I say restrict the bad news and violence and stuff, but not entirely.  People need to know what's going on in the world, just not in Jacko's shower.

I stay away from broadcast news and stay with C-Span, C-Span2, CNN, and Fox News.  And yes, ENOUGH ALREADY WITH MICHAEL JACKSON.

Still we don't need anything like the (un)fairness doctrine coming back.

I think changes definitely need to be made, just not sure what exactly..its a fine line that the government has to keep from crossing.

Yes, many stories do tend to get more attention than deserved. EG: Terri Shiavo case (even here, we got way too much), Michael Jackson (Yes, hes a wacko... next story please), The Pope (It's very sad that he died, but it was not unexpected.), Royal Wedding (Who F****** cares?), Actors/Actresses/Singers etc breaking up, getting married etc (again, Who F****** cares?)

There are lots of news happening around the globe that don't get any airtime because of all these "big" stories taking over.

Nothing, just change the channel when you don't like something or Don't buy the paper if the headline bugs you.

We need to decentralize media ownership, and reinstate the Fairness Doctrine." 
We need fire all the exectives at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (including NPR)
and establish Independent Public Media from the ground up.
No more censoring subjects on threat from Congress, no filthy commercial money clouding life up!

We need to decentralize media ownership, and reinstate the Fairness Doctrine." 
We need fire all the exectives at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (including NPR)
and establish Independent Public Media from the ground up.
No more censoring subjects on threat from Congress, no filthy commercial money clouding life up!



Here, here. We should also do away with the "sensationalism" of the news. We don't need to see the "Michael Show" 24/7. They should cover more than just what is going on in Hollywood. They should cover what is going on in Washington. I care more about the votes that go on in the Capital Building that effects all of us than I care about what Michael is wearing or what Martha is making for dinner.  ::)  The news is no longer the news-it is entertainment and that is what is wrong with it. It is not supposed to be entertaining-it is supposed to be informative and it is not!




Cat

Here, here. We should also do away with the "sensationalism" of the news. We don't need to see the "Michael Show" 24/7. They should cover more than just what is going on in Hollywood. They should cover what is going on in Washington. I care more about the votes that go on in the Capital Building that effects all of us than I care about what Michael is wearing or what Martha is making for dinner.  ::)  The news is no longer the news-it is entertainment and that is what is wrong with it. It is not supposed to be entertaining-it is supposed to be informative and it is not!




Cat


Right on.  Bernie Sanders has been calling for a decentralized media for years now, and opposing the monopolization of the media by a few corporate giants which clearly have a political agenda.  There are alternatives in some places, like Radio Pacifica, if you can get them, but they are few and far between.  Patronize your locally owned local newspaper.

I don't think we should restrict it.  News is important.  If you don't like it don't watch it.

I chose other.  Take it with a grain of salt.  There are too many people that take each and every news story way to seriously, disregarding the fact that all news will be biased.

Right on.  Bernie Sanders has been calling for a decentralized media for years now, and opposing the monopolization of the media by a few corporate giants which clearly have a political agenda.  There are alternatives in some places, like Radio Pacifica, if you can get them, but they are few and far between.  Patronize your locally owned local newspaper.

Michael Parenti points out the similaries in local newspapers nation wide.  Compared to the George W. blessed economy portrayed in Wall Street Journal and on FOX News, you see something quite different.  Everywhere they're talking cut backs, cut backs, cut backs, revenues in decline, budgets in crisis, different interest groups fighing over paltry sums of state money.
The empire gets rich while the republic gets poor.  This does not bode well for our future!
 :o

I don't think we should restrict it. News is important. If you don't like it don't watch it.

I chose other. Take it with a grain of salt. There are too many people that take each and every news story way to seriously, disregarding the fact that all news will be biased.


Michael Jackson is important?

If they reported the real news, that would be one thing. But American journalism is a gossip rag.

disregarding the fact that all news will be biased.
Fox News aint biased though. Its very fair and very balanced.  :D

I'd like to see weather censorship.  Since I moved back to Pennsylvania, the ads for the various TV weather people are ridiculous.

They run these ads that say "You need to protect your family from the weather.  Channel 11 has the latest V.I.P.I.R. radar to keep up up to date.  You just CANNOT RISK leaving your house without watching V.I.P.I.R. weather

What a crock.  >:(

What do they think?  I'm gonna die if I forget an umbrella?

Michael Parenti points out the similaries in local newspapers nation wide.  Compared to the George W. blessed economy portrayed in Wall Street Journal and on FOX News, you see something quite different.  Everywhere they're talking cut backs, cut backs, cut backs, revenues in decline, budgets in crisis, different interest groups fighing over paltry sums of state money.
The empire gets rich while the republic gets poor.  This does not bode well for our future!
  :o


Quite true.  It is my belief that locally owned news outlets, although they use the wire services and quote the big guys, are still the best source of hard news.  That's why I read our local paper every day.  If current trends continue, our future is indeed bleak.

Michael Jackson is important?

If they reported the real news, that would be one thing. But American journalism is a gossip rag.


To some he is important.  I stand by my statement, news should not be restricted.

Quite true.  It is my belief that locally owned news outlets, although they use the wire services and quote the big guys, are still the best source of hard news.  That's why I read our local paper every day.  If current trends continue, our future is indeed bleak.

One of the most oft-quoted political quotes is Tip O'Neil's "All politics is local."  This is becoming more true as the federal government seems less determined to actually deal with the nitt-gritty of running a country, and more interested in sanctimonious grandstanding ala the Schiavo case.  Members of municipal governments can't just pull a Tom DeLay soliloquy about the "Culture of Life."  Government at that level still has to pass a budget and be accountable to the citizens.  That's why the local Gazette deals in real numbers, and the Wall Street Journal entertains the fantastical claims of the corporate elite.

The point is that new is ALREADY RESTRICTED ! All those 'little ' storires about 'little' people, well, quite simply they are down right depressing. Who wants to come home from a hrad days work and watch news about job cutbacks, local violence and crime and the problems of the economy explained in clear terms as to how they relate and really effect our own individual lives when we can be sitracted by naughty pervy Michael Jackson, or poor dying Terri Schiavo or some other 'distant' event to our own lives that somehow makes the sheee-it we go through day-to-day seem like heaven in comparison.

The news is all about removing us from reality and I DO switch it off and get on the internet to find out whats really going down. Kinda makes me realise I'm part of a society and not a freak show !!!

The point is that new is ALREADY RESTRICTED ! All those 'little ' storires about 'little' people, well, quite simply they are down right depressing. Who wants to come home from a hrad days work and watch news about job cutbacks, local violence and crime and the problems of the economy explained in clear terms as to how they relate and really effect our own individual lives when we can be sitracted by naughty pervy Michael Jackson, or poor dying Terri Schiavo or some other 'distant' event to our own lives that somehow makes the sheee-it we go through day-to-day seem like heaven in comparison.

The news is all about removing us from reality and I DO switch it off and get on the internet to find out whats really going down. Kinda makes me realise I'm part of a society and not a freak show !!!

Exactly, man, piddly crap like "participatory civics," yeah, if voting changed anything, it would be illegal.  It is stories like Shiavo that make people more depressed.  That cr*p makes you feel downright helpless!"  Going down to the polls a couple of times a year, especially when none of the people on the ballot are on TV, that doesn't make you feel helpless, but it sure doesn't make your emotions skyrocket. 
Well, it does for some people.  They're your  Town Meeting.  They dream of one day being able to check addresses at the polls, that's why all those poll workers are so old!
:D

To some he is important.  I stand by my statement, news should not be restricted.


I quite agree.  The news should not be restricted.  We, the news consuming public, should just be more assertive in terms of what we demand of our news outlets.  We can vote with our dollars and our pens, by telling the media that we will not support their advertisers until they start covering more hard news.