# What Makes The News In Your Country



## stevea

In the UK, the nightly news broadcasts have always concentrated on bad news. This has been the case as long as I can remember. Every now and then we may hear a good story about a medical breakthrough or a great scientific discovery but in general misery is preferred.

Is this the experience of people in other countries?


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## Giorgio Lontano

Sure. Robberies, murders, kidnappings and government corruption are the hot topics every day. 
International news... the "current" war. 
 
(How to say?) Cheers!


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## kittykate

Giorgio Lontano said:


> Sure. Robberies, murders, kidnappings and government corruption are the hot topics every day.


 
Same here, except that we don’t hear about _government_ corruption that much, I wonder why... 
But the favorite headline is unquestionably the weather: Italy is always in the grip of something, the cold wave in winter and the heath wave in summer – quite astounding, isn’t it?
We always have our summertime murder and then crimes happening in bunches: there's a streak of family massacres, a streak of mafia murders, and so on.
Good news is definitely a minority.

caterina


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## stevea

A pattern is emerging already. In the UK the news broadcasts often finish with a so called amusing item. While this is not in the misery bracket it hardly counts as positive.


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## piraña utria

Hi.

As far as I know that situation is very similar in comparison with our country. In fact, it seemed as if negative events, the ones which Giorgio’s described, were the only piece of Colombian reality available to show.

Even more: Let me share you how is currently divided the duration of a Colombian TV News, usually broadcasted in two-hours format: The first one is dedicated entirely to this sort of “bad news”; the second one is split into 2 parts of 30 minutes, “Sports” and “Entertainment”. 

I thought that there would be a psychological or sociological component in this issue, and media’s industry of course knew it very well: These are the only kinds of “news” which are able to promote or sell products and services.

Regards,


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## stevea

The other issue with news content is what gets broadcast about overseas events. Despite the present economic downturn, the UK like most of Western Europe is in the main affluent. The only stories that ever come from abroad are invariably negative if there are any at all. We can get news channels from abroad now over satelite so we can see some content just to get an idea of what is reported by non UK stations.

The lack of positive stories from abroad does quite a lot of harm in my opinion.


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## Miguelillo 87

stevea said:


> A pattern is emerging already. In the UK the news broadcasts often finish with a so called amusing item. While this is not in the misery bracket it hardly counts as positive.


 
Well in one news broadcast in Mexico in 13 channel; they have the same section in the end of the programm which are only good news or funny news unfourtunatly that last 10 min and the bad news last 1 hour and a half.


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## coquis14

Wether you like it or not "bad news" make the world spin around ,the main point is not to inform audience about global events , the main point is to sell something to people like any other industry , rating is the premise.I can't see any difference among all the countries.

Regards


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## curlyboy20

Bus accidents make the news here in Peru. The driving here is just insane and dangerous and many people die on the road because of all the reckless driving we have.


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## Grefsen

Usually the television news programs where I live in southern California also open with negative news.  However, for the past five days the news shows have frequently been opening with positive stories about our local "American Football" club, which had an important victory in the playoffs last weekend.  

There wasn't just a shift in the schedule for when sports was covered either.  The sports news at the top of the hour was in addition to the normal sports coverage.  In fact later in the news there was an expanded sports time slot so that just about everything you would ever want to know about this game and the club could be discussed.  

 It was also interesting to see that immediately after the team's big victory one television station decided to focus on how supporting the local club's success was just a way to temporarily escape all of the terrible economic news we have been getting for the past several months. In one instant they showed fans supporting the team at the stadium and then followed that by discussing home foreclosures and job losses in this region.


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## alexacohen

As far as I remember the news broadcast in Spain begins with national news. Usually another woman murdered by his husband/lover/boyfriend/ex-whatever). Gory details and information about the murder (and the presumed murderer, who should have been under lock and key but wasn´t).

Then international news: war somewhere and famine somewhere else. Gory images of civilians bleeding and crying (children preferred). Images of well fed, well dressed, beautiful actress holding starving baby in her arms.

Then sports. That means football, football and football. Interviews with coachers, with the newest additions to Very Important Clubs, endless discussions on why Pavlovitch is not playing next Sunday. 

Then politics. Usually some politician saying "Crisis? What crisis?"

Then something funny, possibly a penguin that knows how to tapdance.

Thank you for being with us, ladies and gentlemen. More information will follow on the nine o´clock news.


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## Kevin Beach

There's an old saying: "No news is good news". it means that, if you haven't heard anything bad about someone or something you are worried about, you can assume that everything is okay.

It works in reverse, though: "Good news is no news".


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## Paulfromitaly

Hard to answer your question without making one thing really clear: in Italy we have seven main TV channels: three are public channels (like BBC) and four are private. Our beloved Prime Minister Berlusconi happens to own (yes, you haven't misunderstood, I said OWN ) 3 out of four private channels and control at least two of the public ones through the Government.
Needless to say that what makes the news on our TVs doesn't only depend on what happens in Italy and in the rest of the World every day, but on what he wants us to know or not know.
Thank God internet and some newspapers are not under his total control yet.
This means: we know everything about his football team (Milan FC), we know something about economy (good news while he's Prime minister, bad news when he's in the opposition), funny stories or minor events just to keep us all amused and lose touch with reality.
Oh yes, some news about what he does every day is mandatory and of course some mafia stories


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## Chaska Ñawi

I listen to the news while I'm having breakfast, and again while making supper.  It is similar to Alexa's version, but with a few Canadian twists.

Assuming that there isn't a major disaster happening, such as in Gaza right now, the news starts out with the latest Canadian fatalities  in Afghanistan.  This makes me cringe every time, as I deal with the fallout every day in my professional life.  If it's a disaster, it features the obligatory sound bite of the crying baby.

Then we scan the newest business collapses, and politicians assure us that the crisis is temporary, that it won't be as bad in Canada, and that they have it under control.

Then we take a look at the weather in Canada, and snicker if Toronto, the self-proclaimed centre of the universe, has had more than five cm of snow and calls out the military to dig itself out.

Then sports ... substitute hockey for football, and it is exactly Alexa's version again.

Then a feel-good story at the end, like an entire community spending a week shovelling to dig two starving horses free of flank-deep snow in the Rockies.

And that's the news for tonight, folks.  Coming up next, "As it Happens"....


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## elirlandes

Chaska Ñawi said:


> I listen to the news while I'm having breakfast, and again while making supper.  It is similar to Alexa's version, but with a few Canadian twists.



Over the last few years, (I stopped spending so much time in Toronto  about a year ago), there was also an item on the C$ appreciating against the US$...
- Will it reach parity?
- Will Americans stop coming over the boarder to shop?
- Will all the car dealers in Windsor go out of business as people by their cars in Detroit?
- Will theatres in Toronto / Niagra on the Lake / Stratford all close as people stop visiting for the weekend?

This topic was closely followed by items on the effect of the US making travellers use a passport to cross the border?
- Will they/ won't they impliment the rule?
- Will US visitors actually get a passport, or will they stop visiting? etc


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## Cabeza tuna

Here depends of the channel, Chilevision and Megavision are channels owned by the opposition parties, so they show you murders, robberys, rapes, corruption and all that creepy stuff, Tvn is the channel of the goberment so they show you to the minsiter and the president working for their country opening news schools and all that (but they also show the most important corruption cases and murders and all that stuff), and finally we have Canal 13, that is the channel of the catolic church, they show you a really neutral point of view, sometimes the ask to the priest somethings about politics but the most of the time the have a really enutral point os view, show every national news, show the most importants murders and creepy stuff but focused in the victims and family victims (how are they, how you can help them , etc), some really good internacional news, and they have a section called reporteros, and there they can say you how to save your money and some other miscelaneus things.


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## Chaska Ñawi

This reminds me that I forgot to specify that I get my news by radio, not TV.

I suspect that there isn't much difference.

And el Irlandes is correct, there's always a story about Canadian / US relations: currency, cross-border traffic, tourism, trade (everything from mad cow disease to pulp and paper tarifs), etc.   This is because whenever the U.S. sneezes, Canada catches a cold.


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## gurseal

alexacohen said:


> As far as I remember the news broadcast in Spain begins with national news. Usually another woman murdered by his husband/lover/boyfriend/ex-whatever). Gory details and information about the murder (and the presumed murderer, who should have been under lock and key but wasn´t).
> 
> Then international news: war somewhere and famine somewhere else. Gory images of civilians bleeding and crying (children preferred). Images of well fed, well dressed, beautiful actress holding starving baby in her arms.
> 
> Then sports. That means football, football and football. Interviews with coachers, with the newest additions to Very Important Clubs, endless discussions on why Pavlovitch is not playing next Sunday.
> 
> Then politics. Usually some politician saying "Crisis? What crisis?"
> 
> Then something funny, possibly a penguin that knows how to tapdance.
> 
> Thank you for being with us, ladies and gentlemen. More information will follow on the nine o´clock news.


Here in southern EEUU, we may hear some gory details occasionally, but we don't get to see them. The most gory in my experience has always been _suggested_, such as seeing a not-yet-burning tire around a South African's head or body a few years back when supporters of rival politics were going at it. I forget what that particular torture is called.

Oh, I forget. From time to time we actually see a bull in Pamplona reacting to a human who gets too close or in the way.

It's good that footage from funny videos-type programs are never included on TV news. How much more gory can it get to watch an elderly couple sitting on a front porch swing as the swing collapses. Who would want to think about broken legs or ankles and the elderly in agonizing pain?


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## belén

I don't know about the rest of the world, but in Spain there is also another subject that takes many minutes of the 40 minutes that normally the news last: the weather.

It doesn't matter if it is summer or winter, they are always going to mention the weather in the news (and I am not talking about the weather forecast, that comes afterwards) about how the weather has affected here or there.

They will talk about rain when it rains, snow when it snows and heat when it is hot. They will interview people on the street to ask them how the snow or the rain or the heat today has affected their daily rutines and they will spend so much time discussing something that to my eyes shouldn't be so abnormal, after all. I can understand that sometimes the weather makes it to the news but having to see this "news" every day is a bit tiring...


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## stevea

In the UK we are known for our obsession with the weather. I've seen on TVE which get by satelite, that bad weather has affected lots of Spain. I was surprised to see other countires were so taken by the weather.


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## alexacohen

gurseal said:


> Here in southern EEUU, we may hear some gory details occasionally, but we don't get to see them.


If there is nothing else the camera will focus on the blood stains left by the corpse on the street; the corpse covered by a white blanket is much preferred and if the implements used to commit the crime are available that´s good news too. If the presumed killer has been found he is shown handcuffed; usually the presumed killer is shown trying to cover his head.


> Oh, I forget. From time to time we actually see a bull in Pamplona reacting to a human who gets too close or in the way.


Yes, that makes the news here too, but only during the Sanfermines.


> It's good that footage from funny videos-type programs are never included on TV news. How much more gory can it get to watch an elderly couple sitting on a front porch swing as the swing collapses.


I don´t get it. What´s funny about this?


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## ajo fresco

Our local television stations in Los Angeles have some unique priorities sometimes.

Anytime we have a big earthquake, a high-speed car chase, or any rain, it's the leading story.  Then they continue with local, national, and international news, sports, traffic, weather, and a cute or "feel-good" story at the end. 

Also, there's a lot of celebrity news, which I guess is to be expected with Hollywood right next door.


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## Cabeza tuna

alexacohen said:


> If there is nothing else the camera will focus on the blood stains left by the corpse on the street; the corpse covered by a white blanket is much preferred and if the implements used to commit the crime are available that´s good news too. If the presumed killer has been found he is shown handcuffed; usually the presumed killer is shown trying to cover his head.
> 
> Yes, that makes the news here too, but only during the Sanfermines.
> 
> I don´t get it. What´s funny about this?


 
A lot of people can think than that is funny, here we have a program called golpe bajo is like the mtv program Punk'd, and is very high rated here, I really think than is not funny but the most of the people think than is really funny.


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## bb008

Hola

En una oportunidad en Venezuela, un grupo de jóvenes lograron sacar un periódico donde informaba sólo buenas noticias, pregúntenme el nombre, ya ni lo recuerdo.

En general si observan los periódicos verán que siempre informan sobre los peores sucesos, sean naturales, políticos entre otros y de toda la información sólo dos o tres son buenas noticias, el resto viene cargado de violencia, amarillismo etc., etc.

Saludos.-


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## Cabeza tuna

bb008 said:


> Hola
> 
> En una oportunidad en Venezuela, un grupo de jóvenes lograron sacar un periódico donde informaba sólo buenas noticias, pregúntenme el nombre, ya ni lo recuerdo.
> 
> En general si observan los periódicos verán que siempre informan sobre los peores sucesos, sean naturales, políticos entre otros y de toda la información sólo dos o tres son buenas noticias, el resto viene cargado de violencia, amarillismo etc., etc.
> 
> Saludos.-


 

Aquí hubo un intento de sacar un diario bueno, con chistes y humor acido pero con buena informacion, pero perdio su rumbo y se transformo en un chiste... www.theclinic.cl ahí está, puedes verlo. Recuerdo tambien que en canal 13 (canal católico) una cadena de farmacias auspiciaba *la* noticia positiva del dia.


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## coquis14

bb008 said:


> Hola
> 
> En una oportunidad en Venezuela, un grupo de jóvenes lograron sacar un periódico donde informaba sólo buenas noticias, pregúntenme el nombre, ya ni lo recuerdo.
> 
> En general si observan los periódicos verán que siempre informan sobre los peores sucesos, sean naturales, políticos entre otros y de toda la información sólo dos o tres son buenas noticias, el resto viene cargado de violencia, amarillismo etc., etc.
> 
> Saludos.-


El problema para esos diarios es que no pueden vender lo suficiente como para sustentarse ya que no generan interés en una masa lo suficientemente grande.El negocio está en vender miedo , amarillear y todo eso que mencionas , lamentablemente...

Saludos


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## gurseal

alexacohen said:


> If there is nothing else the camera will focus on the blood stains left by the corpse on the street; the corpse covered by a white blanket is much preferred and if the implements used to commit the crime are available that´s good news too. If the presumed killer has been found he is shown handcuffed; usually the presumed killer is shown trying to cover his head.
> 
> Yes, that makes the news here too, but only during the Sanfermines.
> 
> I don´t get it. What´s funny about this?


This is my point. It is not funny. I am squeamish about watching "funny" footage of old people getting hurt. I object to its being shown.


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## Miguelillo 87

You know yesterday I was thining in this topic and I rememeber a documental that I saw in my school, It talked about that new broadcasters don't say all the true and anly give the notice it's convenient for them (We have a big mafia between Televisa and Tv Azteca the major tv enterprises in Mexico) and the documental said, They don't show all the bad things the country is passing through; problem in the countryside; in education, security, governament etc.., So if we think about that; if News don't have bad news , people think to be cheated; WhY? Because if we only receive good news we feel they are lying to us and they try to hide something. Obviosly I alo agree with the fact that bad news sell more than the good ones


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## Paulfromitaly

Ohh..I forgot to mention the second most important personality of my country: the Pope!! 
Not a days goes by without the Pope  commenting about what happens all around the World and "suggesting" what good Catholics should do.
That means not a day goes by without the Pope and the Church making the news.


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## gurseal

Paulfromitaly said:


> Ohh..I forgot to mention the second most important personality of my country: the Pope!!
> Not a days goes by without the Pope commenting about what happens all around the World and "suggesting" what good Catholics should do.
> That means not a day goes by without the Pope and the Church making the news.


Paulfromitaly, since the Pope is a daily fixture on the news, does the segment about the Pope last as long as the weather, sports and news or is the segment shorter or longer?


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## stevea

The posting by PaulFromItaly makes me think of the things that don't make the news in the UK. There is hardly any debate about the Royal Family and there value to the UK and there is also little debate about atheism. Recently a campaign by the secular society in the UK gathered an enormous amount in donations to put posters on city centre buses. This was spontaneous from an thread started on a web site. In other words nothing to do with conventional media. Examples like this make me feel our media is out of touch and underestimates some strands of popular opinion.


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## kittykate

In addition to the Pope, animals, showbiz and entertainment also get a lot of space in our TV news: we get full coverage of things like Knut the bear or the latest 007 movie, every single day. 

I just learned that teachers in the UK are dropping the Holocaust not to offend Muslim pupils: has that piece of news gotten the attention it deserves?

caterina

EDIT: It appears that the Daily Mail is not quite reliable and that that piece of news is a fake
BBC News


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## Paulfromitaly

gurseal said:


> Paulfromitaly, since the Pope is a daily fixture on the news, does the segment about the Pope last as long as the weather, sports and news or is the segment shorter or longer?


It actually depends on what channel we're talking about and the relevance of the issue the Pope has commented about.
A large part of the political parties here are influenced by the Catholic Church and they kind of control one of the three public channels (RAI 1).
On that channel there's some news about the Pope his recommendations every day.
On the other channels he's not on the screen every day, yet at least a couple of times a week.
I believe that rather than a matter of how long the news regarding the Pope lasts, it's a question of timing: it's often the opening news.


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## chifladoporlosidiomas

ajo fresco said:


> Our local television stations in Los Angeles have some unique priorities sometimes.
> 
> Anytime we have a big earthquake, a high-speed car chase, or any rain, it's the leading story. Then they continue with local, national, and international news, sports, traffic, weather, and a cute or "feel-good" story at the end.
> 
> Also, there's a lot of celebrity news, which I guess is to be expected with Hollywood right next door.


 
I feel the same way!!! We have our _occasional_ bad story, usually a shooting (most recently the BART shooting), budget-cuts (most recently education), or a natual disasters (fires in the south, mini-earthquakes, the sun shining too bright, etc.). But otherwise than that, it's usually all good news (medical break throughs, HEALTH AND WELL-BEING, celebrities, achievements in the area, etc.). I guess it's just in California; we don't really like bad news.


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## gurseal

ajo fresco said:


> Our local television stations in Los Angeles have some unique priorities sometimes.
> 
> Anytime we have a big earthquake, a high-speed car chase, or any rain, it's the leading story. Then they continue with local, national, and international news, sports, traffic, weather, and a cute or "feel-good" story at the end.
> 
> Also, there's a lot of celebrity news, which I guess is to be expected with Hollywood right next door.


ajo fresco, I just remembered that in the Los Angeles area you all have had smog alerts and air quality reports during certain times of the year. Still have them?


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## ajo fresco

gurseal said:


> ajo fresco, I just remembered that in the Los Angeles area you all have had smog alerts and air quality reports during certain times of the year. Still have them?



Hi Gurseal,

I hardly hear the term "smog alert" in the news anymore.  These days they call it "air quality."  It's tucked into the weather report, unless the air gets bad enough to be a public health hazard (such as during the wildfires) -- then they'll devote a separate story to it.   

I don't know if the air quality in the L.A. basin has improved that much (I don't live in L.A., but those are our closest TV stations), or if smog just isn't considered as newsworthy as it used to be.

Ajo Fresco


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## Adolfo Afogutu

alexacohen said:
			
		

> As far as I remember the news broadcast in Spain begins with national news. Usually another woman murdered by his husband/lover/boyfriend/ex-whatever). Gory details and information about the murder [...] Then international news: war somewhere and famine somewhere else. Gory images of civilians bleeding and crying (children preferred).[...]Then sports.


Ídem





			
				 "Chaska Ñawi" said:
			
		

> Assuming that there isn't a major disaster happening, such as in Gaza right now, the news starts out with the latest Canadian fatalities in Afghanistan.


Ídem de ídem; de las cosas más estúpidas que se pueden ver, pero sucede lo mismo en todos lados: en España, en Argentina, etc. Murieron 180 personas pero toda la crónica se centra en la única víctima connacional.

Because of all that has been said here, the Internet will become one day the dominant and most popular source of news. It is still behind TV but I guess that would not last long. All around the world, more and more people want to turn from being passive listeners of news into active readers and listeners.  Don’t you want to hear that Kaka has passed the whole night in prayers, talking to God to help him decide whether to stay or leave Milan? Turn the TV off and “catch the mouse”. I believe this is a worldwide tendency these days, especially between young people.


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## havle

Our news channel always have bad news. It starts with the political news which is usually has a very bad news and pictures, mainly because here (in the Middle East) there's a lot of war and many innocent people are killed.

Then the economic news, sometimes it's good sometimes its bad, but better than the political one anyway. Sport come next and finally a unique (good) story or report about cultures, medical, etc.


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## gurseal

havle said:


> Our news channel always have bad news. It starts with the political news which is usually has a very bad news and pictures, mainly because here (in the Middle East) there's a lot of war and many innocent people are killed.
> 
> Then the economic news, sometimes it's good sometimes its bad, but better than the political one anyway. Sport come next and finally a unique (good) story or report about cultures, medical, etc.


My question is to havle from the Middle East, but since it brings up the matter of women in the workplace, perhaps a moderator may feel it necessary to make it a different thread.

havle, you mention that after the sports report come other reports. Forgive my ignorance, but do news programs ever include segments on cuisine, gardening, travel and the like? Who presents these segments on your local or regional news? What about in other regions of the Middle East?

In my region, such reports are presented by both sexes.


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## havle

gurseal said:


> My question is to havle from the Middle East, but since it brings up the matter of women in the workplace, perhaps a moderator may feel it necessary to make it a different thread.
> 
> havle, you mention that after the sports report come other reports. Forgive my ignorance, but do news programs ever include segments on cuisine, gardening, travel and the like? Who presents these segments on your local or regional news? What about in other regions of the Middle East?
> 
> In my region, such reports are presented by both sexes.


I'm not sure if I got your question, but if you are asking about the gender of the reporters and announcers then it's both male and female. Both present the political, economies, sport, and other reports. That is for 90% of the TVs.


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## gurseal

havle, that was my question. Thanks.


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## knudder

> Robberies, murders, kidnappings and government corruption are the hot topics every day.


 
Here in Argentina it's about the same. Football covers a lot as well.

I think it's sick when, for example, after someone has had a car accident, they ask them immediatly after it nonsense questions like: How do you feel? What happened?, and this comming from reporters.


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## PABLO DE SOTO

belén said:


> I don't know about the rest of the world, but in Spain there is also another subject that takes many minutes of the 40 minutes that normally the news last: the weather.
> 
> It doesn't matter if it is summer or winter, they are always going to mention the weather in the news (and I am not talking about the weather forecast, that comes afterwards) about how the weather has affected here or there.
> 
> They will talk about rain when it rains, snow when it snows and heat when it is hot. They will interview people on the street to ask them how the snow or the rain or the heat today has affected their daily rutines and they will spend so much time discussing something that to my eyes shouldn't be so abnormal, after all. I can understand that sometimes the weather makes it to the news but having to see this "news" every day is a bit tiring...


 


I absolutely agree with you.
The most striking thing about the news in Spain is the new obsession for the weather.
Some years ago, only in very rare occasions the weather was part of the news itself. Actually it was news when there were casualties or real extreme situations, but now news are the snow in winter, the rain in autumn and the heat in summer.
I think they are trying to create a state of opinion about the "craziness" of the climate.
The most stupid thing to me is when in summer ( hot since the Romans in Spain) they give advice about how to behave: drink water, do not go out in the early afternoon and so on. Do they really think people do not know how to act when it is hot?

I wonder if the snow is part of the news in Moscow


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## mirx

Miguelillo 87 said:


> (We have a big mafia between Televisa and Tv Azteca the major tv enterprises in Mexico) and the documental said, They don't show all the bad things the country is passing through; problem in the countryside; in education, security, governament etc.., So if we think about that; if News don't have bad news , people think to be cheated; WhY? Because if we only receive good news we feel they are lying to us and they try to hide something.


 
I feel the same way, I don't think in Mexico it's all about good news. The comment from Italy also made me laugh when he commented how the have whole segments on animals. I remember when Keiko died (star of Free Willy) the whale was all over the TV. Or every time a Panda succeeds to reproduce there's a whole show on the screens, then we have entertainment: "Paulina Rubio is now on crack". "Did Thalia marry Tommy Motola only because of his money?", then sports, the weather, in which by the way, broadcasters also make recommendations on what to do. In the summer drink a lot of water, wear light clothes, avoid being under the sun for long periods of time; in the winter avoid crowded places, don't sleep with heaters on, drink lots of liquids, wear warm cloths. I do find this information very informative.

And even though we don't have so many bad news, I wonder if we really want to hear about long-existant but unresolved problems: Narco, corruption, discrimination, pollution, immigration, manifestations of all kinds and colors, etc... No thanks, I guess I'd rather stick with the panda stories.


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## coppergirl

stevea said:


> In the UK, the nightly news broadcasts have always concentrated on bad news. This has been the case as long as I can remember. Every now and then we may hear a good story about a medical breakthrough or a great scientific discovery but in general misery is preferred.
> 
> Is this the experience of people in other countries?


 
Also speaking regarding television in the UK, I agree with this view. In addition to concentrating on bad news, the thing that gets to me is the way that there is an increasing tendency to dramatize the news in this country. This means the newsreaders use their voices and tones and choice of words to convey a sense of drama, even when the stories could be read in a more independent or balanced tone. Everything from today's weather (bad, snow, planes missing runways) to hospital nursing staff shortages get covered in a heavily dramatic tone. Like we're all going to die if a hospital in Kent doesn't do something right now about the nursing staff shortage. 

This is even worse when a scientific article is covered, even if it relates to a part of the world fairly far away. I think this tendency is also fairly widespread in the newspapers, but anything like an asteroid barely missing the planet (by many million miles), the Large Hadron Collider about to destroy us all, or an outbreak of MRSA in one hospital in the country can leave newsreaders vying with each other to tell the tale in the most dramatized fashion. 

This might just be the UK though. I'm not really sure what happens elsewhere, which is why I'm reading this thread.


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## PABLO DE SOTO

coppergirl said:


> Also speaking regarding television in the UK, I agree with this view. In addition to concentrating on bad news, the thing that gets to me is the way that there is an increasing tendency to dramatize the news in this country. This means the newsreaders use their voices and tones and choice of words to convey a sense of drama, even when the stories could be read in a more independent or balanced tone.
> 
> This might just be the UK though. I'm not really sure what happens elsewhere, which is why I'm reading this thread.


 
Your point is really interesting. I had never thought much about it but I am afraid it also happens recently in Spain.
Any piece of news can be broadcasted as a drama, supposedly with the aim of being less boring and trying to catch the attention of more people.
I think this is especially remarkable in sports news, and maybe sports news were the pioneers of this tendency to dramatize, but now, as I said in a former post, the weather has become the star of the drama.


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## Judica

Television News:

Doom and gloom .... the doomier and gloomier, the better.

Crime, murder, some really weird death, corrupt politician investigations, other politicians having health problems, more politicians, the state of the economy,  drug addicted celebrities, something exploding somewhere, war and starvation.

The weather. If there is snow forecasted, according to various reporters' behavior, we're all about to die. Then hours and hours of updates showing some reporter standing on a street discussing the size, depth, and direction of the falling snow.

If it is going to be hot, we are given 'ozone alerts' and messages to drink water.

Sports.

Feel good story. Either the progress of local school systems or animal story (ie. a polar bear getting a root canal).

Newspaper News:

That's all opinion and not news at all. Highly biased depending on the reporter's political views. They do not "report" incidents, they tell you what to think of an incident and only show the 'favored' side.

You can not get open ended (non-biased) international news unless you use the internet.


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## coppergirl

Judica said:


> You can not get open ended (non-biased) international news unless you use the internet.


 
That is also my impression of news in the USA from when I grew up there.  There is a fairly pronounced bias.  

In fact, in the UK they try hard to stay objective when it is a question of an issue with two sides to it, but it is difficult partly because most of the people reporting have similar ideas of ethics, so it is hard for them to try to report purely objectively.  They do try hard here though.  Points for trying.


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## stevea

coppergirl said:


> That is also my impression of news in the USA from when I grew up there. There is a fairly pronounced bias.
> 
> In fact, in the UK they try hard to stay objective when it is a question of an issue with two sides to it, but it is difficult partly because most of the people reporting have similar ideas of ethics, so it is hard for them to try to report purely objectively. They do try hard here though. Points for trying.


 
This is only true (in part) of television and radio news. The press is generally heavily biased towards the right. It's interesting this business about the weather. I thought this was a British obsession.


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## gurseal

And then there is the "news" program where the focus, for example, may be on the latest case of filicide or triple murder and where the host of the program rants his or her opinion about the suspect's involvement for dozens of minutes.  And, after all of that, there's no breakthrough in the case or the breakthrough becomes fuel for additional ranting. 

Not that I think the host should rave.


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## WordRef1

in northern California USA...
I used to have my alarm clock turn the radio on the in morning to wake me up. There are amusing morning programs. However, they would have the local or semi-local news on right at first. I got tired of hearing gory stories about children being murdered and stuff like that before I was even awake enough to put up my defenses against the world. I changed my alarm clock.
I don't watch tv, but if I am listening to National Public Radio or some such, they have the news which is usually about fighting and devistation in Africa or the endless conflicts in the Middle East, particularly Israel vs. Palistine. There are stories about conflicts elsewhere, but while this stuff may not be the only thing they ever talk about, it's very frequent - Africa and Middle East are pretty much the most horrible places active enough to bother talking about one gets the impression. India vs. Pakistan gets in there sometimes too. So, one can listen to either local murders or murders in far off foriegn countries. Take your pick. Then the regular programs also cover the "housing market" caused financial collapse around the country and the world. We're at like 10% unemployment here. I don't get the impression that the news stories are frivilous, just not helpful to me.

Funny/bizarre anecdote: I was with some friends in Mexico last summer to see the singer Alizée in concert. She would frequently be on the front page, often next to stories with full color photos of riots and murder scenes. A little sunshine through the storm clouds? Well, I don't understand Spanish so I'm not so sure what they all said (but bought them all anyway).


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## elirlandes

In the UK there is a really strong bias towards anything that involves the suffering of animals. By way of example, there was a dreadfull terrorist act in 1982 where the IRA detonated a bomb in Hyde Park in London. Most people in the UK will remember that as the day that the IRA killed 7 horses, but in fact 3 soldiers were also killed. There was an item on the news on television last year when the last of the surviving horses died, and yet there was no mention of the unfortunate soldiers...


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## SpiceMan

coppergirl said:


> In addition to concentrating on bad news, the thing that gets to me is the way that there is an increasing tendency to dramatize the news in this country.


That's the same everywhere, I think.

I remember, for instance, that years ago in Argentina, TV news and newspapers simply stated tormentas(storms). Nowadays it's a "meterological alarm" (alarma meteorológica).

But speaking on TV news... I think nothing beats Argentina's Crónica TV, a subclass 24-hour news channel that fill the whole screen with some big caption, in their particular wording. 

And they cover ANYTHING, from the national presidential election to "UFO in Bariloche" through:

"Drunken driver almost causes tragedy. Batman sole witness". (actual TV shot 1)

or

"Partying grampas
Brothel for the elderly that included bus trip and viagra for clients closed down in Italy" (actual TV shot 2)


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## WordRef1

SpiceMan said:


> That's the same everywhere, I think.
> 
> I remember, for instance, that years ago in Argentina, TV news and newspapers simply stated tormentas(storms). Nowadays it's a "meterological alarm" (alarma meteorológica).
> 
> But speaking on TV news... I think nothing beats Argentina's Crónica TV, a subclass 24-hour news channel that fill the whole screen with some big caption, in their particular wording.
> 
> And they cover ANYTHING, from the national presidential election to "UFO in Bariloche" through:
> 
> "Drunken driver almost causes tragedy. Batman sole witness". (actual TV shot 1)
> 
> or
> 
> "Partying grampas
> Brothel for the elderly that included bus trip and viagra for clients closed down in Italy" (actual TV shot 2)


Well, I just laughed so hard it's a little painful. So, that is a bit different.


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## almufadado

The case in Portugal:

*- Newspapers :* When the main broad media discovered that the most sold newspaper was "O Jornal do Crime" ("The Crime weekly") they started filling their pages with the "most horrendous" crimes. 

40% of the pages are know crime related, being sometimes ... most of the times just a sort of Crime manual, with all the do's and dont's of how to commit a crime.

30% is football (soccer) related mostly gossip (men do gossip too!),including Ronaldo's latest girlfriend (2 pages at least)

10% economy, most of the time "sponsored" news.

10% politics depending of the "good fortune" of an unrolling scandal. Also if the ownership is pro or anti government party so the "music goes".

The "serious media" makes more of opinion articles and some "investigation journalist", follow the general politic trends, but in their core they are bias toward one political party depending on ownership.


_*Television : *_"populism" arrived with the four open channel setting. More and more news reports are filled with propaganda, and they only when "public opinion" clearly shifts, the start "going with the flow". 
"RTP 1" is the state owned channel presents the "government party friendly" news (or you can get fired or have a nice place on the "shelf"). Programs are filled with "low grade" thematics, and educational thematics are about 1% of the grid.

"RTP 2" also state owned, are a broader channel with private programs, has the more "intellectual" series, and "talk shows". Educational thematics are about 55% of the grid.

The other two, ""SIC" and "TVI", are of right wing ownership, but too "go with the flow" when needed. The talkshows and soaps rule. Programs are filled with "low grade" thematics, and educational thematics are about 1% of the grid. 

In all the game/quiz shows more of a way of paying "favors" mostly, as the selection process is quite "interesting". 

There's a fierce fight with talkshows, just the most inventive and appealling way of "killing time" (can i say "murdering time" ?). 

Now they started with a this paid call quizzes, to refinance (can i say "re-stealing" as it is a rip off ?) them selfs, as it seems advertising does not do the "trick" anymore.

Soccer rules by far, and it's the main theme in Portugal, and most of the times super seeds all other news of the day. Recently, a referee mistake lasted for 3 weeks !!!!, even overshadowing the case of our presumably corrupted prime-minister.  

The global news trend (mostly of American origin) make the standard or the "official" view.

*Cable Television* - Restricted to anglo-saxonic media and programming. After the recent economic "downfall" even "Aljazeera" got out of the main packet. There's the spannish "TVE", and the french speaking "TV5".
"Galicia", and italian "RTI" were taken out of the main packet to be replaced of soaps channel.
From all, I seem to live in America, as the voice off in portuguese sometimes say "in our country"  when speaking of America to a national audience.
The highlight of this is "the History channel" that seems more and more a full propaganda channel, which includes (re)writing recent history. 

Side note: Sometimes it seem I still live in the 50's when UFO's were the instillated fear. This successful way of propaganda still thrives.   

_*Radio -  *_From all state owned radios, through some liberalization, to regional pirate radios, to re-grouping, culminated with to an all "right wing" owned radios. Propaganda spreads like cancer, the playlists are so "Sony" it makes me p...  . When some radio starts touching "the fringes" it get promptly bought.

In music selection , they also have to go with the p2p scene, (as concert promoter have, with "p2p stars" filling big concert halls).

In conclusion:
This is just *a subjective view of the media* in my country, having now other ways of comparison, including internet, cable, foreign newspapers, etc.


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## Grumpy Old Man

Negative news does get coverage in Finland, too. That may be an accident involving many people, the current worldwide economic crisis or something similar.

Apart from that, most of the foreign news comes from the big countries, the EU and our neighbours. Domestic affairs are also reported, of course. Sport is covered quite extensively, especially ice hockey, and Formula I as two of the drivers are Finns.

Every major newspaper has a weather report and a weather forecast is an integral part of TV news as well. Other than that, the weather isn't very often mentioned in the news unless it has been very exceptional.


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