Chixe

I take a cynical approach to watching television news. All news reporting has some form of bias so you have to take what you see with a grain of salt. There is almost always more to the store than being shown, so it is important to understand that you might not be getting the full story, even though it is the evening news.

Critical thinking is just as important to watching the daily news as it pertains to other aspects of life. Methinks anyhow.

Television is entertainment and entertainment alone.

I agree with Lelia's comment. It reminds me of when everyone starting to realize Man vs Wild was staged and not as much about 'survival' as originally expected. I thought to myself a) did you really think it was? and b) I think the point is to be entertaining!

I would give more weight to news by traditional media outlets, as opposed to blogs or 'new media'. But yes, like jark, I do regard everything with a healthy dose of skepticism. A personal rule of thumb I follow is: if there are two extremes on a topic, then the truth lies somewhere in the middle.

As well as bias, I think because everything needs to be done fast and cheaply these days, journalism has suffered and some news articles, on TV or in newspapers or elsewhere, have suffered and often read like regurgitated press releases - which means that they're biassed towards the publisher of the press release.

Governments and companies can control the news pretty well these days - it's rare that some proper news in these areas is uncovered.

Are you kidding? You can learn so much stuff from TV. Yes TV News is generally biased but TV sitcoms are actually quite educating at times. The people who write TV shows are pretty smart and more often than not hilarious.

Of course, you shouldn't base your life off them but I usually try not to be cynical. Well that is except for news media. Those guys are pretty biased. Stick to NPR or USA Today.

It pays to look critically even at the more authoritative news programs. Most people are aware of the fact that news has become, in many respects, a shadow of what it once was, but there are still valid news sources even on the television.

It pays to look deeper in to any story which interests you though.

I watch very little television in general, when I do it is to be entertained, Dexter, Heroes, The Tudors etc.

I watch CNN like background elevator music and listen to NPR while I'm driving. Usually I do question news from the perspective of looking for and finding patterns (who owns this channel, what are they trying to present to the public, why, in the past few years what have they already reported in this same subject area) but I tend to accept as fact what I hear on PBS. I know---probably a mistake but I do it.

They have news? On the picture box?
I stopped watching TV news years ago. I don't really get proper news from anywhere. I just don't care to have my daily ration of violence, death, murder, depression and anger.

I can get all of those myself in various forms if I see fit. So I don't watch the news. Anywhere. Ever.