Photos of Lebanon

[DJ Ponz]

Originally Posted by fable

Stay away from CNN and try not to base your assesments on the random quotes and blurbs shared through the mainstream media.

I've noticed that CNN is providing much more balanced news services recently - indeed some of their correspondents have done well to grill Israel's brass and show the destruction that's going on both sides of the boarder. Still, I fully acknowledge biases in their reporting exist; but to say 'avoid' them as an information source, I believe, goes too far.

Indeed, if we are to get the whole picture - and I mean the whole picture that includes 'facts', images AND political rhetoric, posturing and propaganda, it is ill-advised to close oneself off from any source. Closing the door on CNN, CBC, FOX, ABC or whoever will inhibit your ability to recognize mainstream thinking and understand it for what it is - one take on the truth. Mainstream media is one component of the bigger picture/issue. We have to take mainstream media with a grain of salt of course - it is up to you to recognize what's crap and what's not. But by the same token, we simply cannot accept the 'alternative media's' representation of current events as entirely accurate either. Doing so would breed ignorance the same way the mass media does.

Achieving balance in information gathering is a bitch. It's an excersize in critical thought - which some of us are better at than others. I suggest an all source approach.

[fable]

Originally Posted by DJ Ponz

I've noticed that CNN is providing much more balanced news services recently - indeed some of their correspondents have done well to grill Israel's brass and show the destruction that's going on both sides of the boarder. Still, I fully acknowledge biases in their reporting exist; but to say 'avoid' them as an information source, I believe, goes too far.

Indeed, if we are to get the whole picture - and I mean the whole picture that includes 'facts', images AND political rhetoric, posturing and propaganda, it is ill-advised to close oneself off from any source. Closing the door on CNN, CBC, FOX, ABC or whoever will inhibit your ability to recognize mainstream thinking and understand it for what it is - one take on the truth. Mainstream media is one component of the bigger picture/issue. We have to take mainstream media with a grain of salt of course - it is up to you to recognize what's crap and what's not. But by the same token, we simply cannot accept the 'alternative media's' representation of current events as entirely accurate either. Doing so would breed ignorance the same way the mass media does.

Achieving balance in information gathering is a bitch. It's an excersize in critical thought - which some of us are better at than others. I suggest an all source approach.

I hear what you're saying mate. I do in fact pay attention to various mainstream news sources, because it gives a good account of what exactly various governments want to convey through them as well as hints into specific truths by identifying what ISNT being reported. This understanding has been without a doubt an important provider of information inadvertently. But in terms of presenting anything close to a realistic picture of what the most oppressed of peoples in the world face, mainstream media is lacking, essentially by definition.

[esoter1c]

Originally Posted by DJ Ponz

I've noticed that CNN is providing much more balanced news services recently - indeed some of their correspondents have done well to grill Israel's brass and show the destruction that's going on both sides of the boarder. Still, I fully acknowledge biases in their reporting exist; but to say 'avoid' them as an information source, I believe, goes too far.

Indeed, if we are to get the whole picture - and I mean the whole picture that includes 'facts', images AND political rhetoric, posturing and propaganda, it is ill-advised to close oneself off from any source. Closing the door on CNN, CBC, FOX, ABC or whoever will inhibit your ability to recognize mainstream thinking and understand it for what it is - one take on the truth. Mainstream media is one component of the bigger picture/issue. We have to take mainstream media with a grain of salt of course - it is up to you to recognize what's crap and what's not. But by the same token, we simply cannot accept the 'alternative media's' representation of current events as entirely accurate either. Doing so would breed ignorance the same way the mass media does.

Achieving balance in information gathering is a bitch. It's an excersize in critical thought - which some of us are better at than others. I suggest an all source approach.

Well said old bean.