Ruth asks…
Does contextual objectivity create bias?
In an effort to gain viewers, many television programs and news channels are using what is called "contextual objectivity", i.e. presenting facts in a manner that entices people's interest, to keep them watching, and inflame their passions about the particular subject matter.
This started in the Middle East, with the T.V. station, al-Jazeera, taking a cue from the science of quantum physics, as it was used to gain popularity in an area with where several countries have government-sponsored censhorship, and has spread to the USA, with major channels like CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, etc. following suit, albeit incorrectly, by distorting their facts.
Contextual objectivity has been criticized as being a sensationalist tactic to put butts in seats, but it goes beyond that, by analyzing peoples' cultural interests and presenting the information in a manner most pleasing to them, whether the information itself is pleasing or not.
It is obvious that the USA has used this method incorrectly, as evidenced by their sound/video byte coverage of the war, the September 11 cover-ups (upon slowing the video of the planes and looking closely, one appears to be flying remotely, something that has been tested on commercial airliners by the US government for years with great success, one of them begins to explode before even hitting the building, the hole looks like the trademark hole left by a missile also developed by the government to fit inside the nose cones of 747's, the nose cone can be seen popping off of one with tracers of phosphorus nearby in the sky, separate explosions can be seen on multiple levels of the building dozens and hundreds of feet below the plane before wreckage fell to the ground, active thermite, a powerful explosive which can melt reinforced steel whereas jet fuel cannot, as it does not burn hot enough, was found at separate locations around the collapsed buildings, the complete ignorance of the WTC building 7's apparently "unrelated" collapse, as not even wreckage hit it, and the fact that every building fell down in a perfect implosion, much like a demolished casino, but the WTC is not the topic), their dismissal of opposing arguments to any topic on such shows as Anderson Cooper 360 (including resorting to belittling governors with cheap shots, when they speak out against the obvious agenda of the right wing), Nancy Grace's (The annoying, perpetually-scowling, blonde, CourtTV anchor who is now anchor of CNN Headline News's legal segment) apparent inability to get any statement right, when viewed in retrospect, the 100% lack of coverage when the White House publicly released the statement that there were never weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and that we were never really looking or expecting to find them, because Randy Moss pretended to moon the crowd, as well as the Fox News Channel, in general.
Still, when properly employed, without altering facts, such as how al-Jazeera properly employs Contextual Objectivity, do you think that it creates bias by displaying 100% of the facts in a manner most suited to your individual tastes?
As I said, if you had read the question and details properly, contextual objectivity does not sanitize or change the facts, but changes how they are presented. The facts stay the same. In an extremely simplified analogy, suppose group X prefers to hear details before the basic facts. That would be "2+3=5" (such as how Yiddish speech has the proclivity for rambling before reaching the point of discussion). Suppose group Y prefers to hear the basic facts before the details (the "English way"). That would be "5=2+3". At no point would the story, under proper contextual objectivity be reported as "2+2=5".
admin answers:
Any effort on the part of the media to "Create interest" is by its very nature creating Bias.
A story which is sanitized, or changed for that purpose of creating audience, and not reporting the story in all of its detail is creating bias as it is not necessarily the true picture of events.
George asks…
What is the Secret Service saying about 0bama, other presidents, and a few vices?
Secret Service Secrets: Obama Threats Up 400 Percent
Monday, August 3, 2009 7:23 PM
By: Jim Meyers
A new book by Newsmax Chief Washington Correspondent Ronald Kessler features startling revelations about current and former U.S. presidents, including Barack Obama.
"In the President's Secret Service: Behind the Scenes With Agents in the Line of Fire and the Presidents They Protect," released Tuesday, discloses that threats against the president have increased dramatically — by a staggering 400 percent since Obama entered the White House.
Kessler is the first journalist to penetrate the wall of secrecy that surrounds the U.S. Secret Service, and his book is based on interviews with more than 100 current and former agents.
The book not only offers intriguing stories about presidents from JFK to George W. Bush but also provides an inside look at the current White House resident, including the fact that, despite his iffy denials, Obama is still smoking cigarettes.
Kessler also reveals that Obama and his wife, Michelle, are well-liked by the Secret Service agents who protect them. Kessler's book reveals that on April 4, 2008, just before Obama's pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, spoke at the National Press Club, Obama secretly met with Wright at the pastor's home. So that they would not be noticed, agents made a point of driving Obama in a minivan instead of the usual Suburban. They parked their other vehicles a block away. Obama spent an hour with Wright and then left.
During Wright's Press Club speech, he confirmed that he thought America created the AIDS virus to kill off blacks. After that, Obama claimed to have severed ties with him.
Once Obama entered the White House, the Secret Service experienced a 400 percent increase in the number of threats against the president, in comparison with his predecessor George Bush. While most of the threats were not credible, each had to be checked out and adjudicated.
"Because the Secret Service thinks calling attention to threats gives people ideas and generates more threats, the agency never publicly characterized their frequency," Kessler observes.
Agents told Kessler that both Barack Obama — code-named Renegade — and wife Michelle — code-named Renaissance — treat them with respect, as does Vice President Joe Biden. Still, agents were shocked when Biden revealed the location of the “undisclosed location” — or safe house for the vice president and president. If they had done the same, they would have been fired.
Obama invited agents to dinner twice, including a party for relatives at his home, and the Bidens buy agents food.
Contrary to Obama's repeated claims that he is quitting smoking, he has continued to smoke regularly, agents say. A week after being sworn in as president, Obama told CNN's Anderson Cooper that he hadn't had a cigarette on the White House grounds. That left open the possibility that he smokes on the Truman Balcony and in the White House residence and West Wing.
Agents say he smokes outside the White House as well.
Among the many other disclosures in Kessler's book:
• George W. Bush's daughters Barbara and Jenna gave their Secret Service details a hard time and would try to lose the agents assigned to them.
• To this day, agents, including Chuck Taylor, who was on the Kennedy detail the day JFK was assassinated, believe they could have saved the president's life if they had been stationed on the back running boards of his car. But Kennedy told agents he didn't want them to ride on the rear running boards.
• Lyndon Johnson would walk around naked in the presence of his daughters; his wife, Lady Bird; and female secretaries. He was quite well endowed in the testicles, so everyone started calling him bull nuts. He found out about that and was very disturbed.
• Johnson was angry when a guest was served rare roast beef on Air Force One, and threatened to send the two stewards to Vietnam if they ever served "raw" meat again.
• Agents say Richard Nixon was the strangest president they ever protected. He had no relationship with his wife and did not sleep with her. He also would walk on the beach wearing a blue suit and dress shoes. Even in the summer he would insist on having a fire burning in the fireplace.
• Gerald Ford's code name was Passkey. He was considered very cheap. Caddies at a golf club in California usually receive $25 tips, but Ford gave a dollar, if anything at all.
• Ford was, indeed, a klutz. The day after he left office, he was driving an electric golf cart in Palm Springs, Calif., when he accidentally crashed into an electric panel hanging on the wall of a shack for golf carts.
• Agents considered Jimmy Carter sanctimonious and a phony. The former peanut farmer pretended to be one of the people but actually had little regard for the “little people,” agents say.
• Ronald Reagan was folksy, and agents loved him. But they feared Nan
admin answers:
It is no surprise that threats against the president are up 400%.
Sounds like an interesting book.
Mark asks…
Am i a good or a bad muslim?
- i pray 5 times a day
- i read the quran on a daily basis
- i dont skip fast during ramadhan and i pray terawih during that period
- i dont drink alcohol
- i only eat halal meat and seafood ;)
- i mix with people from all races and religion- boys & girls
- i went to prom and danced
- i do not wear the hijab
- i will not have sexual relationships before marriage
- in a romantic relationship, i wont go further than a hug/kiss on the cheeks---am not sure though coz i dont have a bf...
- i swear quite a lot....
- i wear skinny jeans and tees and knee-length dresses
- i love watching gossip girl/heroes/ THE OFFICE---gaahh steve carrell and john krasinski are mine
- i listen to RADIOHEAD (best band alive) and i will check out the billboard hot 100 to keep me updated with the latest songs, metro station, rihanna, and leona lewis, and miley cyrus has nice songs
- my recently watched movies are august rush, penelope, and picture this and i just finished watching ANTM 10 on youtube and i wanted Anya to win, badly...
- i think that anderson cooper from CNN is soo hot. he and erica hill are perfect for each other
- i dont live in the UK or USA,
thanks for the answers
admin answers:
Yes, you are a good Muslim -- and do not let the fundamentalists convince you otherwise. Fundamentalists, regardless of their core faith (Jewish, Muslim or Christian) are a disaster for their own people and for the world. You are absolutely fine.
Kindest thoughts,
Hermes
Joseph asks…
The nominatinons were out.what do you think about this?
http://www.cricinfo.com/ci-icc/content/current/story/473065.html these are the nominees
Cricketer of the year: Hashim Amla, Doug Bollinger, Michael Clarke, MS Dhoni, Ryan Harris, Mitchell Johnson, Jacques Kallis, Morne Morkel, Ricky Ponting, Kumar Sangakkara, Virender Sehwag, Dale Steyn, Sachin Tendulkar, Daniel Vettori, AB de Villiers and Shane Watson
Test player of the year: Hashim Amla, James Anderson, Mohammad Asif, Doug Bollinger, MS Dhoni, Tamim Iqbal, Mahela Jayawardena, Jacques Kallis, Simon Katich, Kumar Sangakkara, Thilan Samaraweera, Virender Sehwag, Dale Steyn, Graeme Swann, Sachin Tendulkar and Shane Watson
ODI player of the year: Hashim Amla, Doug Bollinger, MS Dhoni, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Ryan Harris, Michael Hussey, Jacques Kallis, Ricky Ponting, Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, AB de Villiers, Daniel Vettori, Shane Watson and Cameron White
Emerging player of the year: Mohammad Amir, Umar Akmal, Tim Bresnan, Steven Finn, Shafiul Islam, Ravindra Jadeja, Virat Kohli, Angelo Mathews, Eoin Morgan, Pragyan Ojha, Tim Paine, Wayne Parnell, Kemar Roac, Steven Smith, Paul Stirling and David Warner
Associate and Affiliate player of the year: Ashish Bagai, Richie Berrington, Muddassar Bukhari, Tom Cooper, Ryan ten Doeschate, Trent Johnston, Kevin O'Brien, Mohammad Shahzad, Samiullah Shenwari and Paul Stirling
Twenty20 international performance of the year: Suleiman Benn 4 for 6 v Zimbabwe, Deandra Dottin 112*v South Africa Women, Chris Gayle 98 v India, Michael Hussey 60*v Pakistan, Mahela Jayawardena 100 v Zimbabwe, Mahela Jayawardena 98* v West Indies, Nuwan Kulasekera 3 for 4 v New Zealand, Ryan McLaren 5 for 19 v West Indies, Brendon McMcllum 116* v Australia, Eoin Morgan 85* v South Africa, Nehemiah Odhiambo 5 for 20 v Scotland, Ellyse Perry 3 for 18 v New Zealand Women, Suresh Raina 101 v South Africa and Darren Sammy 5 for 26 v Zimbabwe
Women's Cricketer of the Year: Suzie Bates, Nicola Browne, Katherine Brunt, Sophie Devine, Jhulan Goswami, Lydia Greenway, Sarah McGlashan, Shelley Nitschke, Ellyse Perry, Laura Poulton, Mithali Raj, Gouher Sultana and Stafanie Taylor
Umpire of the Year: Billy Bowden, Aleem Dar, Steve Davis, Asoke de Silva, Billy Doctrove, Marais Erasmus, Ian Gould, Tony Hill, Daryl Harper, Rudi Koertzen, Asad Rauf, Simon Taufel and Rod Tucker I'D LIKE TO KNOW WHO GONNA WIN THIS AWARDS IN EACH CATEGORY.GIVE YOUR OPINIONS.
admin answers:
Cricketer of the year-Sachin-His impressive runs in both ODIs and tests.
Test player of the year-Hashim-He has played more than consistently.
ODI player of the year-Dhoni-His average above 50 proves he has played wonderfully at recent times.
Emerging player of the year-Mohammad Ameer-No debate.
Associate and Affiliate player of the year-No idea.
T20 intl performance of the year-McCullum-116* vs Australia.
Women's cricketer of the year- No idea.
Umpire of the year-Simon Taufel-He's outstanding.I think he has been taking this award each time after the inception.
Powered by Yahoo! Answers
No comments:
Post a Comment