# "Greneral Questions" information sources. Which do you trust? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 6, 2003, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greneral-questions-information-sources-which-do-you-trust/211689 "2003-11-06T12:20:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![kris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/82dd89/32.png) [@kris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kris)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2003, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greneral-questions-information-sources-which-do-you-trust/211689/1 "2003-11-06T12:20:48Z")
In General Questions people always use sources to back up thier posts. In your opinion which web source do YOU trust the most. Where would go go for reliable news etc? AND WHY? I always use BBC news [www.bbc.co.uk/news](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news) as it is funded by the public and it must, by law, be impartial. Oh and everything on it is free (inc video clips etc) and it has some great extra features (e.g. the “On This Day” pages). What’s yours? ---
**Author:** ![kris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/82dd89/32.png) [@kris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kris)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2003, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greneral-questions-information-sources-which-do-you-trust/211689/2 "2003-11-06T12:33:09Z")
Okay, I just realised this should probably belong in IN MY HUMBLE OPINION. SORRY. before you all hava a go at me. (But i suppose it could be a debate! Debating which is the best etc, so I wasn’t really wrong). ---
**Author:** ![flonks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3ab097/32.png) [@flonks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flonks)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2003, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greneral-questions-information-sources-which-do-you-trust/211689/3 "2003-11-06T12:34:25Z")
Fox News, because they told me that they are fair and balanced … ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2003, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greneral-questions-information-sources-which-do-you-trust/211689/4 "2003-11-06T13:02:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by kris \* > **I always use BBC news [www.bbc.co.uk/news](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news) as it is funded by the public and it must, by law, be impartial.** Of course, that doesn’t mean much when those enforcing the law have the same biases the BBC does. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2003, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greneral-questions-information-sources-which-do-you-trust/211689/5 "2003-11-06T13:12:38Z")
I’m grenerally suspicious of anything that contains a typo. ---
**Author:** ![mascaroni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@mascaroni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mascaroni)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2003, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greneral-questions-information-sources-which-do-you-trust/211689/6 "2003-11-07T05:44:12Z")
Me too, **Mangetrout** … ---
**Author:** ![DreadCthulhu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/db5fbb/32.png) [@DreadCthulhu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DreadCthulhu)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2003, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greneral-questions-information-sources-which-do-you-trust/211689/7 "2003-11-07T06:10:42Z")
Frankly, I would think a government news source would be the easiest thing to be biased; if the government controls the funding, what’s stopping them from making the programing go there way. Generally, I prefer to use a bunch of different news sources, and weigh the total reliabitly of each one against others. ---
**Author:** ![SentientMeat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@SentientMeat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SentientMeat)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2003, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greneral-questions-information-sources-which-do-you-trust/211689/8 "2003-11-07T10:38:59Z")
> [@](#): > > government news source If this is what you think the BBC is, **Cthulu** , you are labouring under an enormous misapprehension, which many Americans I have met here inexplicably seem to share. The BBC has impartiality written into its charter and frequently comes to blows with the government - witness the recent furore regarding claims that Iraq could launch WMD’s in 45 minutes and the Hutton enquiry into David Kelly’s death. ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2003, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greneral-questions-information-sources-which-do-you-trust/211689/9 "2003-11-07T10:52:07Z")
Once again, may I recommend Liz Curtis’s _Ireland the Propaganda War_, to show how “impartial” the BBC really is on matters in which it agrees with the Government. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Ryan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7feea3/32.png) [@The\_Ryan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Ryan)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2003, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greneral-questions-information-sources-which-do-you-trust/211689/10 "2003-11-07T21:25:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SentientMeat \* > If this is what you think the BBC is, **Cthulu** , you are labouring under an enormous misapprehension, which many Americans I have met here inexplicably seem to share. Do you believe that referring to chips as “french fries” is an enormous misapprehension which many Americans inexplicably seem to share? Americans have a defintion of “government” different from that of the British; under the American definition, pretty much anything funded by taxes is part of the government. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2003, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greneral-questions-information-sources-which-do-you-trust/211689/11 "2003-11-07T22:20:38Z")
While I don’t revere the BBC quite as much as some of my compatriots, describing it as a “government news source” is way off the mark. Makes it sound like the mouthpiece of a banana republic or something. The Beeb is not immune from government influence, but are any broadcasters? They all need licences to operate, even in the land of the free. And yes, it may have its own biases, but that doesn’t mean they are due to government interference. Could just be that the BBC reflects the prejudices of the British people. ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2003, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greneral-questions-information-sources-which-do-you-trust/211689/12 "2003-11-07T22:40:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by The Ryan \* > \*\* Americans have a defintion of “government” different from that of the British; under the American definition, pretty much anything funded by taxes is part of the government. \*\* I’m an American, and that’s a new definition on me. ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2003, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greneral-questions-information-sources-which-do-you-trust/211689/13 "2003-11-07T23:37:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ruadh \* > \*\*I’m an American, and that’s a new definition on me. \*\* Yeah, by that definition everyone drawing food stamps would qualify as part of the government. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![notquitekarpov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@notquitekarpov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notquitekarpov)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2003, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greneral-questions-information-sources-which-do-you-trust/211689/14 "2003-11-08T10:52:29Z")
and it is not funded by taxes, it is funded by a TV License. Don’t have a TV and you don’t pay. That is not a tax any more than compulsory motor insurance is a tax… ---
**Author:** ![DreadCthulhu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/db5fbb/32.png) [@DreadCthulhu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DreadCthulhu)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2003, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greneral-questions-information-sources-which-do-you-trust/211689/15 "2003-11-08T11:20:12Z")
The government takes money from you, in order for you to use something - sounds like a tax to me. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Ryan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7feea3/32.png) [@The\_Ryan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Ryan)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2003, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greneral-questions-information-sources-which-do-you-trust/211689/16 "2003-11-09T01:17:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by kniz \* > \*\*Yeah, by that definition everyone drawing food stamps would qualify as part of the government. 😛 \*\* I said “pretty much everyTHING”. The food stamp program would be part of the government. Do you or ruadh disagree? notquitekarpov > [@](#): > > and it is not funded by taxes, it is funded by a TV License. Don’t have a TV and you don’t pay. That is not a tax any more than compulsory motor insurance is a tax… If you don’t earn any income, you don’t pay any income tax, either. If one were required to buy insurance from a particular company, I would consider that company, in at least some sense, to be a government company, and I would hardly expect it to be impartial with respect to the government. ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2003, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greneral-questions-information-sources-which-do-you-trust/211689/17 "2003-11-09T11:38:36Z")
TR, are you honestly not aware that all sorts of private groups and institutions receive government funding? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Ryan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7feea3/32.png) [@The\_Ryan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Ryan)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2003, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greneral-questions-information-sources-which-do-you-trust/211689/18 "2003-11-11T22:22:33Z")
By “funded by taxes”, I meant “primarily supported by taxes”, not “receives some money from taxes”. ---
**Author:** ![notquitekarpov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@notquitekarpov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notquitekarpov)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2003, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greneral-questions-information-sources-which-do-you-trust/211689/19 "2003-11-12T09:11:21Z")
Well **DreadCthulhu** the UK government is **not** taking money from you, you are paying money to the BBC if you want to own a TV. The BBC are a public corporation but nothing to do with the government. Not sure the comparison to income tax is valid - you need income to live but you buy a TV voluntarily. And **The Ryan** in relation to my comparison to being legally required to buy motor liability insurance here in the UK if you want to drive - but it is a free market in that you can buy from whomever you like. You just have to have it from somewhere. In \*\*no/b] sense are any of them government companies and all are impartial in respect to the government. There is clearly something cultural here preventing us from understanding one another, as I freely admit that I do not understand your broad idea of “government” at all. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2003, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greneral-questions-information-sources-which-do-you-trust/211689/20 "2003-11-12T15:49:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by notquitekarpov \* > \*\*There is clearly something cultural here preventing us from understanding one another, as I freely admit that I do not understand your broad idea of “government” at all. \*\* The confusion arises from the difference between being “pro-government” in general and being pro-one-particular-government. Liberals are “pro-government” in general–they want government to provide housing, health care, welfare, business regulation, and so forth. They may _not_ be in favor of a particular administration–obviously, American liberals are not pro-Bush. When an institution is funded, in whole or in part, _by government mandate_, as are the BBC and NPR, it tends to be pro-government in the broader, liberal sense. It will, however, often be at loggerheads with the particular government of the day–especially if said government is pursuing conservative policies. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greneral-questions-information-sources-which-do-you-trust/211689.md?page=2)