Thread: Don't accept media's unfair slant

Don't accept media's unfair slant
Jun. 7, 2008 12:00 AM

The media on the state and national level have been harping on bringing more civility to politics while doing the exact opposite.

Locally, the attacks and unfair treatment of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and County Attorney Andrew Thomas from the media have been tough to watch and read. The media appear to be on some type of vendetta.

You may not agree with their positions and that is fine, but keep that out of the story.

There are many examples, but to name one, the recent coverage of the lawsuits paid by the sheriff was nothing short of biased, or it was just lazy reporting.

Was the story true that his office paid out millions in lawsuits? Yes. Did the story paint a true picture? No.



The media have given the public the impression that this is an issue solely at the feet of the sheriff. You will find that overall payments paid by all taxpayers, from state, local and school districts far exceed the payment Arpaio's office paid.

The public deserves an accurate picture of what is occurring and not a slam on one office.

There is an industry of attorneys whose sole purpose is to take money from taxpayers that would go to kids' programs, after-school programs, school lunches, roads, and police and fire. That is the story.

On the national level, and as a conservative, this is hard to write, but the slamming of Hillary Clinton has become offensive and destructive to the debate of policy.

This constant harping on anything she says and the media's demanding she get out of the race is mind-boggling.

Anyone who has ever succeeded in life knows that you never give up until the game is over. There is only one end result when you get out of a race: You lose.

Persistence is a positive attribute, and yet the media makes it a negative.

We teach our children to work hard and to finish what they start, but we tell someone who worked her way to the top that she should give up. Clinton is doing exactly what we are told to do in life.

Sen. Clinton is an easy person not to like, but once again, it is not the role of the media to push that personal feeling into our homes.

As a public, all we need are the facts; we can figure out the rest. - Sal DiCiccio,Phoenix
The writer is a former Phoenix City Council member.


http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepubli ... o071.html#

There is no question that the media today is bias and slated in way that it was not 50 years ago.

When I was in graduate School at Columbia University I used to read the NY TIMES every day. It was a great newspaper back then. Its stories carried no point of view, and were full of facts leaving the reader to draw his own conclusions.

Nowadays the newspapers mixed editorial opinion with news stories. The NY Time and Washington Post are two of the leading Newspapers who have lost all sense of objective journalismg. They now are nothing but shills and advocates for left wing political opinion.

Letters to the editor help, but very little, as you can't always count on these letters being published. Cancelling subscriptions is another way and there is no question that subscriptions are down.

For letters to the editor to work they must be mailed in large volumes from readers within the state. Out of state letters are more apt to be ignored than those written in state. Again these are organizational issues on the ground. Phone calls can do some good, but I think letters work better. Letters demonstate a willingness to spend time to committ to an issue -- a phone call is fast and easy and also easily ignored. Phone calls work best on legislators. Letters in volume work better on the Press.

Originally Posted by judyweller

Nowadays the newspapers mixed editorial opinion with news stories. The NY Time and Washington Post are two of the leading Newspapers who have lost all sense of objective journalismg.

Very true. Here's one more recent example:

http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-118394.html

The media has definatly become the most un-reliable source of news anymore. It's like trying to discern what part of gossip is true or not.

I took a class in highschool about public image and applying for jobs etc. One of our exercises was giving a news broadcast. It was to practice speaking and tone and body language and any un-spoken message you may be giving out that could un-intentionally put a slant or bias on the story.....after all....people don't want your opinion...they just want the news. LOL Long gone are those days.