Tired of Mass Media Misinformation...

[t-rex]

While enjoying my nice lunch of cashew chicken (a/k/a Jewish Valhalla...) at Chinese Tea Garden, I'm glancing at the television in the corner they have turned on to entertain patrons.

It was tuned to Fox News and the "reporter" was yammering on and on this and that about GM's woes, and while they're yapping, there are little snippets of data popping up at the bottom of the screen.

One of those snippets distinctly reported that GM workers earned $75 per hour.

Now those of us in the know are aware that's the total cost to GM, because of "legacy" costs, but the way it appeared on TV suggested to the average viewer that GM's employees earned that as salary.

And this wasn't the first piece of deliberate non-fact reporting I've seen since the crisis began.

I wasn't surprised to see utter lies coming from Fox, but I've been stunned by the utter lack of research those "reporting" have uncovered. Have any of them bothered to click on a website to check EPA numbers? Can any of them even name a single domestic product? I'm surprised that even the few reputable journalists out there report so sloppily.

I don't watch much TV, so there's probably exponentially more bad information or lack of indepth reporting on Detroit's continuing crisis.

So...

What are some of the more egrigious examples of bad reporting the rest of you have seen or heard lately?

[wescoent]

Is that what the $75 per hour is?

I thought that was the total average compensation for current work, plus expected benefits for current workers.

Bad reporting about Detroit, or in general?

[montrealvue]

The media is making this into a feeding frenzy. At first it was GM's losses being reported but now the generalization is "the big 3 lost.....". Yes, we know GM is screwed, we get it. Before you know it they'll be reporting GM execs rape puppies and punch babies.

[lio45]

Yep, unfortunately, sifting through media BS is a full-time job...

That's why I LOVED getting my political news from GMI. A bunch of guys (ranging from complete communists to the coldest cutthroat capitalists) would dissect/argue over every single piece of news and after a few pages of the thread, the reader would usually have a pretty well informed idea of what's actually going on.

[afdude2018]

fair and balanced my ass!

God I hate that slogan with a passion!

[vsd]

Fox "news" is the lowest form of infotainment.

In other news, I love cashew chicken.

[johnstarnes]

Originally Posted by vsd

Fox "news" is the lowest form of infotainment.

In other news, I love cashew chicken.

Whenever I watch Fox News, I see it as a the Jerry Springer/WWF take on ACTUAL newscasting. At 55, I remember REAL news casts at dinner each day.....Huntley/Brinkley.

[likearock00]

Originally Posted by t-rex

What are some of the more egrigious examples of bad reporting the rest of you have seen or heard lately?

Anything they said positive about either presidential candidate before the election.

[Wolfman01]

Originally Posted by t-rex

While enjoying my nice lunch of cashew chicken (a/k/a Jewish Valhalla...) at Chinese Tea Garden, I'm glancing at the television in the corner they have turned on to entertain patrons.

It was tuned to Fox News and the "reporter" was yammering on and on this and that about GM's woes, and while they're yapping, there are little snippets of data popping up at the bottom of the screen.

One of those snippets distinctly reported that GM workers earned $75 per hour.

Now those of us in the know are aware that's the total cost to GM, because of "legacy" costs, but the way it appeared on TV suggested to the average viewer that GM's employees earned that as salary.

And this wasn't the first piece of deliberate non-fact reporting I've seen since the crisis began.

I wasn't surprised to see utter lies coming from Fox, but I've been stunned by the utter lack of research those "reporting" have uncovered. Have any of them bothered to click on a website to check EPA numbers? Can any of them even name a single domestic product? I'm surprised that even the few reputable journalists out there report so sloppily.

I don't watch much TV, so there's probably exponentially more bad information or lack of indepth reporting on Detroit's continuing crisis.

So...

What are some of the more egrigious examples of bad reporting the rest of you have seen or heard lately?

Was the audio up loud enough for you to hear the talking head spouting their script? Did they break down how the number was arrived at? If the number was a combination of hourly pay, and the value of the benefits packages, the number is about right. If they failed to state how they came to that number, it's a failure of the media to be thorough in their reporting. it is not however, misleading.

[ronald mcretard]

Fox News is horrible, but to be fair, so is everyone else...

I was watching Chris Matthews the other day and he was interviewing some guy from newsweek. They were talking about the Volt and GM and other things, and were getting all kinds of facts wrong.

[PAULSTS1]

My personal favorite is Bloomberg TV. I like the way all parties are brought to the table and given the podium to discuss their points of view. I especially liked it when they interviewed Rick Wagoner and Alan Mulally, a few weeks ago. Also with the ticker tape constantly going, one can check on the General Market, and eye your individual portfolio issues as well. I often watch Bloomberg while on this forum, unfortunately I am in my home office today (with my stand by dinosaur XP) as my newer laptop Vista, is on the blink.

[ksr]

Every new station that I've watched does not paint an accurate picture of the industry.

They still think that domestic manufacturers produce nothing that's fuel efficient, nothing of high quality. They also rarely if ever have mentioned that the industry reached a new deal with the UAW that will help a great deal starting in 2010, if they can just survive that long.

[ksr]

Originally Posted by johnstarnes

Whenever I watch Fox News, I see it as a the Jerry Springer/WWF take on ACTUAL newscasting. At 55, I remember REAL news casts at dinner each day.....Huntley/Brinkley.

'


I liked Brinkley very much in his later days as a commentator and moderator of ABC's Sunday morning show. I only vaguely remember him doing the nightly news.

But was it really much better than what we have now? Walter Cronkite is regarded as such a great newsman, but he put his own spin on the news from Vietnam. The Tet Offensive in Vietnam was portrayed as a big defeat for the U.S., when in fact it was exactly the opposite.

At least now we have a bunch of outlets, so maybe if you watch them all, you might know what's going on.

[t-rex]

Originally Posted by Wolfman01

Was the audio up loud enough for you to hear the talking head spouting their script? Did they break down how the number was arrived at? If the number was a combination of hourly pay, and the value of the benefits packages, the number is about right. If they failed to state how they came to that number, it's a failure of the media to be thorough in their reporting. it is not however, misleading.

Nah it was some skirt yammering away about some other subject.

The $75/hour thingie was part of a few tibbets of "information" that popped on screen...

Well we now know who GMI's biggest Fox News fan is...

[silvergoat2k6]

The Big 3 are just as bad with their fear-mongering propaganda as of late.