the exception? Good will is out there and it does exist.
I guess what I’m trying to say is, don’t let any fool out there tell you that the only ground you can step on is the one you built for yourself. If you don’t trust a source, so be it, but be specific why instead of trashing everything altogether indiscriminately.
To me, the only ground you step on is the one you build yourself is the only way to read the news. Maybe it’s extra work and it’s cynical but I’ll read an article about something, say a riot in Haiti. Then a couple months later I’ll read that it wasn’t actually a riot, but it was a peaceful protest and mercenaries employed by the government started shooting at people to break it up. The media reported it as a riot and never followed up that it was a peaceful protest. Turns out the President of Haiti is allied with the west for exploitation of labour and resources of that country. So now most people think that Haiti is just disorganized and needs strong western leadership, meanwhile the opposition is being repressed and the media is supporting the western narrative by not following up on the “riot”. That example is what I mean about not trusting anything I read until I’ve read different takes on a situation and considering my own skepticism. But it’s a fair point that not all state owned media is bad, but I would just never trust a state owned media for any foreign/international issue for not having a slant in favour of the reporting state.