Reply to: Peston being investigated !!

[Cowboy Bob]

So Peston didn't mean to cause panic throughout the banking system. It was just the way that the public interpreted it. He is such a poor misunderstood man.

If the banking system can collapse because of what one journalist says about it, the problem does not lie with the journalist...

[Bagpuss]

Is Cybertory BrianC from ITcontractor?

[Cyberman]

So Peston didn't mean to cause panic throughout the banking system. It was just the way that the public interpreted it. He is such a poor misunderstood man.

I'm also pleased to see Alex Brummer going to be questioned because he is another that has distorted the facts on a regular basis.

[Bagpuss]

Working in the scientific arena you come to realise the difference between factual and normative statements. The media is fonder of the later.

Ironically the media loves to report science in a normative manner

[expat]

A good example Nick.

So one buys both papers, and sees both sides of the reporting. How does that really help discern the true nature of the event, if both events are reported as you suggested ?

No wonder some people are fed up and alienated by politics and the media, and prefer to live their lives "disconnected" from the mess.

Seeing two sides to the presentation of the same subject is a good start, because it instils the knowledge that there can be several ways of presenting the same thing. At least you know then to expect everything you read to be only partially true and useful in a wider sense, even if it is true in a literal sense.

The Guardian had an excellent TV ad years ago that made this point: briefly, in the ad you saw a suit-and-tie gentleman walking along the street, and a young man running towards him and knocking him heavily to the ground.

After the blurb about seeing the whole picture, you see the scene again, with one more second of action: a heavy load falls crashing from the removers' crane on to the spot where the gentleman was a second ago.

PS found it on YouTube, of course.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3bfO1rE7Yg

[Board Game Geek]

Originally posted by NF : It's not as clear cut as you suggest.

It's not about what is reported, but about how it is reported.

As a simple example, consider these two sentences about the same event:

"Protestors marched to Westminster."

"Protestors marched on Westminster."

The second version carries overtones suggesting that said protestors are some kind of threat to the orderly governance of the nation, verging on being a mob. This will tend to influence readers who believe in respect for the State and for the rule of Law against them and, by extension, their cause.

Yet both sentences report the same fact, and they differ only in one two-letter word (and in only one letter).

Of course this is a very obvious example. Read Porter's book for more subtle and egregious cases.

A good example Nick.

So one buys both papers, and sees both sides of the reporting. How does that really help discern the true nature of the event, if both events are reported as you suggested ?

No wonder some people are fed up and alienated by politics and the media, and prefer to live their lives "disconnected" from the mess.

[Bagpuss]

He won't respond to this thread. He only does soundbites and propaganda. Borderline autistic, but certainly not a sevant

Of course Nick is spot on here.

[DaveB]

Read about the things that happen throughout the world
Don't be believe in everything you see or hear
The neighbours talk day in day out about the goings on
They tell us what they want - they don't give an inch

Look at the pictures taken by the cameras they cannot lie
The truth is in what you see - not what you read
Little men tapping things out - points of view
Remember their views are not the gospel truth

Don't believe it all
Find out for yourself
Check before you spread
News of the world

Never doubt
Never ask
Never moan
Never search
Never find
Never know

Each morning our key to the world comes through the door
More than often its just a comic, not much more
Don't take it too serious - not many do
Read between the lines and you'll find the truth

Read all about it, read all about it - news of the world

[Peoplesoft bloke]

I was thinking that...

A bit like being tortured by a butterfly...

Or in the words of Dennis Healey "Savaged by a dead sheep"

[Gonzo]

Yes! That was okay but then they voted in Major who was a total disaster.

To be fair the opposition was not up to much.....

I think that this is a little harsh on the sun readers - they have consistently voted for whoever Rupert Murdoch tells them to vote for. Credit where credit is due.

[BrilloPad]

Er, aren't those exactly the people that voted in Maggie, of whom you are so fond?

Yes! That was okay but then they voted in Major who was a total disaster.

To be fair the opposition was not up to much.....

[Gonzo]

Maybe those who can't tell the difference should not be allowed to vote?

Sun reading x factor watching unwashed proletariat scumbags.

Er, aren't those exactly the people that voted in Maggie, of whom you are so fond?

[BrilloPad]

Nick, that's getting for "tin-foil hat" paranoia territory.

Either people accept the news as it's reported to them, or they treat all news articles as 100% fake.

What's it going to be ?

Maybe those who can't tell the difference should not be allowed to vote?

Sun reading x factor watching unwashed proletariat scumbags.

[Lockhouse]

Nick, that's getting for "tin-foil hat" paranoia territory.

Either people accept the news as it's reported to them, or they treat all news articles as 100% fake.

What's it going to be ?

I think he had it spot on. The art is to read between the lines and view all information as relevant to the context in which it's delivered.

[expat]

It's not as clear cut as you suggest.

It's not about what is reported, but about how it is reported.
...
Read Porter's book for more subtle and egregious cases.

... or try a non-partisan reading of the Guardian and the Telegraph together for a few days! Both are fine newspapers, both firmly in the centrist democratic political camp, both aimed at educated middle-class readers, both are patriotic and internationalist at the same time.... but the same news items will be reported subtly differently in each.

"Police accused of bias"

"Police refute accusation of bias"

etc.