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by morkalork 2 hours ago
There's news for entertainment, and news for making informed decisions. I suppose in a healthy democracy, it would be in the people's best interest to have unbiased and thoroughly investigated the news available so voters can make the best decision for themselves and the country. It wouldn't be profitable so it would have to be publicly funded like PBS News, BBC, CBC. And, well, it was good while it lasted but politicians seem hell bent on demonizing anything for the public good.
2 comments
jaredwiener 2 hours ago
"it would be in the people's best interest" -- the problem is that as we're seeing, people do not seem to agree, at least not when voting with their wallets.

And who determines what is "unbiased?" If I don't match your biases, am I biased?

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morkalork 1 hour ago
Seeking out experts, eye witnesses, and sources of information and reporting on them as plainly and dryly without altering the facts and given statements whether you, your sponsors, the government or audience likes or agrees with them is about as unbiased as one can hope for, no?
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jaredwiener 1 hour ago
Absolutely no.

Even the basic act of deciding which stories to cover can be seen as bias.

Which experts are we seeking out? What are their agendas?

Altering facts and statements is not bias, it is incorrect reporting. Anything reported as factual that is not is wrong, period, full stop.

But framing? You can frame a story any way you see fit.

And as I was trying to get to in the earlier comment, "bias" is in the eye of the beholder. What might be straight down the middle for one reader could be wildly biased to another.

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morkalork 1 hour ago
Ah, I understand. You're on the demonize train.
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jaredwiener 1 hour ago
Not demonizing. Trying to convey that this is a much more complicated subject than you seem to want to admit.

Feels like https://xkcd.com/793/

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kansface 2 hours ago
What is your a priori estimate for the percentage of news that is consumed as entertainment? As in, it does not result in a change of behavior in the consumer beyond engendering neuroticism. I'd put that number at or above 95%. News is gossip wearing a suit.
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mrhottakes 2 hours ago
It seems strange to assume that you can even put a number on it. What's frivolous to you may be extremely important to another person.
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