News Stories

[Vexx]

Originally Posted by ShimatheKat

In fact, I feel that propaganda is absent only in Japan. What is perceived as propaganda by gaijin in Japan is really Japan being US' repeater.

Ehhhhhhh, most of Japan's news bias is inside for insiders. Many things are left unsaid about the corporations or the power factions -- the publications I read seem much more focused on local regional affairs (Pacific Rim, Indonesia, China, Australia, Korea).

And yes, Tom Gross's biggest problem is "what he leaves out". He often leaves out any information that might be critical of Israeli government or military. Unless the government and military is not made up of humans --- it is going to have flaws, corruption, and incompetence scattered about. Because of that, he fails in the one thing news reporting is *supposed* to be about ideally: ultimate oversight of government and the powerful for the people.

The purpose of the press is ultimate oversight for the people, its one reason the Founding Fathers of the US were so fond of a free press --- it shouldn't be to wave banners or promote particular agendas but to find out what was going on. Unfortunately, the Founding Fathers would have been appalled to see what entities have evolved in the form we call corporations which have their own propaganda arms that they misleading call "news".

It kinda makes me wonder what can you trust from the media because it's mostly filled with lie's/propaganda and fear
but i'm pretty sure there's propaganda everywhere

See, that's one of the guiding principles from spinmeisters. So pollute the channels that you can't tell what is more true from what is misleading.

[bladeofdarkness]

Originally Posted by Fipskuul

There are two major ways you can mislead people. One you mix false with truth to flex the truth the way you like. And two you forget about mentioning some of the truths. If as you said, Tom Gross, never writes a false thing (my personal opinion on this part, no one should ever claim himself to be always correct, everyone is capable of making mistakes), then with his biased opinions, he should fall to the second category, which is as dangerous as the first one. And, with his bias, he may actually be causing quite a damage by himself, alone, by making exaggerated (and by readers of him, falsely interpreted) impressions of people and institutions.

actually the man states out right in him site that his reports (on the site) are there as addetives to the stuff you can watch on TV
its not there to replace news companys like the BBC but rather to give you addtionaly info that they wont broadcast normally (doing exactly what you mentioned in the second category, only its the BBC doing it)
as well as pointing out the fact that they ARENT telling you those things despite the fact that (un-like himself) they have a commitment to appear balanced

[ZephyrLeanne]

Originally Posted by Vexx

Ehhhhhhh, most of Japan's news bias is inside for insiders. Many things are left unsaid about the corporations or the power factions -- the publications I read seem much more focused on local regional affairs (Pacific Rim, Indonesia, China, Australia, Korea).

Because that's about all Japanese in general want to know, at least most of the time?

[ganbaru]

Originally Posted by ShimatheKat

Because that's about all Japanese in general want to know, at least most of the time?

IT worse were I live: very few internatioal new, some national, and mostly provincial ( most coming from Montréal).

[Vexx]

Originally Posted by ShimatheKat

Because that's about all Japanese in general want to know, at least most of the time?

You sure? Or is that what you're being told?

You're *probably* right -- actually Japanese local coverage is pretty extensive, I wish my local news spent more than a couple of minutes once a week on city or state politics, instead of the 95% it spends on some car crash, gang shooting, or sex scandal-lite.

As far as Israeli-Palestinian reporting goes, if I watch a variety of news source points, at least I understand fully why the situation is so intractable. Between the multiple factions on each side with widely different aims and the failure to grab onto and hold common interests (peace and a viable shared region not being the aims of at least a one or more religious extremist factions on either side) - getting a concise 'big picture' is always a challenging aspect of the region.

[Pendevous]

Hoarder Dies After Getting Lost In His Maze Of Trash

An eccentric loner in Britain hoarded so much trash he had to burrow through it to get around his home — then got lost in the maze of tunnels Friday and died of thirst.

Human mole Gordon Stewart, 74, had filled his rooms up to the ceiling with 10 years’ worth of garbage and clutter, making it impossible to walk around.

The compulsive hoarder is believed to have become disorientated inside the walls of rotting trash and unable to find a way out — then collapsed with dehydration.

Neighbors raised the alarm after failing to see him leave his house in Broughton, Bucks, for several days.

When cops arrived, the stench from the garbage was so foul they brought in a police diving team equipped with breathing apparatus.

It is believed they crawled around the tunnel network until they uncovered Stewart’s body.

A neighbor revealed: “A police officer said the interior was piled up with huge mounds of rotting rubbish and there was an elaborate network of tunnels to move around."

“They think Stewart may have got lost and died from dehydration.”

[Shadow Kira01]

I find it somewhat strange as to why some people would actually gather, analyze, and compare news from a huge list of sources to decide what is biased and what isn't. Usually, these sort of people fall into a few specific categories: 1) it's for their career (eductional), 2) they are active in the political circle (political activists), and 3) they are doing it for either their shady organization or a government-based agency. Otherwise, the only excuse would be that they are just scholars who possess unique interests and are also seekers of knowledge.

[Sazelyt]

If a person is biased himself (want to credit the ones supporting his ideas, and discredit the ones that aren't), he would feel the need to look for sources that will satisfy his needs. And such people would do it for personal reasons, not a seeker of knowledge, either.

That is if they are doing it for almost everything related to him. Otherwise, I also check multiple sources for a news that I am highly interested in, to try to see all sides. And, that is mostly the need to learn the truth, hence, personal satisfaction.

So, we are all the same, when it comes to the basic of reasoning, even though the approach and ways differ.

[ZephyrLeanne]

Originally Posted by Vexx

You sure? Or is that what you're being told?

You're *probably* right -- actually Japanese local coverage is pretty extensive, I wish my local news spent more than a couple of minutes once a week on city or state politics, instead of the 95% it spends on some car crash, gang shooting, or sex scandal-lite.

Japanese coverage IS pretty extensive. It depends on WHICH channel's news you're watching. All will cover world events somehow, but NHK puts more focus on WORLD and JAPAN sectors, the rest are on EAST ASIA and JAPAN sectors. This is not a choice of content issue, but rather, how many bureaus they have. It's a practical thing. And there is very little entertainment news on air, since Japanese News Broadcasts tend to have a secton dissecting new government policy [or sometimes, it is after the news broadcast proper].

[ZephyrLeanne]

Originally Posted by ganbaru

IT worse were I live: very few internatioal new, some national, and mostly provincial ( most coming from Montréal).

Why not switch to CBC then? At least they have Rick Mercer.

[0utf0xZer0]

Originally Posted by ShimatheKat

Why not switch to CBC then? At least they have Rick Mercer.

Rick Mercer is awesome, but I'm kind of curious as to how you know about him given your location.

[aohige]

Propaganda is definitly not absent in Japanese media.
In fact, most of the major media publications print heavily biased to whatever interest they hold.
It's really no diffrent than unashamedly biased MSNBC and FOX, just diffrent agendas.

However, I don't really feel there's a strong "nationalist" media the in the way FOX is.
Although far right wing holds power within high offices, they don't seem to serve the interest of the media that much. At least not in the major media institutions. That sounds very disjointed, I know.

Then again, I can't really think of a major media network anywhere in the world that gets a fair coverage. I feel CNN is better than many, and even they have obviously biased coverages.

[ZephyrLeanne]

Originally Posted by 0utf0xZer0

Rick Mercer is awesome, but I'm kind of curious as to how you know about him given your location.

The Taiwanese parliament. I typed "Taiwanese Parliament Fights" and got a Rick Mercer clip on Youtube.

Propaganda is definitly not absent in Japanese media.

More like partisanship. Some are LDPers, others are DPJists.

[aohige]

Originally Posted by ShimatheKat

More like partisanship. Some are LDPers, others are DPJists.

You're right, of course. Propaganda is too strong a word to accurately describe it, but I think most people here are using it to critisize partisanship and lack of neutrality in journalism.

[ZephyrLeanne]

Originally Posted by aohige

You're right, of course. Propaganda is too strong a word to accurately describe it, but I think most people here are using it to critisize partisanship and lack of neutrality in journalism.

Not really. Most other nations seem to like to back whoever's in power. The Japanese media bring Partisanship to a new level - they don't even shaft a opposite figure, they just blot the figure out. Amazing. NHK is so far not involved, but everyone else in Japan media industry is.

[Shadow Kira01]

Israel launches attacks in Gaza

This is one good example of a fragile bilteral relation. It has only been less than a week of a cease-fire agreement and now... Hamas bombed and killed an Israeli soldier, while Israeli airstrike takes out a Hamas militant. What is wrong with these people?! (laugh)

[Kamui4356]

Originally Posted by Shadow Minato

Israel launches attacks in Gaza

This is one good example of a fragile bilteral relation. It has only been less than a week of a cease-fire agreement and now... Hamas bombed and killed an Israeli soldier, while Israeli airstrike takes out a Hamas militant. What is wrong with these people?! (laugh)

Now this is the kind of thing I can support Israel somewhat on. An attack on them leads to a limited response in exchange. It shows a level of restrant that Israel was lacking in their last operation. Of course I'd rather see none of this, but that would require both sides to put effort into making peace that neither is willing to.

[bladeofdarkness]

actually the israeli PM already stated that taking out the praticular millitent wasnt the "response"
that was just killing the guy who fired the rocket
the response to those who allowed him to do so has yet to come (unless you consider bombing a few tunnels to be the response)

and once again this proves my point about BBC being biased
look at the title of the article
"Israel launches attacks in Gaza"
an israeli soldier was killed by an IED at 8 am
the israeli strike followed that event by a few hours
israel didnt "launch an attack"
it responded to one
but not only is the title of the article suggesting that this is a case of israel making the first move (rather then responding)
the title itself completely neglects tp mention the IED that led to this response
in fact the IED is mentioned in exactly two line in the article itself
you could be forgiven for thinking that this is an israeli attack done for the fun of it if you happen to miss those two lines

and the report itself contains only mentions of palestinian sources and officials
without anyone bothering to ask an israeli source what actually took place

[ganbaru]

Originally Posted by ShimatheKat

Why not switch to CBC then? At least they have Rick Mercer.

Because ,for new' I prefer use media in french. RDI and La Presse are not bad, but I avoid any media related to the Quebecor Media Group they are so much relying to the 4s ( sang ,sexe, sport, sensationalisme (blood sex, sport and sensationalism) ) for filling their quotta.

[ZephyrLeanne]

Originally Posted by ganbaru

Because ,for new' I prefer use media in french. RDI and La Presse are not bad, but I avoid any media related to the Quebecor Media Group they are so much relying to the 4s (sang ,sexe, sport, sensationalisme (blood sex, sport and sensationalism) ) for filling their quotta.

Oh, so you're stronger in French. I see... I ever thought of accepting a request by a Canadian church to move to Canada to continue my counseling. Then I realised I needed to learn some French, which I couldn't even start off on the right foot since I'm more familiar to masculine languages like English, Putonghua Mandarin, Korean, Hokkien, where consonant sounds are very strong and vowel sound are muted, in contrast to Vietnamese, Japanese and French, where the opposite is true. I usually counsel gaijin to start with. I wasn't even educated in Japan, either. I was educated in English-speaking places like Singapore and Hong Kong.

Well, I guess that limits you to the Quebec channels then. And I assume the 4s are "song, sex, sports and sensational". Well, that's like Taiwan and Hong Kong. Go figure.

Unrelated: 1400th post.