Opinions creep into news

 

Forget balanced reporting: a bit of bias is what the news needs, argued Mr Jam in his final posting before heading on his travels

PEOPLE PREFER JOURNALISTS to have strong opinions on the news items they deliver, researchers have discovered.

While almost all readers and viewers CLAIM to prefer unbiased news, in practice they switch to news sources which clearly take one side or the other.

This is a fascinating finding. All these years we’ve been hiding our personal views, when in fact we should let them hang out, like modern youths show the tops of their underpants.

In the following experiment, we re-deliver our top ten favorite recent news items, but this time WITHOUT working very hard to hide our personal opinions.

1. Terri Seymour, ex-girlfriend of super-grumpy American Idol judge Simon Cowell, was attacked and choked by an assailant recently, but recovered quickly. Let’s face it, could it be that different from going on a date with Simon?

2. Paris Hilton has said she is eager to work with top movie director Quentin Tarantino. Considering her track record in feature films, I would advise Mr Tarantino to make a five-minute home-made movie to circulate via the internet, as those are the only Paris Hilton videos people watch.

3. A French company has invented a car powered by air. The smog-filled cities of Hong Kong, Bangkok and Beijing will probably order 1,000 vehicles each. Now all they need is some air.

4. A gaming company has given Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II a gold-plated Nintendo Wii. Just a note of warning, Liz: you’ll love Guitar Hero, but remember to take off your crown before the head-spin on Dance Dance Revolution.

5. A Japanese company is issuing a horror story printed on toilet paper for bathroom reading. Why don’t American car companies copy this? Their annual reports are already horror stories and toilet paper would be fitting.

6. Evil empire North Korea is planning to become a world power by building plutonium plants, intercontinental missiles, and a nuclear bomb factory. However, I can’t get worried since they have several steps to go before reaching the age of technology, including the discovery of fire, the wheel and opposable thumbs.

7. Richard Branson's Virgin Media is said to be interested in buying Playboy magazine. Is it me, or does anyone else think there’s a branding mismatch in the names of the two companies? Will the magazine henceforth be circulated in a padlocked cover?

8. The White House in Washington DC announced that from now on, all US cars are going to be equipped under standards created for cars in Los Angeles. This should be interesting. The last 10 LA movies I have seen featured drivers skidding sideways at 200 kilometers an hour shooting gangsters.

9. A new study says that smokers are not a financial burden to public welfare budgets since they don't live long enough. Given the present economic downturn, it’s only a matter of time before governments re-word the cigarette carton warning to say: “Relax, have another. Why not finish the pack?”

10. After NASA's recent repair job, the Hubble Telescope has resumed its work of scanning the galaxies for any signs of intelligent life. At the moment, it is sweeping North Korea without success.
*
With those final thoughts, I hit the road and head to Europe. I’ve left a few extra columns for newspapers, so my printed ramblings will still be visible for a while.

But I’ll be visiting rural parts of Italy and France, and passing through UK, so I don’t expect to have much internet access. Feel free to leave comments or tips, and I’ll check in when I can.

Have a great summer!

Mr Jam.

Technorati Tags: news,bias,balance

Comments

[stef]

ah, must be nice to travel to the other side of the world for a change. i myself have never been to europe but would like to when i get a real job and real money. not to mention someone who also has a real job and real money to go with me, because my parents wouldn't let me travel alone.

have fun! :)

[May]

have a nice trip, Mr. Jam

[TS]

If you go to Cortona, a good place to eat is Trattoria Toscana at this address: Via Dardano 12.

http://www.toscumbria.com/trattoriatoscana/default_uk.htm

As Il primo try Ravioli with a orange-lemon cream sauce and as Il secondo try pork fillet in red wine sauce.
You might never leave...

In Rome the best pizza we ever had was at Pizzeria Florida at 21 Via Florida.
http://tinyurl.com/lfsab4
I'm embarrassed to say that we bought pizza there four times in the three days we spent in Rome :-)

Have a nice trip and plenty of good eating.

[Angela]

Gosh! with all the food recommendations I think Mr. Jam will need new clothes when he comes back.

Anyone can recommend him a good tailor who will make sure he wears same size of clothes although he may be double his original size before he left for the European (food) trip?

[PG]

nooooooooooo!!
Mr. Jam, I simply can't live without your awesome columns! Well I hope that you get internet access pretty soon. =D

[TS]

Angela, all he have to do is tell his tailor to change his original metric measures to imperial units so that 1 cm then becomes 1 inch.

[fardel]

I hear you

You claim to go on vacation to Europe, when you really are are on a pilgrimage
Since I do not believe that are the kind of guy who visits churches , my conclusions are that you will be visiting the best caves that Italy and France have to offer .
BEWARE
You can have as much farm cheese and local food as you want, but the locals wines are not downgraded before marketing.
They will knock your head off in no time at all

And you were right:
visiting Italy and France before going to England was a smart move:
You will loose in two days in UK , the weight you will have picked up in three weeks.
(For those who claim that i am offending , look how skinny the British are)
I just hope that you will have left enough subjects with your newspaper for us not to die of boredom.
Enjoy your vacation (oops ) pilgrimage

Btw , the only way to stay in touch with the world in France is to subcsribe to 3G mobile internet on your blackberry or I phone.
If your vacations( oops) pilgrimage are boring , you may find interesting posts on the diary of a famous Eastern wise pilgrim

[Rex]

Mr. JAM;

First Define Balanced Reporting; How do you say you have the balanced opinion ?

Take Pro- LTTE opinion in Sri Lanka (that is an extreme case).

How do you prove that opinion is reasonable and the pro-anti-LTTE opinion is not reasonable.

Balanced - point change from individual to individual.

So, choose the Majority - opinion and stsrt writing supporting that. Because you are writing for Commercial purposes or attention purposes. YOu want most of the people to rad what you write and not the other way.

Again, I don't accept Western CRAP research. They have money. They allocate grants for anyone who wants money.

[Amreen]

Mr Jam, hope you have a nice trip to
Europe.If you by any chance stumble
across England, be sure to check out
the ASHES News, the Aussie press have
recently forgotten about giving news rather they are giving their opinions
on the future of certain cricket officials.I believe they are interested
in fortunetelling.

[Bushra]

Have a safe trip! ...i rarely post comments but am ur regular reader...i will miss u dear!

[emk]

Have a safe trip, am looking forward to your tales after you return!

[Caroliners]

Caroliners V Spurs
2 August 2009
5:30 PM
HK Stadium

[Shuen]

Have a great trip! I'll entertain myself by reading your older posts again!

[si miut]

Surely you can see the logic behind Richard Branson's (no.7) thinking...One does not want to remain a virgin forever, does he? What's better than to start getting proper "education" from Playboy? :)

[Chamin]

Have a nice trip! In the short term, we will have to wait for new columns; but in the long term, I see really good posts coming given the countries you are visiting :o)

[crissie chavez]

Have a great vacay Mr. Jam! Thanks for the heads up, and for not leaving us empty : )