Is deliberate biased media reports sinnful of lying

[abcdefg]

I believe this is sinful, but which kind of sin does it belong to? lying or simply morbid desire?

my country opposes the war so all news are focused on negative events happenning in Iraq, like the death of US soldiers, civilian casualties. If all reported are true, is this still a kind of lying?

 

[puzzleannie]

Yes, and it is most sinful and damaging on the part of a so-called Catholic publication published under the auspices of a religious order or Catholic university or other institution when it prints heresy, dissent and counsel directly in opposition to the magesterial teaching of the Church. It would be better for these if a millstone were to be placed around their neck, and they be cast into a pit, than that they lead one innocent person astray.

 

[geezerbob]

Anything that attempts to deceive is a lie and includes what is said and what is unsaid. The key is deception.

 

[Catholic2003]

abcdefg:

I believe this is sinful, but which kind of sin does it belong to? lying or simply morbid desire?

my country opposes the war so all news are focused on negative events happenning in Iraq, like the death of US soldiers, civilian casualties. If all reported are true, is this still a kind of lying?

There are people who support the war, and therefore only post positive events to websites such as Catholic Answers. If all the posted events are true, is this still a kind of lying?

I would say that neither is lying. However, if the source of information claimed to be unbiased, then this claim would certainly be a lie.

 

[Trelow]

Demoralizing our troops and spreading the enemy’s propaganda is treason.

 

[space_ghost]

depends i guess whether or not were talking op-ed or just news… Usually you can get a good balance without spin from most major networks… sometimes depending upon the subject, you might notice some spin… then it depends upon which side of the fence you sit as to whether or not it’s fair and balanced…

 

[Catholic2003]

space ghost:

depends i guess whether or not were talking op-ed or just news… Usually you can get a good balance without spin from most major networks… sometimes depending upon the subject, you might notice some spin… then it depends upon which side of the fence you sit as to whether or not it’s fair and balanced…

All network media is biased. For example, CBS is biased towards the left, while Fox News is biased towards the right.

Nearly all print media is biased. For example, the Washington Post is biased towards the left, while the Washington Times is biased towards the right.

The only paper that I think has a chance of claiming to be unbiased is USA Today, which has such a diverse readership (pretty much anyone who is traveling away from home) that they can’t afford to offend either side.

 

[space_ghost]

Catholic2003:

All network media is biased. For example, CBS is biased towards the left, while Fox News is biased towards the right.

Nearly all print media is biased. For example, the Washington Post is biased towards the left, while the Washington Times is biased towards the right.

The only paper that I think has a chance of claiming to be unbiased is USA Today, which has such a diverse readership (pretty much anyone who is traveling away from home) that they can’t afford to offend either side.

i don’t buy-in to the "all network media is biased" thing… if you read my post, i said “usually”, and then it depended what the issue was… i am not that sinical… i do know that you can here things and see things that **you **want to here and read… i too get frusturated with some of the obvious slant in the news, but usually it’s the policical stuff where the slant is obvious…

 

[Tlaloc]

Trelow:

Demoralizing our troops and spreading the enemy’s propaganda is treason.

So if things don’t go well do you tell the truth, and thus commit treason, or tell a lie, and thus commit a sin?

 

[Tlaloc]

Catholic2003:

All network media is biased. For example, CBS is biased towards the left, while Fox News is biased towards the right.

I tend to disagree. All media is biased but the left right component of that bias is pretty small in general. Rather all media is profit biased. They write the headlines that they think will sell. Because the people they sell to are right or left leaning the organizations seem to be but introduce them to a different market or have things change in their market and they’ll flip flop immediately.

 

[Fitz]

abcdefg:

I believe this is sinful, but which kind of sin does it belong to? lying or simply morbid desire?

my country opposes the war so all news are focused on negative events happenning in Iraq, like the death of US soldiers, civilian casualties. If all reported are true, is this still a kind of lying?

What country are you from, and is your news restricted very much?

 

[Catholic2003]

Tlaloc:

I tend to disagree. All media is biased but the left right component of that bias is pretty small in general.

This doesn’t contradict what I said. I don’t know how to measure the amount of bias, so I make no claim as to whether it is small or large.

But here is a study anyone can perform. Take an article from www.cbsnews.com, and find the www.foxnews.com article on the same story. Show both articles to someone who doesn’t know which article came from which site, and have that person choose which article slants towards the right and which article slants towards the left. If the percentage of CBS News articles that are labeled as left-slanting is much greater than 50%, I will have proved my point.

 

[Tlaloc]

Catholic2003:

This doesn’t contradict what I said. I don’t know how to measure the amount of bias, so I make no claim as to whether it is small or large.

True it wasn’t really a contradiction just, I think, a more fundamental view of what is going on.