If you are an aficionado of Youtube it would be difficult to miss some of the best videos on the net. Surprisingly, what appears to be well shot news stories comes from societies who would not let a Western media outlet speak as freely were they voicing their opinions from the host country. Enter Press TV and RT, two media outlets who have learned from the Fox News model to turn supposed independent news into a point of view.
Press TV is from Iran, a country that openly eschews just about everything Western. RT means Russian TV. Both are full of flashy news with experts who supposedly are giving Americans, the consummate news junkies, what they lust for. In reality, the news items are nothing short of slick propaganda designed to slide an anti-Western message under the nose of anyone who is willing to listen.
For example, recent reports from RT and Press TV both pitch the events in the Ukraine as a country simply attempting to return to it's roots. Little is made about the invasion of the country by Russia. Lost in the rhetoric are traditional American values in a red wrapper.
America will remain free so long as people are able to distinguish the truth from the hype. In the old days of journalistic standards, reporters were not allowed to have a point of view, though they often did. Then came FOX TV and Bill O'Reilly whose version of fair and balanced has made him a popular figure. In pretending to keep journalistic standards, he always seems to give his opponents a voice and slants the article to underscore his version of the truth. Through clever editing Bill is always right, something journalists should never be, and Americans have confidence in his diatribes.
News on a point of view without disclosing the reporter is editorializing is bad journalism. Unfortunately, the bar continues to descend as new players use the play book to sway public opinion in the US while denying their citizens a "fair and unbiased" point of view at home.
Press TV is from Iran, a country that openly eschews just about everything Western. RT means Russian TV. Both are full of flashy news with experts who supposedly are giving Americans, the consummate news junkies, what they lust for. In reality, the news items are nothing short of slick propaganda designed to slide an anti-Western message under the nose of anyone who is willing to listen.
For example, recent reports from RT and Press TV both pitch the events in the Ukraine as a country simply attempting to return to it's roots. Little is made about the invasion of the country by Russia. Lost in the rhetoric are traditional American values in a red wrapper.
America will remain free so long as people are able to distinguish the truth from the hype. In the old days of journalistic standards, reporters were not allowed to have a point of view, though they often did. Then came FOX TV and Bill O'Reilly whose version of fair and balanced has made him a popular figure. In pretending to keep journalistic standards, he always seems to give his opponents a voice and slants the article to underscore his version of the truth. Through clever editing Bill is always right, something journalists should never be, and Americans have confidence in his diatribes.
News on a point of view without disclosing the reporter is editorializing is bad journalism. Unfortunately, the bar continues to descend as new players use the play book to sway public opinion in the US while denying their citizens a "fair and unbiased" point of view at home.
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