Is this a disturbing statistic....

[Loosehead]

http://newsforums.bbc.co.uk/nol/thread.jspa?threadID=1655&&edition=1&ttl=20060504102924

61% trust the media!

[Loosehead]

and apparently 52% believe the government's explanations. I think there are a lot of dangerous maniacs out there!

[WaldoMcFroog]

61% believe the media?

That would explain all those people who post completely bogus 'Political Correctness Gone Mad' stories on this board.

[laurence2]

i'm in the 39% gang

[Oneeyedvic]

I guess the next question is:

Who is the media.

I trust: BBC and Private Eye.

I distrust: Majority of other papers (a few regional exceptions) & Sky News.

Somehow, I don't think you can give a yes / no answer to this question.

[sp1814]

I trust The Independent (although it makes me feel guilty about almost everything I do, buy, eat etc) and the BBC.

I don't trust any connected to News International/Mudoch.

[youngmafbog]

Well I would never trust the BBC(so I thkn that answers your question Looshead) - disgracfully totally and utterly biased, same goes for the guardian and indepent(guardian without jobs). If I want news stories personally I take them from all sides if its somehting I am interested in. That way you do get some balance.

Not sure I'd trust any government answer from ANY party.

Hardly surprising postings from the resident elitist liberals I see.

[Bluemukka]

Isn't much difference between the two IMHO - they both feed off and rely upon each other.

I distrust them both 100%

[jump79]

If you don't believe the media to some extent, who Do you believe? Where else do you get the news from? You have to pick through the various newspapers and tv channels that are out there and there are also other sources of info. of course, like the internet. But how can you be completely sure that what you are reading here is less biased and more reliable, All the time?

[jno]

don't ask awkward questions, jump79.

[Loosehead]

good point jump79. I don't think the media generally lie, I think they just portray stories with a certain slant or omit certain parts of a story to reinforce their intended slant. If you know the slant of a given agency then you can straighten it up in your own head. We do all rely on the the media and of course are mostly allied with the agency who's outpourings match our own tendencies. Good example here between SP1814 and YMB above regarding the BBC.

[jno]

people seem ready enough to believe the media when it suits their own preconceptions to do so. For instance, any story along the lines of the Baa Baa Rainbow Sheep news item generally prompts rants in the news section, and yet generally turns out to be completely false. Some parts of the media do indeed lie, as a recent series of libel payouts demonstrates (Sharon Stone and the Mail was the most recent example). But in general I think you can trust any of the former 'broadsheet' newspapers; they will typically omit any news they don't think their own readers will be interested in, but the facts they print will almost invariably be true. I'm particularly impressed by the Guardian's corrections column, where they regularly list errors they've made. When the Mail or the Sun start such a column, I might even begin to trust them too; but I'm not holding my breath.