# When did the news media stop trying to appear non-partisan? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [June 21, 2017, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-news-media-stop-trying-to-appear-non-partisan/789542 "2017-06-21T15:31:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Salvor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Salvor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Salvor)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-news-media-stop-trying-to-appear-non-partisan/789542/61 "2017-06-29T09:04:56Z")
When news has to turn a profit, then more viewers are the most important thing. And people tend to like watching news with a point of view vs sterile reporting without it. That’s most of the answer. You see this on the right with talk radio and the left with comedy shows that talk news and lean left like Bill Maher and formerly John Stewart. Now that everyone is getting news from a point of view, the viewers tend to self segregate their sources even more. This in turn increases the social divide among liberals and conservatives. How’s that sacred profit motive ALWAYS being a force for good now, conservatives? ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-news-media-stop-trying-to-appear-non-partisan/789542/62 "2017-06-29T11:27:18Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > I’d argue that the BBC is worse than the American news channels. The US news shows make no attempt to hide their bias so you know exactly where you are with them. With the BBC the bias (as there is bias in all news reporting) is subtle, hidden and very difficult to spot until you look hard or listen carefully. I much prefer bias to be out in the open where you can see and allow for it. American news channels, are, in my professional opinion, mostly terrible. There are some exceptions, though - CNN was pretty good from what I saw of it the last time I was in the US. And while I’m not pretending the BBC is perfect or completely unbiased, I still think they’re the gold standard for more or less “just the facts” journalism. If I want to know what’s going on with an issue, in my professional opinion the BBC is an excellent baseline to start with. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Ace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6bbea6/32.png) [@Johnny\_Ace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ace)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-news-media-stop-trying-to-appear-non-partisan/789542/63 "2017-06-29T16:43:37Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > American news channels, are, in my professional opinion, mostly terrible. There are some exceptions, though - CNN was pretty good from what I saw of it the last time I was in the US. > > And while I’m not pretending the BBC is perfect or completely unbiased, I still think they’re the gold standard for more or less “just the facts” journalism. If I want to know what’s going on with an issue, in my professional opinion the BBC is an excellent baseline to start with. I go to BBC to get a fair view of what people outside of the country think about what’s going on here; the specific news about it is pretty much the same as I get from CNN. Unfortunately, there just isn’t that much that they cover (which isn’t all that surprising considering they’re a European news service dealing with mostly European news). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-news-media-stop-trying-to-appear-non-partisan/789542.md?page=3)