This Big B File is about the Credibility Problems that the News Media has had for some time and what they need to do to fix it.
There was a segment on a local TV station's evening news that dealt with the viewers' feedback sent into the station. One such letter asked the station on why the station did not interview the Christians that addressed the local city council on a proposal (I forget what the proposal was). The station said that the Christians refused to be interviewed on camera for the story. However, I thought at the time that the Christians felt like they would not get a "fair shake"…in other words, they thought that the media would have an agenda against them and would be viewed in the story as being biased against them..
It seems like that the Local TV News Media for the most part has an agenda that would often favor groups and people on the Left & Radical Left of the Ideological Spectrum. For instance…when Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich proposes something or does something at I would be hard pressed to find people here in Downstate Illinois to support, the Local media seem to always put the Governor Blagojevich and his Democratic Allies in a positive light and his critics in a negative to very negative light.
You also see the same (mostly Liberal) causes and organizations get promotion and station Sponsorship, no matter who owns the TV News Station. Liberal Organizations and causes include a laundry list of mostly Democratic Party aligned groups (or ones that might as well be), such as American Cancer Society, Planned Parenthood, Susan G. Komen Foundation, The United Way (you've heard in the news of numerous instances of their refusal to give funding to the Boy Scouts because of the Scouts' Opposition to homosexuality), March of Dimes, ACLU, Etc. There are exception to this rule like Salvation Army's Tree of Lights and a few stations supporting Catholic Charities. Just look at the health stories covered on the nightly newscasts and at the events where the station's Anchors are in attendance as part of their official duties as Station Representative, and you'll notice that these are pretty much the same causes and issues championed by people on the far left.
Another example of the media's credibility problem is the War in Iraq a.k.a. Operation Iraqi Freedom. Just look at what they cover and how they report it. What is more important, look at what they don't cover and you will likely be able to tell what their agenda is. I want to direct your attention to the Big B Files Balanced Iraq News Coverage? and the third section of Big B Files Hodgepodge 1, as well as LT. Colonel Tim Ryan's op-ed piece entitled "Media's coverage has distorted world's view of Iraqi reality" (which also has links to what's going on in Iraq) for more examples of the media's credibility problems overall.
I'll admit that the Sinclair stations WICD & WICS are working on it and have made huge strides toward fixing the credibility problems that currently plague the media by airing The Point with Mark Hyman, Get This, and providing fair and balanced reports on national stories like the War in Iraq via Sinclair's NewsCentral series Truth, Lies, & Red Tape. I believe that it can be attributed to how the stories are reported and stories that are covered (for the most part).
The only exception for ALL of the Local Media is the station's Weather Coverage…which is (in my opinion) first rate overall. Just Simply ask the viewers what they think is fair and balanced news coverage and If things do not change soon, the TV News Media's Credibility will continue to erode to the point that the people will think of the TV News Media as an absolute joke…to say the least.
That's the Big B File. Click on "Post Comment" link below and tell me what you think…I'm Bryan Hewing.