Do you watch the news

[Palerider]

Do you watch the news each day or evening ?

How do you stay current with what\'s going on in the country or world ?

I don\'t watch the local news everyday. I probably look at news sites on line more than watch them on TV.

I don\'t like to watch or read very much because I feel it affects my attitude. I try to stay upbeat and it\'s harder for me if I get wrapped up in news.

[SpiritDragon]

I don't follow the news much.

 

I generally feel like if something important happened I'll hear about it.

 

I do get lots of notices (usually useless) when I check my email, and I have to listen to the radio all day at work though.

[Palerider]

It's hard to watch due to all the spin that's put on a news item.

[Jenamarie]

I prefer to read my news online. It's easier to sift through the fluff, and if I want to find out more to a story, I can start Googling and/or clicking on links (if the story included sources) to try to dig a bit deeper.

[SpiritDragon]

It's hard to watch due to all the spin that's put on a news item.

 

I prefer to read my news online. It's easier to sift through the fluff, and if I want to find out more to a story, I can start Googling and/or clicking on links (if the story included sources) to try to dig a bit deeper.

 

I remember years ago... before the internet  staying up late into the night to finally watch a news story I was interested in. Inevitably they always made me wait to watch everything else to see the part I cared to see.

[Palerider]

I remember years ago... before the internet  staying up late into the night to finally watch a news story I was interested in. Inevitably they always made me wait to watch everything else to see the part I cared to see.

I remover having to wait for the evening news to hear about things that had happened.

[pam]

I usually catch it online.  I always check the local news via their website.  

[AngelMarvel]

Not if I can help it. To many negative things going on. They hardly ever show a happy news story.

 

My husband loves the news, so he keeps me informed.

[Louloudi]

I don't really watch the news. I don't read newspapers either.

I'll have a look on the internet every now and again, but now everyday. If something big is happening then I'll hear abkht it from someone. Sometimes I'll look up the news relating to work or my faith.

[Windseeker]

What news can you watch now days? It's all commentary.

[jerome1232]

I prefer it in written form, usually an electronic format. It's easier for me to pick apart the bias that way, it's also easier for me to separate the fact from spin as well usually.

[mnn727]

No, have not seen a news broadcast in well over a decade. I preferred newspapers before the internet, and been getting my news online since the days of dialup.

 

I really dislike visual formats, my brain works too fast and I have been tested at reading over 600 wpm. Someone reading the news on a TV or monitor is just too slow for me. I almost never do news video's online.

[The Folk Prophet]

I usually hit the headlines on a few sites (cnn usually) just to see if there's anything of interest. If there is I'll look at a few articles. It's so much less of a time dedication than watching news. I despise TV news anyhow.

[Quin]

I mostly use the AP for daily stuff.

It\\\'s 1 line about a gazillion different things going on.

If I\\\'m interested in something, then I search to see who has picked up the story.

Usually it\\\'s been picked up by a couple of different papers.

Most of whom publish online.

I\\\'ve noticed I really prefer the BBC coverage of American events & politics over American media.

Waaaaaaay less political bias / \\\"both\\\" sides of a story are presented in one place

For international news I tend to split my time between the BBC & Al Jazeerah

Using the AP & Google, though, has been super fun.

Some of the writers I really like I\\\'ve watched \\\"come up\\\" from local Ohio paper, to Boston, to NYC... Or from Arizona to LA.... et cetera..., to freelance all over the durn place as they sell investigative pieces to the highest bidder.

For REALLY local news... I tune into the police blotter pages. Always good for a laugh. Cops have stellar senses of humor. They also keep things in perspective. \\\"A bit wet under the XXX overpass this morning. Road closed. Flooding\\\" Right next to a picture of a floating truck in 8 feet of swirling water. LEOs rock.

Q

[Backroads]

If I'm watching something else preceding the news hour and an advertised headline interests me, I might watch the news.

 

But, generally, I don't bother.  News, especially on television, has become so sensationalized.  Online it's easier to find "just the facts".

[Guest]

Growing up in a political family, news is very much our business.

 

I work from home.  So, I can work while the TV is on.  I always have the TV on a news station and it's usually just for chatter.  I can't seem to work without that background chatter because then my brain drifts off somewhere else.  A lot of times, some news catches my attention.  I make a note of it in the back of my mind.  Also, when I'm driving, the radio is on a local news station that cycles news every half-hour.  I usually only catch the first one and then move to the music stations because the local news is just a run-down of who got killed, raped, run over, etc., that day.

 

When work is done and kids are settled and home is organized, I go read up on the news that caught my attention all over the Internet.  Usually, big news in the US gets coverage in Philipine news outlets as well and vice versa.  Usually the coverage is from different perspectives.  I've been digging up news since I can remember that a lot of times, what I see on TV or read up on some outlet on the Internet just doesn't settle properly so I dig some more until it makes sense.

 

I honestly believe that staying up to date on political news is an obligation for every citizen who goes to the voting booth.  If one doesn't bother to stay on top of these things, they should not cast one.  I've seen first-hand the effect of uninformed people voting.  Do you know that the Philippines elected Joseph Estrada as President because a lot of people thought he can do what he did in the movies to the Philippine government?  Joseph Estrada is the Philippine version of Liam Neeson who can beat people up in the movies while looking cool and unharassed.  And the people thought he would beat people up in government too and look cool while doing it.  Beat people up in government.  I say that literally.  These are people who don't even know that can get you put in jail... Joseph Estrada had a 3rd grade education.  All he did while he was President is go to parties and route people's money into his private coffers...

 

Yes, American voters are more sophisticated than that.  They did not elect Reagan because he was an action star.  They elected him because he actually knew what he was doing.  But, American politics is a complex machine.  Voters need to be as informed as the political landscape is as complex...

 

[Palerider]

I agree about staying informed politically. I really prefer to find my information online. I find the news channels somewhat National Enquirer like...of course that's my opinion.

[Quin]

.

I honestly believe that staying up to date on political news is an obligation for every citizen who goes to the voting booth. If one doesn't bother to stay on top of these things, they should not cast one. ...

Ditto. Big time.

I actually abstain from many elections, because I am completely uninformed about XYZ topic (platforms and voting history is fairly easy to brush up on quickly, but individual things take a great deal more time, and the fact that I might have 25 or more local elections a year means even the people and their voting history I can get behind on), and don't have the time to catch up (especially local elections when my mailing address means I vote in YYY place, but I'm living in ZZZ place. Both while in the military, and again now that my job has me on the road so much.

It drives some of my friends crazy, because they're in the 'get out the vote' camp.

I agree with them in principle; voting is a precious and sacred commodity. I've lived in FAR too many places where "the people" have no voice in government.

But I also believe that an uninformed vote is worse than no vote at all.

One of the GREAT things about older kids is that I can start ah in them do my research for me.

When I'm on the ball I have them research the candidates, put together spoken vs actual platforms, and make a pitch to me (if they feel so inclined). Then we can delve into the pieces together. I only swing this "on it" a couple times a year, though.

Q

[Palerider]

One other thing.....when we have family get togethers we don't discuss politics. Gets heated. No politics

[dahlia]

If I turn the TV on, I generally keep it on FoxNews if I am at home working during the day. I'm also active on a conservative message board (that aggregates the news, so a lot of times I'll see 'breaking news' there first), and I listen to Limbaugh, who, is an interesting commentator when he's not talking about football or golf. I get a couple of news feeds on my FB page. I try to listen to Cavuto or some other business news source several times a week, but I don't need it everyday due to the amount of business news I get online. The past few days, I've had a Korean cable news station playing online as I work. I can't speak Korean, but I can watch the pictures and get an idea of what is going on, especially since the American media isn't covering this tragedy very much.

 

I rarely watch local news and never watch broadcast news.

 

I probably don't need to watch as much news, but I have to keep up because of my work, plus, I admit to being a news freak.

[Guest]

I watch some Fox News as well, but, I find that their news leans right even though they say it is "balanced".  They would have 2 "analysts", one is on the left, the other is on the right... which, I guess, would be balanced... except that the moderator in the middle sides with the right and, more often than not, joins the analyst on the right in rebutting the guy on the left... so it becomes 2 against one.

 

So, I watch Fox News but also go on CNN... because CNN is the opposite - they say it is "balanced" but their news leans left with their left analysts and moderators ganging up on the guy on the right...

 

Nowadays, though, news unfriendly to the administration don't even get much coverage in CNN - so you get to go to Fox News to even just know it is going on...

 

You know this is such a crazy thing to me.  Philippine News does not have left and right.  Newscasters in the Philippines are required to only state facts of the news and not their political opinion.  You have to dig through the facts and form your opinion yourself.  The problem then is not that it leans this way or that... the problem is that the news agencies oftentimes are lazy with digging facts to report pertinent to forming an opinion... it gets frustrating.

[prisonchaplain]

Do you watch the news each day or evening ?

How do you stay current with what\'s going on in the country or world ?

I don\'t watch the local news everyday. I probably look at news sites on line more than watch them on TV.

I don\'t like to watch or read very much because I feel it affects my attitude. I try to stay upbeat and it\'s harder for me if I get wrapped up in news.

 

I usually just ask Palerider what's going on.  He can be biased, but he's not as bad as MSNBC or FOX.   

[Traveler]

I watch news and check out various subjects on the internet.  However, I believe that there is no possibility that anything can be reported without bias.  Thus I believe it is more important to understand the bias of the reporter and their organization than it is to glean "truth" from their report.

 

I have twice been present when an event occurred that was reported in world and national news and was dumbfounded in how inaccurate the reports were.  Not so much that I thought my view was different but how all the news agencies could get so many of the actual facts so wrong. 

 

But more important is understanding that propaganda is the art of using words to report an event to create a biased understanding.  Consider the following story: 

A group of paramilitary extremists were recently apprehended at a routine traffic stop.  In their vehicles was a vast arsenal of weapons and ammunition and their destination was verified to be near the end of the Boston Marathon.

Another report of the same incident said:  Several members of the local national guard unit returning from off duty time spent at an out of town shooting range happened to be stopped at a routine traffic stop.  All weapons had been properly prepared for transport and were unloaded as a fine example of how such things should be handled.  One of the off duty guardsmen lives near the finish line of the Boston Marathon and assisted several of those injured at last year’s bombing.  

 

Both reports could be argued to have reported important elements of an event but in each case specific words were used to create a mind set in the readers.  One mind set was a feeling of comfort and even thanksgiving for those the own and operate firearms and the other was to create a feeling of fear and anger for those that have firearms in their possession.

[Roseslipper]

Very Seldom

[bytebear]

I mostly read stories I pick up from news.google.com  If a story interests me, I will read several articles from multiple sources.  That gives me a fairly rounded view of any issue.  I watch local news on tv, but tend not to watch the big networks.  I do like The Five on Fox, but I look at it more like entertainment than news.  Same with Jon Stewart and Bill Mahar.  But I rarely watch any of them, and maybe will watch if I catch it, or they have an interesting guest.   I can't watch MSNBC at all.  Their bias is so extreme that my head explodes.  And it seems that they can't keep a host around very long because they are too extreme.  I also prefer local talk radio.  mostly they hit local or state issues.  There's plenty of corruption going on at the local levels, and these are issues no one else is covering at all.