One of my family members works for an organization designed to increase trust in the news media. While a laudable goal, the very fact that the news media needs an organization to increase trust in it, maybe doesn't bode well for the news media.
One of the conclusions they've drawn is the people trust local news more than national news, which makes sense. However, when I see stories like I saw last night on our local CBS affiliate, I have to wonder.
The lead in to the story was that "crime was down 20%" in MPLS parks. Well, that's a good thing, right? Well, sort of. The first set of stats the showed noted that serious crimes (rape, murder, assault, etc) were down by 3, that's correct 3. Not 3%, but 3. (from 72-69) Wait, you say, that's not 20%. Then they show the next batch of data which tells us that minor crimes, (property crimes) are down by 20%. So, the lead in was part of the Truth, just not the whole Truth. Of course, any crime reduction is better than no crime reduction, but wouldn't you think you'd want to reduce the serious crimes more than less serious? How is this supposed to make park users feel safer?
No wonder people don't trust the news as much as they used to.
Some might say that this was just a mistake, they just goofed. If that's so, then why would I trust those in charge of catching mistakes before they air when they missed such an obvious one.
Or one could wonder, if they'll twist the Truth in something like this, what else are they twisting?
4 comments:
Well, theoretically at least, it would be good to know there are those who assume the task of keeping the media on its toes, given how corrupt they've become in their willingness to shill for the Democratic Party. The question then becomes, are they doing any good in that endeavor, or is it just posturing as giving a damn. I guess it would depend upon the ideological leanings of those who run and work for the organization. If they're basically a conservative group, I would expect a somewhat decent effort, confronted by leftist journalists resisting strongly, like a small child refusing his veggies or bad tasting medicine.
I'd say that the commitment to Truth and factually accurate reporting, editing, and presentation should be the primary concern regardless of ideological slant in restoring the trust of the public.
The point of the article is that when the news media uses such misleading headlines, it's no wonder they aren't trusted.
I agree. But if we were angels....thus, "watchdogs" are welcomed so long as they aren't partisan.
I don't care if someone is partisan, as long as they are seeking Truth not twisting it to push their agenda.
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