With all of the talk that came out of our Presidential election about media bias, I thought it would be interesting to take a "snapshot" of the current headline (5:30pm ET) about the Pope's condition. The so-called liberal media focuses its headlines on the Pope dying, while the conservative media focuses its headlines on the Pope living.

Feel free to discuss...

Those accused of liberal bias:
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1) CNN.com - "Vatican: Pope deteriorating"

2) USAToday.com - "Pope's heart, kidneys failing - Vatican says pontiff in 'very grave' condition"

3) NYTimes.com - "In Grim Update, Vatican Says Pope's Condition 'Very Grave'"

4) CBSNews.com - "Pope Hovers Near Death"

5) WashingtonPost.com - "Vatican Reports Pope's Condition Worsening - Vatican officials are beginning to accept that death is close at hand."

That accused of conservative bias:
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1) FoxNews.com - "Pope Clings to Life"

2) WashingtonTimes.com - "Pope clings to Life"

 

BTW, this is NOT meant as an exhaustive list of media outlets, nor am I presenting any sort of conclusion, just wanted to show something that I observed while surfing the 'net the last couple of hours that I found interesting.

 

Great here we go again. Soon this will turn into another "George Dubya Bush is GOD, all others are mush minded librals" post...

Just gotta wait for Burt now...

 

Exactly. Im glad you have that straight....

 

Wow, webmaster will both start and have to lock his own thread!

 

I've been hearing for the past two weeks about "the culture of life" vs. "the culture of death" and thought this might be an interesting demonstration of it, taking into account the definition of biases towards certain media outlets.

I guess it is not possible to have an intelligent and mature conversation about a topic like this on the site. Too bad.

 

It was a good observation Steve.

I can't explain it except there are a lot of people on both sides walking around paralized from the neck up.

 

geez WB are you trying to get another "VS"'s thread started?


In concerns to the media we have to remeber that non bias does not exisit do to the human factor involved. In order for news to be reported to us someone has to convey the message. That a persons own emotions will always be convyed in the report. So it is like everything else in life you have to take the information that is being presented and sort through the crap to make your own decision. Just my 2 cents, if you agree or not thats how I see it.

 

Sheesh... just pokin' some fun. Liberals like to sensationalize everything and hype it up. Plus they are all practicing kabbalah or worshiping satan or something. Conservatives are a more religious folk and don't use scarey words like 'death' or 'sex' or 'hootie-cans'. There are of course exceptions.

Interesting observation, I have no idea what to make of it...

 

I agree it is an interesting observation. Thanks for sharing.

This week's events clearly demonstrate that where you get your info-tainment (aka 'news') will shape your view.

Let's just say pertinent information that is highly relevant is omitted by the news outlets to help shape popular opinion, in the hopes of furthering the outlet's agenda.

I have additional opinions on
a) why one side emphasizes life and the other death
b) why this example is very illustrative of our cultural divide
c) what this says about where our culture and nation are headed

But I'm not in the mood for sharing and/or getted shouted down by people with different perspectives than mine.

Thanks for asking, though.

 

Dang dirt bike,
I can't tell from that post whether you're one of us or them.

 

Hootie Cans!!!!

 

yeah... the clinging to life thing amazes me.

Anytime I've met an octegenarian in the same situation, they have acceted they are ready to die. Clinging to life? More like waiting for death.


On another note... if this is a VS thread... what does the Pope prefer? Star Wars, Star Trek or BattleStar Galactica?

And the first one that answers with FarScape, Stargate or Andromeda gets a slap.

 

uhh...little choir boys??? Just kidding, man I'm goin to hell now!

 

to me,

'pope clings to life' means he's all screwed up.


to me,

"Vatican: Pope deteriorating" means he's all screwed up.


to me,

"Pope Hovers Near Death" means he's all screwed up.



however "Pope's heart, kidneys failing - Vatican says pontiff in 'very grave' condition" means he all screwed up, and its cause of his heart & kidneys.


dont know if that says anything about me and poilitical bias, or just that i just call' em like i see' em.


maybe i dont give a rats a$$ about bias (or its wasted on me), i dont see much difference in the two statements other than one headline is a little more informative.