Point/Counterpoint is not news.

[elperromagico]

Assume Argument A is "Money grows on trees."

Assume Argument B is "Money does not grow on trees."

Presenting two people to repeat both arguments does not constitute news. It is merely helping to perpetuate Argument A, which is a lie, and to diminish Argument B, which is a truth.

"Money does not grow on trees" is news. "Does money grow on trees?" is not.

When dealing with an absolute fact vs. an absolute lie, point/counterpoint is useless.

This Fox News tactic of presenting "both sides" of any issue, a technique which has since been adopted by all of the 24 hour news networks, is detrimental in the extreme. It gives liars equal time.

Liars don't deserve equal time.

[catzies]

1. Agreed. Letting both sides lie without discerning what the truth is

is a disservice to everyone but the lying liars.

[drm604]

2. It's called "balance"

:sarcasm: You know, "We Report, You Decide". :grr:

[elperromagico]

3. Problem is, a lie does not balance with the truth.

Attempts to create such a balance produce nothing but nonsense.

[drm604]

4. You're correct.

It's all part of what the rightwing noise machine does. When they know that they can't win based on the facts (which seems to be most of the time) they muddy the waters by making it appear that it's all a matter of opinion. It makes me livid when they do this! :mad:

[elperromagico]

5. You see it in the Social Security debate.

Rather than saying "This is what the Bush plan will do" - and if we can figure out what the Bush plan will do, they certainly could - they simply have a pro-Bush guest and an anti-Bush guest.

I think the media is so afraid of the "liberal bias" tag that they no longer have the guts to report anything - even a stone cold fact - that will put Bush in an unfavorable light.

Facts are not biased, whether they make a Republican or a Democrat look bad. Facts are facts.

I think it's a sad state of affairs when bloggers do a better job digging up facts and investigating news stories than the media does.

[drm604]

6. Are you familiar with George Lakoff?

His book "Don't Think of an Elephant" goes into all the linquistic tricks they use in order to control the debate. This is one of them. They've been doing it for decades. It's all carefully orchestrated. DU's Frame the Debate Group is a good place for discussions about this.

[elperromagico]

7. I've heard a great deal about Lakoff and his writings.

It is quite true that the Republicans have been developing these techniques for at least 40 years; we have a fair bit of catching up to do.

[drm604]

8. Catching up...

It won't take us 40 years to catch up. For one thing they've already developed the techniques, we just need to study them.
Plus, we have the truth on our side which makes a big difference. The reason it's taken them 40 years is because they've had to obscure the facts and convince people to vote against their own interests. We should be able to turn that around in a much shorter time. Look at the news. Look at how the Schiavo case backfired on them. Look at what's happening with Social Security, Tom DeLay, and Bolton. The tide is already turning. I'm actually feeling somewhat optimistic lately. Now, if we can just ensure honest elections...