Fair and balanced

[Plane]

I don't recall.
What I do recall was that this person wanted to hear some good news from Iraq, and so made it seem like the news media was negligent because they didn't report on how many schools were built.  That is something that is outweighed by how many bombs, limbs amputated, etc. It just is the way news is.  Editors cut a lot of the real (that is, bad) news as it is.
Dog bites man isn't news, I was told in a journalism class. Man bites dog is news. 
"No biting occured today" wasn't even on the list as to what was not newsworthy.

Dog bites man is a common event and unremarkable , man bites dog is a rare event and is thereby more interesting.

Do you mean that good news in Iraq is too common to be interesting?

[sirs]

Dog bites man is a common event and unremarkable , man bites dog is a rare event and is thereby more interesting.  Do you mean that good news in Iraq is too common to be interesting?

And part of the misdirection Lanya is pulling, be it on purpose or incidentally, is the notion that "reporting good news" is analogus to reporting how well Cho dressed and how well his hair was trimmed when he gunned down 32 VT students/staff.  Couldn't be further from the truth.  The idea about reporting ALL aspects of the war is not specifically how many gardens have been grown, but reporting about the democracy now planted, reporting stories by those Iraqis that are grateful for our having taken out Saddam, the reporting of the polling that indicated that despite the chaos & hardship associated with war, it was worth it to get rid of Saddam and present them the opportunity to live free. 

But instead, Lanya choses to distort the notion of "balanced reporting" as some need by folks who have been supportive of the effort to combat terrorism, in their neighborhood vs ours, as a need to report on how many birds were singing during the last car bomb that targeted innocent civilians.  How about reporting on how many car bombs were detected & diffused with the lives that were saved, or how many lives were saved via sweeps of terrorist/insurgent havens & neighborhoods?  Naaaaaaaaaaaa, can't be having that.  That might give others the notion that there's a credible reason for being there, or that our efforts might be making a difference.  Can't be having that now.  That's bordering on being, dare I say, objective news reporting         

[Lanya]

No, Plane, I don't mean that.

Sirs, you can argue with what's news and not news, but not with me.  I'm not the judge of what's news and what isn't. 
There are criteria that have to be met.  If you would take a look at a Journalism 101 text, that would be a good introduction to why I argue my point the way I do. It's not like I selfishly hoard all the good news about Iraq to myself, knowing you all want a little but nooo I'm not gonna give it up.
Geez.   

What is News?

Experts agree that defining news can be a difficult task. Most journalists agree that the following eight elements make up what is considered "news."

    * Immediacy:
      Reporting something that has just happened or is about to happen. Time is a strong ingredient, "today, yesterday, early this morning, tomorrow." The newness of the occurrence makes up "immediacy" in the news.
    * Proximity:
      Facts and occurrences that are important to you personally; inflation, the Iran situation particularly if one of the hostages is someone you know or a family member of a close friend, the closing of a fire station close to your home. Such a closure is less important when it occurs across town. The question most asked by journalists is: "If this happened outside my immediate area, my city, my state, would I be interested in reading about it?" Keeping this question in mind is particularly important to the organizational PR person. You must "take off the I love this organization hat" and examine your story to see if indeed it would interest other readers.
    * Prominence:
      Prominence as a news element is well-known to most of us. The public figure, holders of public office, people of renown or those who stimulate our curiosity, people in positions of influence all enjoy news prominence. For your visitor or speaker to qualify for news prominence, he or she must be well enough known to command the attention of readers either by reputation or by the nature of the topic to be discussed.
    * Oddity:
      Oddity is often news. The bizarre, the unusual, the unexpected often make news. Generally those people who perform striking feats in emergency situations are news, such as a woman lifting an automobile off her child, traveling around the world in a sailboat, unusual recycling methods, use of materials in a different way. In journalism, oddity is defined as the "man bites dog" formula. Consider the reported rabbit attack on President Carter. That certainly made the "news."
    * Conflict:
      Conflict is one element most observed in todays with the clash of ideologies making headlines worldwide. Although most businesses and organizations shy away from the reporting of conflict, it is understandable that this element is firmly based in the news formula.
    * Suspense:
      Suspense creates and expands news appeal. The outcome of the Iranian hostages is suspenseful news. For the most part, organizations would rarely experience this type of circumstance. It is helpful to remember that news suspense is not the same as mystery suspense. However, mystery suspense in news does occur when a crime has been committed and the search is on for a suspect.
    * Emotions
      Emotions are a news element commonly called "human interest" stories that stir our recognition of the basic needs both psychological and physical. Stories that prompt the reader toward sympathy, anger or other emotions in all their variety are commonly handled in feature-type stories. Organizations should be alert to the possibilities of "human interest" stories.
    * Consequence
      The last element of news, consequence, is more difficult to explain, but generally for a story to have consequence it must be important to a great number of readers. It must have some impact for the reader. Such news will affect him or her in some personal way...the safety of the city's drinking water. The dumping of toxic wastes into the Snake River Aquifer is being examined from the standpoint of consequence now and in the future. Thus it becomes an important news story.

From this discussion of news story elements, it becomes clear that you should have these guidelines in mind when you're deciding if your message is news or an announcement; whether it's a feature or an item of limited public interest. From this you decide which format to use for distributing the information and the medium that is most likely to use your information.
 
PR Strategy Criteria Checklist
 
Back to the ARN Media Guide.

http://www.fairtest.org/arn/What%20is%20News.html

[Plane]

Have you heard that the Kurds are building a whole new city?


How would you ?


No matter how well the situation in Iraq is progressing , the news is about how well madmen are killing.


This is a strong advantage madmen have over people of good will.


Perhaps we sould just take "news" with a grain of salt because a lot of real developments do not have immediacy , or blood or one of the other things that make good news , news is by its nature the downside.


So where does one go to get a compete picture?

[sirs]

Sirs, you can argue with what's news and not news, but not with me.  I'm not the judge of what's news and what isn't.

Strange how I never claimed you had to be a member of the media to properly judge what is and isn't "news"  Common sense kinda fits the bill for that one.  The criteria that have to be met is pertinence to what's being reported.  Simple as that.  When one is providing only 1 side of an equation (story), when there is obviously another side, that is BIAS, bordering on propoganda.  Now, you might be supportive of it, when it's facilitating your POV, I'm not however.  

And here's the interesting component, how completely inconsistent you are in what should be vs what shouldn't be said.  Here' you're pushing a completely 1 sided viewpoint by the mainscream media, because hey, they know what's really news and what isn't.  Yet you were tripping all over yourself with your op-eds in demanding "fairness" in public radio, because people are apparently only getting 1 side of an opinion, and need "balance".  You believe you can judge what is and isn't appropriate opinion?  How so?