FCC Chair on Misinformation

[boombox4]

That's where many have an issue with Fox News as it seems they want to have it both ways, depending on the situation they find themselves in. They call themselves "Fox News Channel" which would indicate they're a news agency and thus, freedom of the press and would apply. However, when their hosts get into hot water or say something completely off the rails, then that same network claims those particular shows are meant as "entertainment" or "commentary". However, they do not air a disclaimer before those shows that states as much. Worse, if someone commits a crime or does something bad because of what they saw or were told by one of that network's staff, they quickly make the claim that no one in their right mind and with a reasonable level of common sense would actually buy into what they were saying, and it was meant as hyperbole or as an exaggeration.

Yeah, and many major newspapers present their opinion pieces as news pieces, mixing them in with the hard news stories because they need to get clicks and 'engagement' -- something that was rarely, if ever done during print newspaper days.

A large plurality of Americans still get their 'news' from social media. Some ideologue's tweet can carry more weight than an actual news report.

Fox News Channel isn't alone in the way it presents its information. It's just the most obvious one to a lot of people. And, like the other cable channels, it is shrill because the audience for cable TV news is aging out.

Your last sentence is true, it's a case of attorneys doing the best job they can. I think Alex Jones was once defended in court by an attorney stating that he was an entertainer, not a news presenter.

 

[boombox4]

I think everyone agrees on this point. Beyond that very basic point, however, the stickler is that everyone has their own opinion about which side is lying, and who is actually speaking the "truth", depending on where one gets their news, which political party or ideology or candidate they're most closely associated with, etc.

According to this columnist, it's quite obviously the left and their lies and disinformation are destroying the nation:

A society infected with lies cannot long endure * WorldNetDaily * by Laura Hollis

Laura Hollis: 'We should be able to count on our journalists to do serious investigative work'

www.wnd.com

What you mention here is pretty accurate. It happens when ideology trumps fact. It seems to happen here in the U.S. more than a lot of other countries. Here, we have a tendency to idolize our leaders too much. My Australian friends don't do that, and the few Canadians I know don't seem to, either. They may have their preferences, but they don't idolize their national leaders the way we have seen at least with the last two American ones, and a few before them.

Maybe it's a part of our culture. Maybe confirmation bias is built into is somehow.

 

[davideduardo]

Once again, the US Constitution forbids any law. So that's where standards are set by the journalists themselves over what is proper behavior, proper ethics, and proper presentation. That's likely the only way this can be handled here.

And many other nations have very similar if not ideologically identical free expression guarantees. That single quality does not make us unique.

 

[TheBigA]

And many other nations have very similar if not ideologically identical free expression guarantees. That single quality does not make us unique.

Similar is not the same:

FALQs: Freedom of Speech in France | In Custodia Legis

This

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