USA media: The great divide

[Cowperson]

Love this article at BBC.com analyzing USA media and election coverage.

It basically reinforces that both sides accuse the other of controlling the media and, as a consequence, both sides seek out media they agree with for their information.

One person decries "the Bush media" while the other says: ""I can tell the bias that they have on TV. The main media want to dump our president."

Classic.

The American public split right down the middle over the (CBS) scandal, with about 40% demanding that Mr Rather resign, and just over 40% saying the network had been duped and should not be held responsible.

The difference of opinion roughly mirrors political identification in the US, where about a third of people label themselves Republicans, a third Democrats and a third independent.

But it also reflects another truth: Americans of all stripes generally put pretty low trust in the media, with conservatives even more suspicious than liberals.

And research suggests that each group is increasingly seeking out media that reinforce its point of view.

Also, for amusement:

MOST TRUSTED CABLE NETWORKS
CNN: 32%
Fox News: 25%
MSNBC: 22%
Source: Pew Research Center for People and the Press

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3693100.stm

Cowperson

[Lanny_MacDonald]

I guess there is a difference between being "the most watched" and the "most trusted"? Thank god (to use a Bushism) for that!

[La Flames Fan]

I don't understand how ANYONE can trust Fox News....That's like believing every word the Iraqi Media Spokesman said during the war.

[Bingo]

Better to tune into CBS where the news is fabricated?

Comparing Fox News to comical Ali is probably just done in jest, but clearly it's way over stated. Fox leans right, no doubt but then every source in the U.S. tends to have a lean one way or the other. None of them have been clean in the past 12 months.