"Newspapers make everything up!"

[MystyGlyttyr]

Yes, I know there's been a ton of scandals about how big newspapers are slanted, fictitious, or whatever.

Yes, I know that some of the stories that we run from the national wire are a little goofy.

Yes, I know that Rush Limbaugh, Wolf Blizer, Keith Oberman, and whoever else, name someone on any side of a political spectrum, says that the newspapers are liars.

Okay, but when I work here, and you don't, and I see the photographer come in from a car wreck with blood stains on his clothes, or the court reporter playing her tape recorder so we can all get a good laugh at the insanity of the religious nutjob on trial, etc. Pretty sure if you came here and hung out for a day, you'd get your world rocked at what sort of weird-ass shit is really going on in the world around you that you don't even know about.

Do you know what a Wizzinator is? No? I do.

Do you know that you can make a bomb out of a kid's SCHOOLBOOK? I do.

Have you ever seen what happens to someone who smokes meth for five years straight? I have. I just got done shooing it out of here.

You seen the pictures of the director of one of the area homeless shelters smashing some of the donations? I'm holding them right now. Yet you take her word for it that it's a lie and you're calling to scream at me because "newspapers always lie."

And yet you subscribe to us every day.

...stop calling me. Seriously.

[Slytovhand]

Liar!!!

Actually, I think the media gets bad press (bwahahaha.... ok, I'll stop now) because they a) choose what stories to run, and thus have a certain bias in one direction or another, b) pander to a particular <insert group or individual>, or c) just 'sensationalise' stories to make them more interesting. There is also the disappointing fact that the media - including newspapers (and the TV news) isn't really about 'news', it's about selected bits of information along with opinion... (as per the first couple of reasons).

Personally, I like 'investigative journalism', but that just makes me a 'conspiracy theorist'


(and you've really got me on the kid's schoolbook bomb!!! I presume there's a bit more than just the book involved...)

[ArenaBoy]

If newspapers always lied, we journalists would be out of work because of all the libel suits.

I work for a newspaper. We don't sit around thinking up crazy stories. We're busy writing, editing, interviewing, and trying to come up with ways to fill up our sections.

Yes there are reporters/editors who make things up but it should not be a reflection on the industry.

Journalism is a lot of hard work and a good way to lose sleep, but it's a great and fun job. It annoys me when guys like those Mysty mentioned say this crap. We put a lot of work into what we do.

[Lace Neil Singer]

I work for a newspaper. We don't sit around thinking up crazy stories.

Way to blow the fantasy. XD

Seriously, I generally double check any story I read in the paper, cuz I take the Sun (I read a paper so I don't have to think, dammit) and they sometimes get stories wrong. XD All I have to do is do a google search to find backup anyway.

[Slytovhand]

If newspapers always lied, we journalists would be out of work because of all the libel suits.

I work for a newspaper. We don't sit around thinking up crazy stories. We're busy writing, editing, interviewing, and trying to come up with ways to fill up our sections.

Yes there are reporters/editors who make things up but it should not be a reflection on the industry.

Journalism is a lot of hard work and a good way to lose sleep, but it's a great and fun job. It annoys me when guys like those Mysty mentioned say this crap. We put a lot of work into what we do.

Sure sure... next you'll be saying Chelsea is a good team!!





(sheesh - what happened to Liverpool???)

[BroomJockey]

Yes there are reporters/editors who make things up but it should not be a reflection on the industry.

Unfortunately, it takes a long time for something like Stephen Glass to fade from the public's consciousness.

[lordlundar]

I can't say I've seen outright lies (apart from opinion pieces), though I have seen papers do biased reporting to support those opinion pieces, and I doubt any newspaper is immune to it.

[DrFaroohk]

I've always wondered where the "liberal media" idea came from...especially since of the newspapers in my area has been mentioned by limbaugh as one of the most liberal pieces of garbage in the world....but I read it! And I don't see too much liberalness in it. No more so than anything else. They just report the stories. Sometimes they talk shit about obama. Sometimes they talk shit about bush. Sometimes they talk about movies and books. I've never seen much bias.

[Boozy]

The "liberal media" is anything to the left of Fox News.

[Rapscallion]

The "liberal media" is anything not agreed with by the right wing.

Edited for accuracy. It goes the other way as well.

Rapscallion