A hearty Freedom lover's "Thank You" to Tim Berners-Lee [see picture at left, email address = timbl @ w3.org ] who has freed us from the Leftist tyranny of the American press.Three cheers for the World Wide Web!!!
Posted on 10/27/2004 8:42:34 AM PDT by Cableguy
ABC News President David Westin warned against the proliferation of opinion commentary in the news media at the Institute of Politics’ John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum yesterday night. “The more time we express our opinions, the less time we have to talk about the facts,” Westin said. “Unfortunately, opinion is driving out facts too often in most of what we see on television today.”
In a speech entitled “Is Network News Obsolete?” Westin argued that network news is far from dead but that the networks must adapt to changes in media.
Westin pointed to the rise of alternative news sources, such as the internet and 24-hour news channels, which have challenged networks to meet constant deadlines and provide continuing coverage.
Westin said the emergent alternative media is partly to blame for the dearth of objective news.
“Expressing opinion on TV is vivid, entertaining, and in all honesty, less expensive than the alternative,” Westin said. “Therefore, the explosion of news outlets has in its own way encouraged the explosion of opinion.”
Westin acknowledged that there is a place in television for commentary, but said too much commentary can hinder the distribution of useful information.
“It can be very entertaining to have two very spirited people discussing heath care in this country, but I for one would be better benefited by someone coming on and telling me exactly what the state of health care is before we talk about what ought to be done and telling mewhat my real options are,” Westin said.
In addition to the danger of having too much opinion, news media face the danger of the blurring between fact and opinion, he said.
“If viewers see news people on different channels that look pretty much the same, on sets that look pretty much the same, and graphics that look pretty much the same, with some expressing opinion some of the time and some expressing facts, is it surprising that the audience believe that they’re all expressing facts?” Westin asked.
During the question-and-answer session that followed his speech, Westin said he believes that his warning “parallels” that of Jon Stewart to Tucker Carlson and Paul Begala on an October 15 episode of CNN’s Crossfire—that there’s just too much spin and not enough reporting.
As president of ABC News, Westin is responsible for all aspects of ABC News broadcasts, which include World News Tonight with Peter Jennings, Nightline and Good Morning America. From September 1994 until 1997, when he assumed his current position, Westin served as president of the ABC Television Network. Before joining ABC, Westin had been a partner at the law firm Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering since 1985.
Amy R. Spitalnick, a Tufts freshman who attended the forum with some of her classmates, agreed with Westin’s warning against excessive opinion commentary.
“There is a serious lack of unbiased news coverage,” she said. “I think that if the media had focused more on the facts during the 2000 election, it would have been a lot less controversial.”
media ping
The Lord is the defense of my life; Whom shall I dread?
When evildoers came upon me to devour my flesh,
My adversaries and my enemies, they stumbled and fell.
Though a host encamp against me, my heart will not fear;
Though war arise against me in spite of this I shall be confident.
Psalm 27:1-3
The Lord is in control and he will show his power once again. This is the best part of the game when it is in the 4th quarter and 2 mins left. That is when the juices start flowing and the fun begins and this is getting fun. GW is in a great position and one more long play and the game is over.
This election has been truly historic in so many ways, but the most powerful transparency is the exposure of the collusion between the media and the Rat Party. There is no longer a pretense of fairness left in the Stone-age press and have removed any ethics they had left from their reporting to become a 24/7 attack ad for Yaawn Cut & Ran Kerry.
DespeRat times call for despeRat measures and the Libs are on the precipice of extinction as we have known them. Rather than search out the truth, PravdABDNC has become destortors of the truth for the campaign. The forged AWOL documents was the beginning and now we have the phony explosive charges. We now find that the explosives were most likely never in the bunkers when our troops arrived and they refuse to print the truth. The Liberals are always more than eager to smear our Military and CIA to get at our President. For Libs that is a two-for. Now watch them try to drag out the Uranium scare or some other nebulous Monday Morning Armchair General attack.
This is how devoid of soul the Liberal Establishment has become. Rather than search for the news or provide a dialogue for important issues they have become Michael Mooreons distorting and framing GW with ridiculous charges. He has become the sloven standard bearer that the Old Media has lowered itself to.
We as a Country needed to have this revealed. We needed to have a clear delineation of how valid the information we have entering our homes and Country. Just as the Enron scandal was a blight on the investors in the short run, cleaning out the charlatans provided an important valuable service in the long run. It showed investors who to avoid and began a thorough evaluation of the accounting practices in industry. Cleaning out the Old York Times and the DNCBS of their charlatans will be a valuable service in the future for knowing who to believe and who to ignore, especially during these dangerous times.
This election has been an eye opening election for the entire Country. It is now crystal clear who and what we can and can’t trust. Unfortunately for the Stone-age press, they overplayed their hand and are headed for the Bomb Bunkers of History.
Pray for W and Our Election
He must be talking about Nightline's visit to Vietnam! Snicker...snicker.
MSM: FNC and the Bloggers are making us LIE! We can't help ourselves! Please return news to a MSM Monopoly and we promise we will stop lying!
I will now give a big Technicolor yawn...
I sent ABC News this letter.
__________________________________
Mr. David Westin – President
ABC News
October 27, 2004
Dear Mr. Westin:
I write this letter with small hope that you will ever see it let alone respond to my thoughts. I read the article on the Speech you gave at the Institute of Politics’ John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum. http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=504085. Your words sounded very “on the mark”, but I find it very difficult to square your words with Marc Halperin’s memo about fairness with both Presidential candidates. Does this tone of yours represent a value that Mr. Halperin needs to learn?
I won’t belabor the point s that you made. All of your statements taken at face represent true journalistic perspectives where truth is offered in a NEWS forum and opinion is offered in an Editorial format. I will admit that I banned CBS news (and wherever possible, all CBS programming) from the TVs in my home. When I read the Halperin memo, I imposed a similar ban for ABC. There are exceptions to the banned viewing of these networks. Fortunately, the quality of the shows on these two networks makes the ban a very minor inconvenience.
Thank God for cable where there are many alternate offerings for news and entertainment. I still watch NBC News, but I have the gnawing feeling that it is only a matter of time before they are exposed, by their own hand, as having a liberal bias in their reporting.
Mr. Westin, you know the sayings about walking the talk and talking the walk and all of that. What are you planning on doing to clean your own house? You mention in your points that reporting opinion is easier and cheaper than reporting facts. When I turn on the news, I want opinion separated from facts and the line to be very clear. I will give you one little example of why you get a failing grade in your reporting. In all of the coverage of President Bush’s military records, did you devote ANY coverage to the fact that Sen. Kerry refuses to sign his own form 180? I would be very interested in the amount of air minutes you gave to both items in the news.
I would enjoy viewing ABC NEWS again. ABC had been my primary source for network for so many years (all the way back to Beutel and Grimsby). [SP?] Until I feel it is safe to hear news and not bias, I’ll have to rely on sources for my news that may be biased to the right, but still closer to the truth. My ultimate search is for objective reporting. I can make up my own mind.
Thank you for your time.
Tom Walsh
tkwalsh143@hotmail.com
The MSM is obsolete!
- Romney Wordsworth
What about Jennings?
I give network evening newscast another two years and then they'll be gone.
This is the difference that FNC is exploiting. Where opinion is being voiced, the words "Opinion" appear on the screen. On the cBS evening news, Dan Rather is spewing opinion in the middle of a NEWS broadcast, whereby, causing a bait-and-switch scam to be perpetrated.
A hearty Freedom lover's "Thank You" to Tim Berners-Lee [see picture at left, email address = timbl @ w3.org ] who has freed us from the Leftist tyranny of the American press. Ah, so they are just being cheap bastards instead of partisan.
Or Halperin?
"I sent ABC News this letter."
Your letter was pretty good, but you were far too kind.
The problem with this approach is:
1. Westin gets to pick the "someone" who comes on and tells me "exactly what the state of health care is".
2. Westin gets to edit the comments of the "someone" before broadcast.
3. Nobody gets to refute the "facts" presented by the "someone".
Is Westin so stupid that he believes this is a good approach? Or does he think we are so stupid we will fall for it? I think I know the answer.
Not that it really matters, but I've canceled the local (Memphis) paper & USA Today during this election. I have not watched CBS, CNN, ABC, CBS since 2000. I'm raising my kids (and parents) not to trust the MSM. This has been pretty easy given all the lousy biased reporting examples provided this year.
Mr. Westin your idea of objective journalism is that we believe everything you put before us hook,line and sinker. Sorry, but that is not the way things are or ever will be. Either change or die. There is no going back and I am glad.
Excellent. Very doubtful you'll get a response. We all know the MSM will say what they think people will believe. He makes that statement and then continue on in the same manner. Too many people believe what they hear from the MSM and ignore the facts.
"I'm raising my kids (and parents) not to trust the MSM."
Smart person...you are! We've made much progress in this undertaking but much more needs to be done. I think we can safely say that the MSM is making it easier for us to get our message across as they continually reveal their personal bias. They are contributing to their demise.
FGS
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