# CNN - The most trusted name in news?? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 30, 2003, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnn-the-most-trusted-name-in-news/178470 "2003-05-30T07:26:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![finn1911](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d78d45/32.png) [@finn1911](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/finn1911)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnn-the-most-trusted-name-in-news/178470/1 "2003-05-30T07:26:28Z")
I happened to watch a bit of cnn tonight, and was suprised to see that their slogan is “CNN the most trusted name in news”!! Personally, CNN is one of the last places i turn to for news 🙂 I’m more likely to head to the bbc or, being canadian, the cbc. Does anyone actually believe cnn to be the most trustworthy source for news? ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnn-the-most-trusted-name-in-news/178470/2 "2003-05-30T07:45:19Z")
I don’t. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnn-the-most-trusted-name-in-news/178470/3 "2003-05-30T07:51:34Z")
I don’t either. If it’s really urgent, I’ll try the BBC. I totally gave up on any news on TV shortly after September 11th. ---
**Author:** ![Alereon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecd19e/32.png) [@Alereon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alereon)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnn-the-most-trusted-name-in-news/178470/4 "2003-05-30T08:01:50Z")
They’re the most trustworthy of the major news networks, IMHO. Of course, that’s not saying much when their biggest competition is FOX “Fair and Balanced” News. It’s pretty much just whose propaganda you find less pathetic. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnn-the-most-trusted-name-in-news/178470/5 "2003-05-30T11:58:11Z")
they _used to be_ great. Now…? Feh. ---
**Author:** ![green\_bladder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@green\_bladder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/green_bladder)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnn-the-most-trusted-name-in-news/178470/6 "2003-05-30T12:16:45Z")
I’m a BBC guy ---
**Author:** ![SnoopyFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d07c76/32.png) [@SnoopyFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnoopyFan)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnn-the-most-trusted-name-in-news/178470/7 "2003-05-30T12:49:57Z")
I’m not wild about BBC but I’d take their word on something before I would CNN. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnn-the-most-trusted-name-in-news/178470/8 "2003-05-30T13:03:37Z")
I don’t get BBC News, but sometimes I’ll listen to the World Service on my computer at work (which has a much faster connection than my dial-up at home). Whether or not CNN is “the most trusted name in news”, I wish they’d bloody _stop saying it all the time!_ It’s very annoying. ---
**Author:** ![baseball\_dude12000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9c0ed/32.png) [@baseball\_dude12000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/baseball_dude12000)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnn-the-most-trusted-name-in-news/178470/9 "2003-05-30T13:25:17Z")
I wouldn’t trust any news. Most of them are only it in for the ratings ---
**Author:** ![cybersnark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b9e5f3/32.png) [@cybersnark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cybersnark)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnn-the-most-trusted-name-in-news/178470/10 "2003-05-30T13:42:26Z")
I watch but don’t trust TV news - I usually watch ABC or CBS, not because I trust them more, but because they don’t clutter the screen with crawlers. For news I can trust, I go to the internet, and use google’s news service - go to [www.google.com](http://www.google.com) and click the tab on the right. It’s from a gazillion different sources and is hot off that there interweb machine. ---
**Author:** ![swami](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@swami](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swami)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnn-the-most-trusted-name-in-news/178470/11 "2003-05-30T13:42:39Z")
Yeah, I also often read from the BBC, and don’t use CNN at all. So, I guess CNN is my most trusted **American** news source. However, I would like to know where they get off claiming that they are “The most trusted name in news”. It sounds like shamless posturing like when FOX says “We report, You decide”. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_One](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/45deac/32.png) [@Evil\_One](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_One)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnn-the-most-trusted-name-in-news/178470/12 "2003-05-30T14:55:05Z")
Anyone who educates themselves on current events and politics can watch network news and see bias. When is the last time you heard Dan Rather refer to a “left-wing” anything for example? I could go on, but this is an argument that is going to continue forever. If you bat from the left side of the plate, you won’t see it. Is Fox biased to the right? Some of the commentators are, but in the presentation of the news itself, I don’t think so. Some people are incapable of separating opinion from news. I am a 10 year veteran of the TV news business, by the way. ---
**Author:** ![Debaser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3da27b/32.png) [@Debaser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Debaser)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnn-the-most-trusted-name-in-news/178470/13 "2003-05-30T15:10:39Z")
Fox news is the only American news channel that isn’t biased to the left. This of course, makes is conservative, but only in comparison to the other channels. I don’t think that the “we report, you decide” or “most trusted name in news” taglines are _that_ rediculous. They are battling for ratings. One must expect aggressive marketing for viewers. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnn-the-most-trusted-name-in-news/178470/14 "2003-05-30T15:16:41Z")
> [@](#): > > Is Fox biased to the right? Some of the commentators are I shouldn’t do this, but curiosity makes me ask- can you name me one who isn’t? Colmes doesn’t count. > [@](#): > > in the presentation of the news itself, I don’t think so. On March 27, while showing footage of a die-in in New York, FOX’s crawl ran messages like “War protester auditions here today … thanks for coming!” “Who won your right to show up here today? Protesters or soldiers?” “How do you keep a war protester in suspense? Ignore them.” “Attention protesters: the Michael Moore Fan Club meets Thursday at a phone booth at Sixth Avenue and 50th Street.” I think this might qualify as slightly biased. ---
**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnn-the-most-trusted-name-in-news/178470/15 "2003-05-30T17:58:20Z")
CNN gets its slogan from a poll done many years ago, and whenever it gets repeated the answers are still pretty similar. I don’t know if the poll has been redone in the past year, though. On the other hand, almost everything on American TV is right-wing compared to balanced news reporting in the rest of the world. Don’t forget that _what_ a station covers is just as important as _how_ it covers it. While Fox commentators are obviously on what should be an extreme edge, their attitude does colour the actual news presentation (especially when you get crawls **Marley** points out). ---
**Author:** ![SnoopyFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d07c76/32.png) [@SnoopyFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnoopyFan)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnn-the-most-trusted-name-in-news/178470/16 "2003-05-30T18:00:06Z")
Maybe CNN figures if they say it enough it’ll come true? They know they’re on their way out … ---
**Author:** ![5-HT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/f19dbf/32.png) [@5-HT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5-HT)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2003, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnn-the-most-trusted-name-in-news/178470/17 "2003-05-31T00:23:55Z")
American News is always biased(as is every news agency anywhere in the world that I’ve encountered). Given the American political spectrum, CNN is quite left-wing, though it probably doesn’t seem that way on a world scale. The only way to find out the truth about anything in this country is to read, watch and listen to as many sources as try to make up your own mind. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2003, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnn-the-most-trusted-name-in-news/178470/18 "2003-05-31T01:19:55Z")
First off, I don’t have a television. I get most of my news from NPR. If I am intrigued by a story on NPR and want to learn more about it, I would go first to the New York Times (my coworker gives me the physical version of the paper every day, too) or BBC websites. (For fun, my home computer is cookied as outside the UK and my work computer is cookied as inside the UK. Lots more stuff on whatshisname Beckham and Posh Spice inside the UK than outside, BTW.) If I wanted to see other perspectives, I’d check out Google News. I also read The Economist. I don’t think it would even occur to me to look at [CNN.com](http://CNN.com). Unless, for some reason, I really really really wanted to know what color Scott Peterson dyed his hair or whatever crap they’re touting as “news” today. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2003, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnn-the-most-trusted-name-in-news/178470/19 "2003-05-31T01:23:59Z")
Oh, I forgot. I also get a _great_ deal of news from the SDMB. I have been exposed to literally thousands of news stories that I may not have heard of otherwise thanks to this message board. People debate about whether or not this is “just a message board” or “no, it’s a community”, but it’s also a fabulous source for keeping track and learning about worldwide current events, thanks to the international character of the board. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2003, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnn-the-most-trusted-name-in-news/178470/20 "2003-05-31T05:11:09Z")
That’s a good point. To get a real idea of the news, you need a mosaic of sources, and I get much more perspective and analysis at this message board than I would from TV news. Print too, really. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnn-the-most-trusted-name-in-news/178470.md?page=2)