Newspapers tell you what they want you to think. Sometimes they actually lie, but usually the deliberate effort to change your opinions is more subtle. In order to get the real news, you must "read between the lines". That is, you must find the ways in which the paper is "spinning" the news, subtract the spin, and get some idea about what the real events are.
There are several kinds of articles in most newspapers. These include:
* breaking news You can get up-to-the-minute reporting on things that either have happened very recently, or which are happening right now. If a bomb has just gone off in Mexico City (three hours ago) Reuters (and other news services, such as AP, UPI and AFP) will send it out to all the media, including online newspapers. Yahoo and MSN will carry the story on the front page of your e-mail service, and the story will appear on the Reuter’s site. If you look at the little type at the top of guardian.co.uk, that is breaking news (or so they say – sometimes it gets a little old).
* daily news These stories are fact-based reporting on events that have happened within the last day or two. ‘Fire Kills Two at London Warehouse’ is and example.
* feature stories These are sometimes (but not always) fairly long, and analyze a general situation, rather than a particular event. ‘Pigs Prove to be Smart” was a feature story, and so was the long cover story by the journalist who had been captured by the Taliban.
* editorials Sometimes called op-eds (opinion editorials), these do not pretend to be unbiased. The author is obviously trying to make the reader understand an issue in a particular way, and come to a particular conclusion. ‘The Aggression in China’s Goodwill’ was the title of a recent Taipei Times editorial.
A feature story should be based on facts, without being too much influenced by the author’s opinions. However, feature stories always involve some interpretation of facts, both unconscious and deliberate. Deliberate interpretation, designed to give the reader a desired impression (possibly a false impression) is called spin. If the government wants to cover up an embarrassing defeat in battle, an official might say to the press: “Our brave soldiers held off the enemy at great cost of lives, and inflicted huge losses on the enemy. Our soldiers have retreated for the moment to assess the situation.” The official is spinning the situation to suggest that the army was not defeated at all, but making an intelligent move that will later result in victory. In fact, the army ran away after many of their guys were killed. That’s the news.
Journalists often pass on the spin they get from government officials, and they may also spin the news themselves. One technique involves “framing the issue”. To label the victims of an American bombing as ‘terrorists” gives the impression that all of the Pakistanis killed in the raid were 'dangerous criminals hoping to harm decent people with terrifying violence'. However, it is very hard for the journalist to know whether those killed were actually dangerous criminals. Another publication, framing the facts differently, would have called them “innocent civilians”. In fact, the only actual fact we get is that people died in an American bombing raid. This fact is “framed” in such a way as to give a certain impression.
As we read a newspaper, we need to ask ourselves what the bias of the editors probably is. By knowing that the New York Times is published by an Eastern Elite that is also represented in Ivy League universities, prominent think tanks (such as CFR) and the highest levels of government, we can guess that the paper is promoting the interests of that elite. If, on the other hand, we are reading the Latin American Press, we should recognize that the editors are interested in advancing the rights of the poor against corporations and right wing governments: their spin will highlight the crimes of their enemies and the justice of their friends. By reading the same story in two opposing papers, one can see (and eliminate) the spin of both papers, and find the facts that both papers agree on. That’s the actual news. For extreme examples of this, read a South Asian story in both the Times of India and Pakistan’s The Nation, or a Mideast story in both al Jezeera and the Jerusalem Post.
In order to eliminate the American point of view – common to almost all American newspapers – I like to review big stories in the Guardian, a liberal British paper.
If you don’t have much time to read a lot of papers, an interesting project is to read a different paper each day, for maybe half an hour. You will find out amazing things that the New York Times did not tell you. And, with all due respect, the Taiwan press simply does not cover world affairs. I recommend that you start with Africa, South Asia and Latin America, to learn soooooooo many things that you never had imagined.
Here's a list of valuable English-language online news "papers":
http://www.reuters.com/
Reuters is not a newspaper, actually, but a news service which feeds stories to newspapers around the world. It also offers this website, with the latest breaking news. I find it more reliable and in-depth than Yahoo News, MSN or USA Today, which also specialize in the latest news stories.
http://asia.wsj.com/home-page
Wall Street Journal (Asian edition) is also available in simplified Chinese (click at the top of the page).
http://wsjdn.wsj.com/
Wall Street Journal Digital Network offers more non-Asian stories, plus videos. I don’t know how to get the New York version on my computer here. That seems to mean that Asia is getting different news than New York.
http://www.csmonitor.com/
Christian Science Monitor recently stopped printing a paper edition, and publishes only online. Although it is operated by a (fairly liberal) Christian sect, the Monitor has a very good reputation for honest, thorough reporting.
http://www.nytimes.com/ and http://global.nytimes.com/
New York Times is one of America’s oldest and most respected newspapers. It’s affiliation with Council on Foreign Relations and the East Coast elite are common knowledge, and its opinions often coincide with currents of thought in powerful U.S. government circles.
http://www.sfgate.com/news/world
San Francisco Chronicle is owned by the Hearst Corporation, controlled by the powerful Hearst family, which made its fortune in media. It offers more coverage of the Western U.S. and Pacific, and contemporary arts.
http://guardian.co.uk/
The online version of the 2-centuries-old Manchester Guardian, traditional opponent of the Conservative Party, calls itself “the voice of the left.” It is controlled on a not-for-profit basis by the Scott Trust, established in 1936 “to safeguard the journalistic freedom and liberal values of the Guardian.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/
This online version of the Daily Telegraph is now owned by Sir David and Sir Frederick Barclay, twin billionaires who bought the business from disgraced financier Conrad Black. A large majority of its subscribers support the Conservative Party (says Wikipedia). It does offer comprehensive and fairly balanced reporting, though.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/
The BBC, or British Broadcasting Corporation, is noted as a reliable, fairly balanced, very comprehensive news source, which covers more on Africa and the Mediterranean than the American press. It’s owned and managed by the British government.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/
Times of India offers South Asian and world news from an Indian perspective, meaning the news is told with a Hindu bias, unfavourable to Islamic culture.
http://www.nation.com.pk/
The Nation (Pakistan) delivers South Asian and world news from a Pakistani perspective.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/Page/IndexPhoto&cid=1123495333292
Jerusalem Post – Mideast news Keep in mind the bias toward Jewish and Israeli interests. This source is most important for finding out what the Israeli position is on American and Mideast affairs. Israel has a very powerful influence on U.S. policy. Once owned by Conrad Black (see Telegraph), its editorial policy is hard-line conservative.
Also see International coverage here:
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/Page/IndexPhoto&cid=1123495333281
http://english.aljazeera.net/
al Jazeera, published from Dubai with Saudi capital, is an excellent news source, but its bias against Israel and for Islamic culture is very strong. Click at the left for Africa, Middle East, etc.
http://allafrica.com/
All Africa is an internet news service that reports on the entire continent in fairly good English (and French). Its news stories come from 130 different media providers. The American founder, Reed Kramer, is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. So is Tamela Hultman (chief strategy and content officer and director). All Africa is registered as a non-profit company.
http://www.lapress.org/index.asp
Latin American Press, also known as Comunicaciones Aliadas, is “a non-profit, non-governmental organization based in Lima, Peru, specializing in the production of information and analysis about events across Latin America and the Caribbean with a focus on rights, while strengthening the communications skills of local social leaders.”
http://taipeitimes.com/
Taipei Times, Taiwan’s own online English news, delivers better International – and especially Asian – news than any paper on the West Coast of the United States. I was disappointed in the Oregon newspapers after reading the Taipei Times for many years. However, it is owned by the Liberty Times (Tz-you Shi-bau) and supports the DPP against both China and the KMT. It pays to stay aware of this bias when reading related articles.
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