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Famous Journalists?

Do Journalists Influence The News, or Does The News Influence Journalists?

  • Journalists by definition are spectators, recorders of events. However, most have great difficulty being objective and worse, feel the need to inject their reporting with personal (or corporate) opinion. This woudn't be so bad were it not for the fact that most journalists are ill-informed, their stories poorly researched, and their credibility doubtful at best. Just look at Iraq: For the longest time most network stories were compiled from Pentagon briefing notes. Journalists should be made more accountable for the veracity of their reporting...or at least show proof of their understanding of a subject before they weigh in with marginal opinions.

  • Answer:

    Great question!! I see how it could happen both ways. Heraldo Rivera left CNN because he felt he couldn't report the news properly because of a perceived agenda. Of course, others have left Foxnews for the same reason. However, I think you are correct. Many reporters offer thier own point of view on the stories they are reporting about. Some like Dan Rather pursue a story according to thier own political or idealogical agenda regardless of the facts. Thats sad. Dan is a good guy who just got caught up in the mix and unfortunately stained his career a little. I say journalists should report the facts and let us decide what to think instead of telling us what to think. It probably won't happen anytime soon but it would be a nice change.

intaleck... at Yahoo! Answers Visit the source

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A good journalist would not be biased when reporting a story. Unfortunately, this is real life and ALL journalists aren't necessarily good journalists.

buK00

It's a two way thing. Some journalists report what they are told to report by their superiors, other report what they think people want to hear and others report what they want, ie their own personal intake on a particualr situation.

kara

I feel it is the latter....

miss-snoopy

You're absolutely right...and I do think Journalists influence the news...now a days they make you feel like we're all going to hell..its so damn depressing or when there is good news its something stupid or they have to put their two "negative" cents in..

KeeKee

I would imagine it depends in the journalist's values, who their working for and who's paying them. Also, like in the case of Iraq, I understand if they've been assigned there (or to prevent that) and it keeps them out of harms way, to use official notes, I might do that too.

esha26

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michael h

Most media these days are controlled by larged corporations. At places such as Fox they are given memos as to how they should comment on events. It the lack of independant news existed back at Watergate, Nixon would still be president

Wizzard2

My understanding -- which of course is based on work published by journalists and other writers -- is that the biggest influence is the higher-ups who decide what gets assigned or chosen for publication/broadcast. So nearly all of our news serves political and corporate interests and hides the truth by pretending to reveal it. So it's not so much that journalists can't be objective, but that those who play the game get the by-lines. If you want accountability, don't forget to go after the people with the real power.

The angels have the phone box.

Don't get me started on this. Journalists give opinions which hasn't got anything to do with the news. They're paid to give you their opinion and that's it. Has nothing, absolutely nothing to do with the real news.

Irish

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