Jamal Asks Question of the Century

[Revolution]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021932043

Jamaal510 (1,961 posts)

Should it be against the law for news networks to lie?

An astonishing, surprising, astounding 194 DUmmies voted that YES, it should. To be clear, they 194 DUmbshits voted that 99.9% of the media should be punished by law for the numerous lies they spew fourth on a daily basis. We all know who that other .1% is.  

intheflow (23,414 posts)

6. But there should be standards to deal with that.

I also believe in some situations there is no ONE truth, reality unfolds in many shades of gray. However, I think what is being asked is, should news be required to report facts as they are known and understood? you mean instead of jumping to conclusions, and determining the Aurora shooter was a tea partier before fully getting all the info? Should they be required to acknowledge opinion pieces as opinions rather than hard and fast truth? Should they be required not to lie outright, such as Fox MSNBC, CNN, CBS, ABC, NBC, CSPAN, CNBC, PBS, Current, etc, etc commentators commonly do?
 
In as far as facts are/can be known, I think yes, the news should be required to report truth, and should correct itself or be held accountable for spreading false information.
 

In print, and forever here in stone at Conservative Cave, you asked for it. I sincerely hope you get it.

And as I had hoped, and pretty much suspected, the unequivocated expert on journalism, and journalistic integrity pops her Uncle Fester looking head into the thread. (Possibly with the funniest comment in the thread for several reasons.)

nadinbrzezinski (112,666 posts)

20. Because lying is not freedom of speech

And fraud is not protected.

 

Sekhmets Daughter (2,022 posts)

60. Lying most certainly is protected under the first amendment....

In fact Fox News a won a libel lawsuit simply by pointing out that there is nothing in either the first amendment of the constitution that prevents them from distorting or down right lying. The courts agreed.

Where are it's links, and documented proof of this, I wonder?

unblock (22,857 posts)

62. fraud is something else entirely.

fraud involves lying, but there's much more to it than that.

if i tell you that blue and green are the same color, is that really something i should go to jail for?
 if fox news or the new york times says the same thing, is that really something they should be shut down for?
 
now, if i try to sell you something and claim it can cure cancer when i know full well it can do no such thing, that's certainly criminal, but the real harm lies not in telling you that i have a cure for cancer; the real harm lies in extracting your money in exchange for something that i have conned you into overvaluing.
 
that's not what i get from fox news.


plus, as i've noted elsewhere in this thread, it's easy to avoid technically lying. twisting the truth is far more effective propaganda anyway. so banning lies wouldn't accomplish much anyway.

Oh, hell yes it would. Twisting the truth sheepishly as you imply is what a 5 year old does when mommy asks him if he was in the cookie jar earlier. Outright lying is what most of your liberal media does on a daily basis. Covering up truths is the same as lying, DUmbass. All your media EXCEPT FNC would be locked up. Unless they allowed the media to remain broadcasting for a week or two so that the punishment would be compounded.   Those ****ers would never see the light of day again.

So then we get a back and white example. 

nadinbrzezinski (112,666 posts)

74. I will give you a more more or less back and white example







Last edited Wed Dec 5, 2012, 05:11 PM USA/ET - Edit history (1)

If I tell, willfully, a group under mandatory evacuation that there is no evacuation, my little fib could lead to somebody getting killed. Granted, people chose to stay behind and die every so often, but that is not because of a fib.
 
Granted, we are not talking of that, but some of the lies and half lies put out by the media (see Iraq war) have cost real lives.
 
That is what I take exception to, and yes...it is a real problem.

I will leave it at that.

Yeah, the majority of the media did lie, and say that Iraq had no WMDs. Turns out they were given to Syria. (see Syrian military prepped to use sarin gas against it's own citizens pending approval from Bashir Al Assad) More egg on the face of the MSM. Mental midget.

unblock (22,857 posts)

76. i agree that not all speech, even truthful speech, is entirely protected.

shouting "fire" in a crowded theater is the classic example.
incitement to riot, etc.

so your example might fall under that category.

i have no problem with legal action against such speech. but these are specific circumstances with specific, spredictably, directly harmful consequences. far more than mere "lying".

Response to unblock (Reply #76)

Wed Dec 5, 2012, 05:26 PM

 nadinbrzezinski (112,666 posts)

83. And that is what I am talking about

The often cited decision where the court sided with the local fox affiliate (and it could be any network) over reporters who wanted to report on growth hormone in milk and were prevented, in my mind was a mistake. The court should have sided with the reported who wanted to put this story out and were prevented from doing such
 
I think some of the fibs do fall in fire and crowded theater.

G*d Dammit, here we go with the milk again!! Still don't see any linkos there, gNads. I think YOU fall under the category 2x Top DUmmie.


I'm done for now. Big 'ol bonfire.

[franksolich]

It looks like the oblate spheroid's trying to be God again, the sole determinant of the truth.

Too bad for the oblate spheroid; she's not God.

This creatu--er, woman, is vomitously disgusting.

[franksolich]

Thanks to formerlurker, who found this:

An apology to our readers
 
By PETER MEYER, Publisher and PAUL PRONOVOST, Editor
December 04, 2012 - 6:40 PM

There is an implied contract between a newspaper and its readers. The paper prints the truth. Readers believe that it's true.

It's not always so simple, of course. There are nuances in how a story is presented, what words are used to describe the action. Papers have personalities, and no two are exactly alike, but at the end of the day, facts are facts. And a good newspaper holds nothing more sacred than its role to tell the truth. Always. As fully and as fairly as possible.

This is our guiding principle, so it is with heavy heart that we tell you the Cape Cod Times has broken that trust. An internal review has found that one of our reporters wrote dozens of stories that included
one or more sources who do not exist.

The reporter was Karen Jeffrey, 59, a writer for the Cape Cod Times since 1981. In an audit of her work, Times editors have been unable to find 69 people in 34 stories since 1998, when we began archiving stories electronically.

On Tuesday, Jeffrey admitted to fabricating people in some of these articles and giving some others false names. She no longer works for the Cape Cod Times.....

http://m.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20121204/NEWS/121209902&template=wapart

[Tucker]

intheflow (23,414 posts)
59. I'm not saying journalism doesn't have a POV.

View profile

Last edited Wed Dec 5, 2012, 04:54 PM USA/ET - Edit history (3)
Of course it does - and must, since humans are reporting the news. However, if both your examples are true, then there's no problem. It's not lying. Reporting that a black man shot an unarmed, white mother of five and willfully neglecting to mention she was breaking into his house at the time - that would be lying.

Just as Fox "newscasters" saying Obama is a Socialist/Muslim/Kenyan/no birth certificate/not Christian is willful, outright lying. Death panels are a lie. That there's a War on Christmas is a lie. Etc.

Where's the lie?

brooklynite (11,490 posts)
96. I think you would be hard-pressed to prove lying in any of these cases...

View profile
Socialist? A matter of political definition.

Muslim/Kenyan/No Birth Certificate/Not Christian. Point to a Fox News Host who said any of these. What they DID say was "some people believe" which is factually true, or they interviewed someone who did say it, in which case it's arguably "news".

Not a single rebuttal.

[USA4ME]

If only all conservatives would die and Fox News and RW radio would go away then utopia would arrive so much quicker.

.

[franksolich]

If only all conservatives would die and Fox News and RW radio would go away then utopia would arrive so much quicker.

It's always been pretty obvious, the self-destructive nature, the secret death wish, of the primitives.

<<not standing in the way of any primitive wishing to self-destruct.

The problem is, the primitives want to take us down with them, too.

That ain't gonna happen.

[Karin]

Their Fox news polls are so stupid.  There was one last week, I think, or the week before, put up by Asakaini or whatever her name is.  It asked:  Would the world be a better place without Fox News?  Of course, 195 DUmmies voted yes.  Only one lone voice said that all POVs should be heard. 

Then, halfway through the whole echo chamber comment section, the OP admitted, "I've never watched it.  All I know about it is what DU has to say about it." 

Lurkers, you see any little problem with that? 

[dandi]

They say "news" but their agenda goes far beyond that. They lump together all opinion and analysis into the news category. What they want is clear, and that's to destroy the Fox News channel itself and all its commentators, and also go after conservative talk radio. People like Limbaugh, Hannity, Levin, and the whole crew. Nothing less will satisfy them. They follow in the footsteps of every totalitarian regime that's come before in their desire to control the message and wipe out dissenting opinion. That much has been clearly evident for a long time.

[DumbAss Tanker]

...And we will, of course, need a "Ministry - errr, 'Department' - of Truth" to oversee that...

 

[dutch508]

It's always been pretty obvious, the self-destructive nature, the secret death wish, of the primitives.

<<not standing in the way of any primitive wishing to self-destruct.

The problem is, the primitives want to take us down with them, too.

That ain't gonna happen.

It isn't that the DUmpmonkiez want to take us down with them, Frank. It's that they secretly in their tiny little hearts really want all those opposed to them dead and gone...then, only then, could their dream of the perfect world be realized.
They will never vioce those true thoughts out loud. Sometimes it seeps out in their comments, but they will never admit tha they long for a holocaust far grander than Hitler or Stalin ever dreamed of.

[jukin]

For  a totalitarian, not agreeing with what they think is lying. Thought crimes are coming my friends.

This is not going to end peacefully and it won't be our side that ignites the fire.

[vesta111]

It isn't that the DUmpmonkiez want to take us down with them, Frank. It's that they secretly in their tiny little hearts really want all those opposed to them dead and gone...then, only then, could their dream of the perfect world be realized.
They will never vioce those true thoughts out loud. Sometimes it seeps out in their comments, but they will never admit tha they long for a holocaust far grander than Hitler or Stalin ever dreamed of.

Just what is the news is it by paid news papers, by free TV news or the neighborhood gossip.

Slander and Libel can only be proved when the "news" causes momentary damage to some one.  Say loss of a job or being jailed unjustly.

State of Maine had this problem a few years back, and it was a hoot.   A new pastor came to town and was of the sort that appealed to the dirt dishers in town.    He began to send out print news letters to his congregation on the going ons in the town.   And yes he did charge money for them.

Got really down and dirty as I recall.  He began by posting the licence plate numbers of the town folk seen parked outside the Adult book stores.  On to the gay bars and clubs, he and a few members must have spent many a sleepless night taking photos of the cars plates in the parking lots.

On to eye witnesses that SAW some hankey pankey, Mrs. Smith seen to have had 3 strange men come to her door------Plumbers----.

Mr. Smith seen having lunch with his secertary-----No mention of others on his staff being there.

Caused quite a ruckus, The SOB even went into back police records to out those that had a accusation never proved by the police.    

This was the church town news, and as long as he had proof of outlandish allegations he could not be stopped.

Now in a small New England town where life can get dull his readership grew by leaps and bounds. Everyone in his Church  and outside it wanted to know the dirt on their neighbors, true or not.

Came to a head when he went after the towns children.   Witnesses tell police Billy Smith was seen setting fires.
Little Billy was 4 states over visiting grandparents at the time.  

One of our readers wonder where Betty Smith has gone to, last seen she was gaining weight and some wonder if she is pregnant.   Betty was spending the summer as a Girl Scout Councilor at Camp.    

Hell of a mess as the accusations got wilder the more his papers sold.   Soon he was driving a brand new car and had new siding on his home.  

His, If you see Evil call me lead to divorces and much problems for the town.   But he had not caused anyone to loose money, or jobs.    Crafty old Bastard,   I bet you besides being a pastor he was a Lawyer and knew just how far he could go.


 

[Dori]

I bet you besides being a pastor he was a Lawyer and knew just how far he could go.

If he was really a pastor, he forgot the 9th commandment.

"Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor"

[vesta111]

If he was really a pastor, he forgot the 9th commandment.

"Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor"

But you see he was not bearing false wittiness in any way way, he was reporting on what was reported to him.

Sort of like that OBAMA that went on and on about a video being the cause of our Ambassadors killing.

SO NOW THAT HE KNOWS THE STORY WAS UNTRUE, WHERE IS THE SHAKE UP IN THE  CIA WHERE IS THE PRESIDENTS OUTRAGE HE WAS LIED TO ??


 

 

 

[Dori]

Sort of like that OBAMA that went on and on about a video being the cause of our Ambassadors killing.

SO NOW THAT HE KNOWS THE STORY WAS UNTRUE, WHERE IS THE SHAKE UP IN THE  CIA WHERE IS THE PRESIDENTS OUTRAGE HE WAS LIED TO ??

Obama knows the truth and has known since that first night.  Diane Feinstein (who is a Dem) said that she has seen over 200 Intel reports and that the Intel was correct, that the video story was because of civilian decisions.  (whatever that means)

This is just like the Fast and Furious debacle.  No one is going to step up and take responsibility. 

[vesta111]

Obama knows the truth and has known since that first night.  Diane Feinstein (who is a Dem) said that she has seen over 200 Intel reports and that the Intel was correct, that the video story was because of civilian decisions.  (whatever that means)

This is just like the Fast and Furious debacle.  No one is going to step up and take responsibility. 

Just out of curiositys sake I wonder who the gun manufactures were that got the contract to supply F&F with their weapons and who owns the Company or their share holders.   

Were the weapons put up for bid, or was this an inside contract ????   These were allot of weapons to deliver in a short time, were the manufactures alerted a year ahead of time ????

Go back to the begining,  someone had to order the weapons, had to find a supplyer and find money to buy them.  Someoneone was paying with government money coming from somewhere.

If we start at ground zero and work our way up the ladder we will come to the top.

[Airwolf]

Stupid lurking DUmmies there is a huge difference between the truth and propaganda that the left pushes everyday. Once you learn the difference then maybe your side will finally get it.

[Big Dog]

nadinbrzezinski (112,666 posts)

74. I will give you a more more or less back and white example

Nads opens her pie hole, and 50 shades of stupid fall out.

What language is this???

[GOBUCKS]

Nads opens her pie hole, and 50 shades of stupid fall out.

What language is this???

DOTY is a travesty if she doesn't defend her title.

[DumbAss Tanker]

Just out of curiositys sake I wonder who the gun manufactures were that got the contract to supply F&F with their weapons and who owns the Company or their share holders.   

Narf, narf narf.

Fast and Furious involved retail purchases from gun dealers, who were selling their own inventory.  Manufacturers had nothing to do with it.

[vesta111]

Fast and Furious involved retail purchases from gun dealers, who were selling their own inventory.  Manufacturers had nothing to do with it.

Does this not sound a bit shade in itself ????    First time I ever heard of a Governmet project with little to no paperwork behind it, some kind of government contracting for a project. 

This sounds more like the methods used by the gangsters and where with all to cover up illegal actions.The police in my town get issued weapons from a supplier, they do not go from town to town to buy their weapons from civilian gun dealers. 

So, F&F finally bought all these weapons, now who distributed them to who and how did they do it and for what reason ??????

None of the excuses make any sense to most of us, how was this of any benefit to the country and law enforcement that have found less then a half a dozen of them used in a crime on American soil ?????

Much more going on then we know of behind this incident.   The money, in the billions can corrupt your grandpa.

[DumbAss Tanker]

You should probably read up on how F&F actually worked and what it was, there are a lot of completely mistaken assumptions in there, vesta.