What news sources do you trust? What do you not trust?

[EssexGonzo]

Inspired by this wacky thread: https://www.railforums.co.uk/thread...oversial-topic-enter-at-your-own-risk.182763/

Which news source do you most trust and which do you least trust? Not necessarily just for political news (which has tended to dominate recently) but for all types? I've used UK examples as I'm not very familiar with overseas news sources, although I have heard of and seen Fox "News".

And by the way, "most trust" does not means "slavishly believe every word they utter" and "least trust" does not mean "I don't believe a word to come out of their diseased mouth". It's all relative.

For me:
Most: BBC. The most scrutinised and used channel in the world, a lower risk of fakeness and motivation to influence for nefarious purposes.

Least trusted: Difficult as there are so many online sources nowadays but I would say both the Daily Mail and Daily Express. They still reach several million people and are also regarded as serious, mainstream news outlets. Many, many people believe what they read. They're also there to make money and peddle influence for their owners first, to report accurate news second.

The first in a series. Coming soon:

• The Flat Earth, and how to to travel the underneath bit.
• Vaccines, my kid don't need no scientific sh*t.
• The Misunderstood Conservative Party: "We're not bothered about the money and being rich and stuff, we just can't seem to show our caring side."

So come on, show us your good and bad news sources.

 

[mikeg]

Have to agree on the BBC being a trustworthy news source. Not perfect but it usually goes out of its way to be truthful and balanced, however it can be an issue when these two attributes are in conflict! Also have to say that despite my leftist leanings I actually find the financial (The Financial Times, City AM, Wall Street Journal etc.) press and the likes of The Economist to be very informative and honest, even if I often don't agree with their political standpoint. The Daily Express and The Star get my wooden spoon for poor news quality though, at least as far as the UK is concerned. the Mail is pretty poor too but has the odd bit of factual reporting inbetween its rants, I'll give it that. But anyone who thinks it is a remotely balanced source and that the BBC is biased to the left because the Daily Mail is more balanced... Well to misquote a certain Pole there's a special place in hell for such people.

 

[d9009alycidon]

Remember my father telling me about a man he used to work with, every morning he would buy the Morning star and the Daily Express. My Dad asked him why he bought a very left wing and very right wing paper, he replied - I read both and form my own opinions, the truth is going to be somewhere in the middle!

 

[Groningen]

I do not trust Breitbart and Fox News + some British newspapers that are pro Brexit.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Most: BBC - probably one of the best in the world. Everyone thinks it's biased against them, so my conclusion is that it's equally biased against everyone, which is what you want in an investigative news source.

Daily Sport, as it just doesn't bother with news anyway

Least: Any of the politicised sources, from Breitbart to the Canary. Daily Mail/Express.

In the middle: Moderate but biased UK press e.g. Times, Torygraph (though this has got rather extreme of late in UK terms), Grauniad.

 

[hexagon789]

Most: BBC - probably one of the best in the world. Everyone thinks it's biased against them, so my conclusion is that it's equally biased against everyone, which is what you want in an investigative news source.

I agree with you on that for precisely the same reason. If it's biased to everyone then it must be the least biased as a whole!

 

[DarloRich]

BBC mainly.

Most: BBC - probably one of the best in the world. Everyone thinks it's biased against them, so my conclusion is that it's equally biased against everyone, which is what you want in an investigative news source.

In the middle: Moderate but biased UK press e.g. Times, Torygraph (though this has got rather extreme of late in UK terms), Grauniad.

Agreed. Close thread. However there will be any amount of crackpots who think that the Canary or other such Pravda type organisations can be trusted. They cant. Just like RT cant be trusted.

As a society we used to be able to see through this kind of thing. What really worries me is that people today cant or wont.

 

[Mag_seven]

Most: BBC - probably one of the best in the world. Everyone thinks it's biased against them, so my conclusion is that it's equally biased against everyone, which is what you want in an investigative news source.

Its important though that in order to be unbiased it does not encourage false equivalence. So for example when reporting on climate change the BBC will put up a professor of climate change at the University of Oxford but for "balance" then seek the views of Nigel Lawson!

I also don't like the way you the beeb seems to give airtime to commentators from organisations such as "The Taxpayers Alliance", who won't reveal who funds them.

 

[Strat-tastic]

Anyone who thinks the BBC unbiased should read Robin Aitken - 'The Noble Liar: How and Why the BBC Distorts the News to Promote a Liberal Agenda' and prepare to have their belief challenged.

I am just over half way through but he's bringing strong arguments on a number of issues of bias and unfairness I already see in the BBC.

The argument that everyone thinks the BBC is biased against them therefore it isn't biased is one I heard from the BBC itself, and now repeated here, so clearly some people are buying it. It's weak reasoning but sounds clever. I can't speak for anyone else and nor can you, dear reader, but from my point of view the Corporation is heavily biased towards a liberal socialism.

 

[DarloRich]

Anyone who thinks the BBC unbiased should read Robin Aitken - 'The Noble Liar: How and Why the BBC Distorts the News to Promote a Liberal Agenda' and prepare to have their belief challenged.

I am just over half way through but he's bringing strong arguments on a number of issues of bias and unfairness I already see in the BBC.

The argument that everyone thinks the BBC is biased against them therefore it isn't biased is one I heard from the BBC itself, and now repeated here, so clearly some people are buying it. It's weak reasoning but sounds clever. I can't speak for anyone else and nor can you, dear reader, but from my point of view the Corporation is heavily biased towards a liberal socialism.

Do you consider the author you quote may be showing his own bias and displaying an agenda of his own? Are you aware of the background of the author? I find books with titles such as this to be bordering on conspiracy theory. Personally I doubt he is bringing any "strong arguments" to anything. Perhaps this is a prime example of confirmation bias.

Personally I feel the BBC is fair, often overly fair, giving air time ( and by extension) equivalence to all kinds of cranks. Why would a business "heavily biased towards a liberal socialism" offer so much air time to Nigel Farage and his acolytes? Surely they would just interview Corbyn and his cronies over and over again.

 

[Bertie the bus]

Most: BBC. The most scrutinised and used channel in the world, a lower risk of fakeness and motivation to influence for nefarious purposes.

The BBC, especially their website, certainly picks stories that suit its agenda in exactly the same way media outlets you describe as having motivation to influence for nefarious purposes do. You only have to look at the stories the BBC considers to be “news” and worthy of putting on its website to see that. You may consider their motivations to be worthy rather than nefarious but it’s the same basic principle.

 

[DarloRich]

top line of the BBC website @ 15:39 today:

• 5 banks fined e1bn for currency rigging
• Harry accepts damages over photos of Cotswold home
• diner served £4500 bottle of red wine by mistake

i am failing to see an agenda............................

 

[Bletchleyite]

The argument that everyone thinks the BBC is biased against them therefore it isn't biased is one I heard from the BBC itself, and now repeated here

I have never heard the BBC make that argument. I made it myself. No doubt others have made the same argument themselves too, which gives it a lot more credibilty.

from my point of view the Corporation is heavily biased towards a liberal socialism.

In what specific manner? (I suspect it is biased to some extent against fascism and the likes, but who with any sense isn't?)

 

[Bertie the bus]

top line of the BBC website @ 15:39 today:

• 5 banks fined e1bn for currency rigging
• Harry accepts damages over photos of Cotswold home
• diner served £4500 bottle of red wine by mistake

i am failing to see an agenda............................

You're trying to make a point based on 3 articles out of hundreds at a single point in time. Good for you.

 

[DarloRich]

You're trying to make a point based on 3 articles out of hundreds at a single point in time. Good for you.

Hardly.

I am simply saying that people often read into things what they want to see. I feel the BBC is more right leaning than left. Posters above feel the BBC is more left leaning than right! I think the BBC tries to be scrupulously fair to everyone leading to this issue. At times I find them overly fair, such as in relation to the brexit debate. Other media outlets don't try as hard.

 

[NoMorePacers]

The BBC seems to just go along with the position of the current government in power at the minute, that’s from my personal experience (before someone comes and says “you’re wrong you can’t have an opinion you idiot”). I’m willing to guarantee that if Corbyn was elected then they’d support him in everything.

 

[AM9]

Most: BBC - probably one of the best in the world. Everyone thinks it's biased against them, so my conclusion is that it's equally biased against everyone, which is what you want in an investigative news source.

Daily Sport, as it just doesn't bother with news anyway

Least: Any of the politicised sources, from Breitbart to the Canary. Daily Mail/Express.

In the middle: Moderate but biased UK press e.g. Times, Torygraph (though this has got rather extreme of late in UK terms), Grauniad.

I have for many years adopted the advice, 'know thine enemy', which means: understand where the other side is coming from. I take the Times, Telegraph and Sunday Times, (it's handy living near Waitrose for the free papers), on random days. The Times is fairly near my own views on the EU (not the Sunday Times though) but it can be a bit too much Murdoch. The Telegraph is obsessed with money, profit and paying as little tax as anyone can get away with, plus being frantic about leaving the EU, but for general news where there isn't much of a political dimension it can be fairily reliable. The pompous right-wing letter posted can be a riot to read.
Occasionally I take the Guardian to reset my moral compass after reading too much right wing stuff.
Behind all of this is the BBC and to a degree, Channel 4 news which gives me multi-point views on important issues.
Oh yes of course there's the valued views of some posters here on RUK as well.

 

[AM9]

The BBC seems to just go along with the position of the current government in power at the minute, that’s from my personal experience (before someone comes and says “you’re wrong you can’t have an opinion you idiot”). I’m willing to guarantee that if Corbyn was elected then they’d support him in everything.

Given that this administration is intent on the BBC's death by a thousand cuts, unfortunately, it has to bite its tongue sometimes.

 

[DarloRich]

The BBC seems to just go along with the position of the current government in power at the minute, that’s from my personal experience (before someone comes and says “you’re wrong you can’t have an opinion you idiot”). I’m willing to guarantee that if Corbyn was elected then they’d support him in everything.

Of course they do! They need to keep the government at least neutral to preserve the licence fee!

 

[Busaholic]

I have for many years adopted the advice, 'know thine enemy', which means: understand where the other side is coming from. I take the Times, Telegraph and Sunday Times, (it's handy living near Waitrose for the free papers), on random days. The Times is fairly near my own views on the EU (not the Sunday Times though) but it can be a bit too much Murdoch. The Telegraph is obsessed with money, profit and paying as little tax as anyone can get away with, plus being frantic about leaving the EU, but for general news where there isn't much of a political dimension it can be fairily reliable. The pompous right-wing letter posted can be a riot to read.
Occasionally I take the Guardian to reset my moral compass after reading too much right wing stuff.
Behind all of this is the BBC and to a degree, Channel 4 news which gives me multi-point views on important issues.
Oh yes of course there's the valued views of some posters here on RUK as well.

I adopt a very similar policy to your own in the papers I read, but I include the i, though it's nowhere near the standard of the Independent, even in the latter years. I also look at a copy of the Daily Mail if I visit a coffee shop, and note their conversion from a hard to a soft Brexit viewpoint with recent change of editor. I used to write an occasional letter to newspapers, but got bored when they (mostly) got published. However, I never cracked how to get one published in the Times,much to my chagrin!

As I don't have a TV and can't be bothered with the hassle of trying to get channels on my computer I stick with i-player and BBC for news. Yes, I do have a TV licence, by the way!

 

[Master29]

Remember my father telling me about a man he used to work with, every morning he would buy the Morning star and the Daily Express. My Dad asked him why he bought a very left wing and very right wing paper, he replied - I read both and form my own opinions, the truth is going to be somewhere in the middle!

My grandad used to tell me about an old maxim which went something like trusting about 10% of what you read and filling in the gaps yourself. He was spot on in my opinion.

 

[Calthrop]

In the interests of staying approximately sane and avoiding temptation to commit suicide; as far as possible, I ignore current affairs and the media. However, concerning the BBC and putative biases and agendas on its part: it seems that for pretty well as long as I've been alive, I've been hearing opinionated folk of various stripes, declaring that the BBC "has been taken over" by whichever group is their particular bugbear: the homosexuals, the Roman Catholics... probably at some time, I've heard someone lay that accusation against the Martians. For a very long time, any assertion about bias in any direction on the part of the Corporation concerned, has automatically activated my mental "switch off" function.

 

[DarloRich]

In the interests of staying approximately sane and avoiding temptation to commit suicide; as far as possible, I ignore current affairs and the media. However, concerning the BBC and putative biases and agendas on its part: it seems that for pretty well as long as I've been alive, I've been hearing opinionated folk of various stripes, declaring that the BBC "has been taken over" by whichever group is their particular bugbear: the homosexuals, the Roman Catholics... probably at some time, I've heard someone lay that accusation against the Martians. For a very long time, any assertion about bias in any direction on the part of the Corporation concerned, has automatically activated my mental "switch off" function.

agreed!

 

[Cowley]

I get my news from the people that shout the most angrily on here!
Oh and some bloke down the pub. He knows what he’s talkin about does Dave...

 

[LOL The Irony]

News sources I trust....


Probably only Railway Gazette International if I'm being honest
Least trust has to go to the Daily Misleader and The Corbyian.

 

[cactustwirly]

News sources I trust....


Probably only Railway Gazette International if I'm being honest
Least trust has to go to the Daily Misleader and The Corbyian.

Well you clearly don't read the Guardian then, ok some of it's columnists are a bit loony, but the main news stories are very centreist, some of which criticise Corbyn.

 

[Essan]

Depends on the story, but I rarely rely on only one news source. I do look at a lot of international news outlets on the internet. In my experience ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation - not the US lot!) is probably the best in terms of detail and accuracy. I feel the BBC* has gone downhill in terms of accuracy in recent years. Of the newspapers I prefer the Guardian for accuracy and lack of sensationalism - though I disagree with their political bent!


* That's aside from it's inherent bias against socialists, tories, liberals, the royal family, the EU, Brexiters, the Irish, Scots, English, Man City, Man Utd, Liverpool, London, homosexuals, straight people, the poor, middles classes and the rich ......

 

[DanDaDriver]

I can't speak for anyone else and nor can you, dear reader, but from my point of view the Corporation is heavily biased towards a liberal socialism.

Which is presumably why the BBC takes any and every opportunity to gratuitously fellate Nigel Farage in front of the country on an almost daily basis.