Originally Posted by
Andy_Faber
IMO there's two aspects, biased reporting of stories and 'controlling the narrative'.
In respect of the former, the printed press most definitely do, reading a Guardian and Daily Mail spin on the same story makes amusing reading. I don't think the broadcast media are quite as bad but there is IMO a clear left (BBC, CH4, Sky) / right (LBC, RT) 'inclination'.
In respect of the latter though, I think there's a definitely a level of control being exercised, or maybe the media are just trying to recover the level of control they had before social media punched a hole in their bubble.
A very current example is the way the news of the Birmingham stabbings has been reported. Two of my family DJ in that area and are therefore fairly well connected, and a broad description of the perp was circulating on their social media around 3am - yet the media (maybe in some respects led by the police) declined to mention his colour throughout yesterday, and as far as I'm aware still haven't despite now showing a video. Forgetting all other reasons, that's out of order from a public safety point of view, because how can the public help the Police or keep themselves safe if they don't know who/what to keep themselves safe from?