Pope Francis - "There Is No Hell"

[Thesauron]

 
Not sure I agree. I use to read two or three different newspapers and the way they report the news you would often think they are talking of different events. Every newspaper serves an agenda. In this case, the journalist knew that presenting the Pope saying there's no hell would cause quite a stir.
 
Not saying the part about the Vatican being vague is not true, though.

Usually journalists describe things in different ways and emphasise different things. It doesn’t make it fake news or even necessarily wrong. Just different viewpoints. Of course, at times they don’t have the complete picture

[Thesauron]

 

Well, the claims of politicians aren't anything new. Journalists have been reporting this way, really, since the Hearst era.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_journalism#Hearst_in_San_Francisco,_Pulitzer_in_New_York

 

In truth, papers telling the cold, hard truth by sticking to facts, don't sell. Truth isn't newsworthy. Scandal and sensationalism is.

 

The claim isn’t new. The claim usually comes from those who are portrayed in a bad light. Usually a politician. Does it mean the newspapers aren’t doing their job? Not necessarily. Although, sometimes the editors are pressed by time to deliver an article before it is thoroughly checked, which is why it has lower credibility than encyclopaedias when researching an article for the Watchtower.

 

These days you hear politicians screaming fake news as soon as the news item is somewhat less than favourable.

[Bob]

38 minutes ago, Thesauron said:

The claim isn’t new. The claim usually comes from those who are portrayed in a bad light. Usually a politician. Does it mean the newspapers aren’t doing their job? Not necessarily. Although, sometimes the editors are pressed by time to deliver an article before it is thoroughly checked, which is why it has lower credibility than encyclopaedias when researching an article for the Watchtower.

 

These days you hear politicians screaming fake news as soon as the news item is somewhat less than favourable.

 

Yeah I understood what you were saying, so that's why I made my comments general. In my opinion, newspapers do their job when they report accurately because people believe what they print. So they have a huge influence on public opinion and, as a result, public reaction.

 

For example, if you would recall, during the flag salute cases concerning our brothers and sisters, papers were instrumental in promoting the violence committed on many of our brothers.

 

They have a huge impact on stupid people.

[Old]

21 minutes ago, Bob said:

 

They have a huge impact on stupid people.

 

I assume you mean the populace in general. Most people are not stupid, just misinformed.

[Bob]

7 minutes ago, Old said:

I assume you mean the populace in general. Most people are not stupid, just misinformed.

 

Actually, no, my brother. The only people that react violently to biased newspaper reports are indeed "stupid" people in my eyes. Yeah, I agree with you about the general population, but I was not referring to them.

Edited March 30, 2018 by Bob

[alohapaulette]

6 hours ago, Bob said:

They have a huge impact on stupid people.

 

"Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups."

- Anonymous.

[Thesauron]

 
Yeah I understood what you were saying, so that's why I made my comments general. In my opinion, newspapers do their job when they report accurately because people believe what they print. So they have a huge influence on public opinion and, as a result, public reaction.
 
For example, if you would recall, during the flag salute cases concerning our brothers and sisters, papers were instrumental in promoting the violence committed on many of our brothers.
 
They have a huge impact on stupid people.

You’re right. A lot of people are even inclined to believe whatever they read on Facebook or blogs without digging a bit deeper, so when a newspaper wants to push an agenda (which they do from time to time, good and bad), they are inclined to believe everything. The ignorant ones believe that journalists are always liars, and the naive ones believes everything that is written. Both forget to use common sense.

I think it’s a good idea to now and then look at your sources of information and ask yourself if you agree with everything they say. If you find that do, you need to widen your scope.

The first thing I did was ask myself what CNSNews.com is. It “is a division of the Media Research Center. The mission of the Media Research Center is to create a media culture in America where truth and liberty flourish. The MRC is a research and education organization.” They are conservative, so not unbiased. CNS means Conservative News Service.

Then I also noted that the item was in a blog post, and generally they do not have to follow as rigid guidelines as other articles.

[GoldAussieGirl]

True or not when I seen this my first thought was......

 

....maybe he has been researching on jw.org 

[Pjdriver]

On 3/30/2018 at 12:58 PM, Thesauron said:

Usually journalists describe things in different ways and emphasise different things. It doesn’t make it fake news or even necessarily wrong. Just different viewpoints. Of course, at times they don’t have the complete picture

I know over the years I’ve seen stories covering JWs, and the blood issue and a few other topics. Usually they are twisted so much to be fake news.

Many (not all) journalist have a bias. They hear a situation and naturally form an opinion based on their preconceived ideas and opinions and biases...this sometimes translates into very twisted reports and sometimes outright fake news. Wanting to sell newspapers is a big motivator as well. It’s only to be expected that the more the world becomes divided the more bias we’re going to see.

 

Wt04 9/1 15-16

14. How do the media, at times, publish the voice of strangers?

14 False accusations. Although some news reports about Jehovah’s Witnesses are fair, at times the media let themselves be used to broadcast the biased voice of strangers. For instance, in one country a news report falsely stated that the Witnesses supported Hitler’s regime during World War II. In another one, a report accused Witnesses of vandalizing churches. In several countries the media accused Witnesses of refusing to give medical treatment to their children and also of deliberately condoning serious sins committed by fellow believers. (Matthew 10:22) Even so, sincere people who know us personally recognize that such accusations are false.

15. Why is it unwise to believe everything presented in the media?

15 What should we do if we are confronted with accusations spread by the voice of such strangers? We do well to take to heart the counsel of Proverbs 14:15: “Anyone inexperienced puts faith in every word, but the shrewd one considers his steps.” It is unwise to believe everything presented as truth in the media. While we certainly do not distrust all secular information, we do recognize that “the whole world is lying in the power of the wicked one.”—1 John 5:19.

Edited April 3, 2018 by Pjdriver

[Thesauron]

43 minutes ago, Pjdriver said:

know over the years I’ve seen stories covering JWs, and the blood issue and a few other topics. Usually they are twisted so much to be fake news.

Many (not all) journalist have a bias. They hear a situation and naturally form an opinion based on their preconceived ideas and opinions and biases...this sometimes translates into very twisted reports and sometimes outright fake news. Wanting to sell newspapers is a big motivator as well. It’s only to be expected that the more the world becomes divided the more bias we’re going to see.

 

Usually it’s just misunderstandings, or bad research. Example, very few journalists report accurately about the two witness rule. They read what other people have written instead of trying to understand it. They simply do not have time or interest to find out the proper facts. Who can blame them? They are under pressure, usually from time. And sometimes they feel angry ex-Witnesses are good sources of accurate information. This is because they think we must be hiding something that only ex- embers can reveal. (So far, I’ve found nothing that we cannot freely speak about to any inquisitive mind.)

 

Fake news , on the other hand, means it is made up. That is rare. But accusations to that effect are many. It means people can refuse to take responsibility by shouting “fake news” and blaming bad journalism, in effect trying to silence them. We should be careful not to shout fake news just because don’t agree with or believe a certain sin thing.