Quote:
Originally posted by DragonMage:
But (this pertaining to NEWS only - not programming), if all the news programs reported the WHOLE TRUTH, we'd have no choice but to hear it
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Nice idea, but unworkable in practice.
There is no such thing as 'the whole truth' (at least as I see it - this is only my subjective opinion
) because all of us, (including tv station owners, shareholders, reporters, writers), and so on, have our own subjective views on what the 'truth' of any particular reality is.
Any reporting of events, will, necessarily, only show part of those events, and depending on the bias of the reporter, will show a certain 'truth'. One person's truth might be quite different to that of another person. So, left wing reporting and right wing reporting of the same event would be quite different, if not in video footage, in slant and interpretation.
TV channels do have agendas (ever heard of vested interests?) just like anyone else. Of course they do, they are privately owned.
Sivio Berlusconi is a case in point. He owns several Italian TV channels, and is the country's leader. Might reporting on those channels be a trifle biased? (Well, it is, big time. And people fall for it. That's how he got voted in, in spite of a record of corruption, shady deals and big time fat cattism. Money and media control - a potent combination!!)
But I do totally see your point. In the UK, we have access to some quite good international and national coverage of issues, most notably on the BBC's Radio 4, which goes very indepth.
But even the BBC, with their reputation for objective and thorough coverage, have their own agenda, and their own subjectivities. Communication without bias cannot, and does not, exist, by its very nature.
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[This message has been edited by Silver Cheetah (edited 09-13-2001).]