Linus Torvalds interview on CNN

[Rick Tomaschuk]

How often when you go to CBC.CA are the headlines Canadian? Or CNN etc.
It's almost a joke. The North American media seems to be focused on just
about anything except the issues at home. An old expression goes
something like: If you spent more time minding your own business you
wouldn't have time to stick your nose into others affairs. While our
industry and economy goes down the toilet we're preoccupied with issues
elsewhere.

"The Da Vinci what???"

On Sat, 2006-05-20 at 11:36 +0300, Peter wrote:

> > I think CNN not only reports the news but also like newspapers can
> > appear to manipulate the news to their own (advertisers) benefits.
> > See http://www.infowars.com
> 
> Most news outfits 'manipulate' what they report in ways that correspond 
> to their 'position' on certain issues. This is not hard, and it is not 
> as bent as some want us to believe. Nowadays most news are syndicated 
> and putting together an edition is more like shopping in a supermarket, 
> but it is done in the syndication feeds. Excepting the in-house 
> reporting, which is special-ordered in advance, most news, including 
> from their own reporters, come in as they happen. It is up to the editor 
> to select what goes up. Thus given a choice between different reporters 
> covering the same issue he/she can select a report on a specific issue 
> written/scripted by someone known 'not to stir s**t' with advertisers 
> and/or politicians and/or otherwise be out of grace with what is 
> 'politically correct' at the moment. It's all up to the editor. Of 
> course he/she could show cojones on some issue or another. Often this 
> results in a fired or early retired editor.
> 
> What is more worrying is that I happen to follow news in about 4 
> languages, and they are identical. Not just the headlines, but the 'page 
> 2' etc articles too. Excepting some fringe publications (on the web) or 
> online newspapers from Elbonia everyone has the exact same news, often 
> from the same source (see syndication above). TV news are also almost 
> identical. So much for 'independent reporting'. And people are worried 
> about certain governments manipulating the media ? Sheesh.
> 
> What is even worse is that people watch TV news to the tune of two hours 
> per day. They see the same nice people talking, and are more likely to 
> believe what they are saying than what the politicians they have elected 
> to represent them in government are saying. Most people would be hard 
> put to identify their local elected representative on the street but 
> would immediately spot a news anchor driving by in his/her car. Grabbing 
> the opportunity, there are several news anchors in the world who have 
> successfully run for government positions following longer or shorter 
> careers in front of the cameras or just microphones.
> 
> The impact of everyday economical issues is distorted accordingly. War 
> somewhere in Africa ? Everyone talks about it. The 3% gas price hike 
> tomorrow ? Oh, we can't help it. 'Reality' news are a form of circus 
> for the people imho.
> 
> Peter
> who quit watching TV more than 10 years ago.
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