Lester Holt - "fairness is overrated". This is downright SCARY>
 

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From a major Network News "Journalist" on NBC NIGHTLY NEWS. This is the man responsible to edit and deliver NEWS. But listen to this direct from his mouth>

NBC's Lester Holt says we don’t need to hear both sides to define truth: ‘Fairness is overrated’

NBC News anchor Lester Holt received the Edward R. Murrow Lifetime Achievement Award from Washington State University Tuesday evening, an honor given to those who demonstrate a commitment to excellence.

In his acceptance speech, the longtime journalist offered his advice to others in the field, emphasizing the value of truth-telling.

"I think it’s become clear that fairness is overrated ... the idea that we should always give two sides equal weight and merit does not reflect the world we find ourselves in," Holt said on Tuesday night while accepting an award at the 45th Murrow Symposium.

"Decisions to not give unsupported arguments equal time are not a dereliction of journalistic responsibility or some kind of agenda. In fact, it's just the opposite. Providing an open platform for misinformation, for anyone to come say whatever they want, especially when issues of public health and safety are at stake, can be quite dangerous."

"Our duty is to be fair to the truth. Holding those in power accountable is at the core of our function and responsibility," he said. "We need to hear our leader's views, their policies and reasoning. It's really important, but we have to stand ready to push back and call-out falsehoods."
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"Providing an open platform for misinformation" "Misinformation" - In WHOSE Opinion????
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NBC's Lester Holt Emphasizes 'Regard for Truth' as He Accepts Edward R. Murrow Award

So when it is the journalists idea of the truth it is ok to give a one sided report of the news.

Scary.

Exactly what the old Soviet Union newspaper, Pravda, did in it's reporting. Did this so-called journalist work there early in his career?

Not surprising. That is how these people think. "Your opinions are just that, opinions. My opinions are simply the way things are."

They also believe that pretty much everyone in the world agrees with them and are genuinely surprised that people hold different opinions.

The job of these people should simply be to report on what's going on not to express their opinions. Of course, even if they do only report what's going on, they choose to decide what is it that is important enough for them to report on and what is not. That is why we often don't see or hear stories in the media about things that we believe are important.

I believe in the first amendment and the importance of a free press, but things have gotten to the point where the press is not just free, they are a controlling force in this country.

I wish I had a solution to this problem but I don't. There's always a fine line between controlling something and violating the constitution.

Same with the second amendment. We all want to keep guns out of the hands of people that use them to do bad things, but how do we do that without violating the rights of good law abiding citizens.

These are not easy questions. I think that 24 cable news and social media both hurt and help the situation. It's up to the people to get on social media and speak out against abuses of power by the media.

there are news outlets and commentators that tell you upfront where they are coming from, what has been called the "mainstream media " has for years pretended to be unbiased and have massaged public opinion due to the tendency of people not to listen carefully or use critical thinking .Journalism is dead, decades ago someone questioned new journalism grads and found 80% wanted to "change " the would distinctly different from telling people what was happening , and the internet is much worse, find and watch "The Creepy Line " video , it gives some insight as to how your searches are steered

So in a discussion of the shape of the earth the media should give equal time to those who believe it is round [ish] and those it is flat? This is the kind of situation Holt is discussing. When one side has no credible evidence and the other side has an overwhelming amount of evidence, the credible evidence should be all that is presented perhaps with a brief mention that not everyone accepts that conclusion.

You need to understand what Holt meant by "fairness" It is not fair to crazies refuse airtime to the flat-earthers. But it is not fair to the viewer to present flat earthism as an equally supported position by giving it equal time.

It is not fair to be compelled to tell how some believe that Hugo Chavez controlled our last election or that someone ran a child sex ring in the basement of a pizza parlor or that there is a world wide Jewish scheme to control everything [see Henry Ford]. Some beliefs do not deserve to be treated "fairly". That is what Holt meant. Lies do not deserve fair airtime.

Thanks for an accurate well written understanding of his remarks.

Problem for many on this forum, without lies, they believe in zero. Nothing. Again, these are National Enquirer readers almost to a tee.

Reading this thread and the inane stupid comments ref The Daily Sun, I am convinced that these people don't like the media because it is over their head.

Or, they just do not care to even try.

I am convinced we have slipped into 3rd world status the last few years, and in reading the foreign press, and hearing from a few friends in Europe and Asia, we (Americans) are considered dullards who live to hate (skin color, heritage, political party...matters not). We are considered a nation of know nothing's who follow the loudest and most bizarre folks. Remember the folks who were attracted by this stupid headlines on the Enquirer...we have become a nation of them.

The fact that Lester Holt made comments that were so grossly misunderstood and then posted about is a testimony to our lows.

Rejecting truth for gross accusations and conspiracy theories and allowing that to be your entire basis, and then to post on here about it is simply scary.

Nah, what's kinda scary is that you seem to have taken little parts of Mr. Holt's acceptance speech out of context & directly counter to his explanation of what he meant.

"I think it's become clearer that fairness is overrated," he said."Before you run with or tweet that headline, let me explain a bit. The idea that we should always give two sides equal weight and merit does not reflect the world we find ourselves in. That the sun sets in the west is a fact. Any contrary view does not deserve our time or attention." (This quote is also directly from the Yahoo! article you linked to in your OP.)

Other parts of the article you quoted, but didn't highlight, is that he specifically mentioned not giving "unsupported arguments equal time" and that "Our duty is to be fair to the truth." Both seem to be pretty important pieces of his speech. Finally, misinformation should not be a matter of opinion. If there are no demonstrable facts presented, or at least scientific consensus, then it is opinion.

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"LITTLE PARTS"???? "out of context"... Did you Not see the quotes???

You>

"not giving unsupported arguments equal time"
BASED UPON WHAT AND WHO?

"Our duty is to be fair to the truth."
WHO'S TRUTH???

" Finally, misinformation should not be a matter of opinion."
WHO'S OPINION???

"If there are no demonstrable facts presented, or at least scientific consensus, then it is opinion."
WHO'S OPINION???

Do YOU NOT see a dichotomy here? ...if you don't know what that means, here it is:

something with qualities or features that seem to conflict with one another

I ALWAYS look on the other side of an argument. Would YOU feel the same way about this if it was said by a Fox News anchor or such? please...
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What you are saying is exactly what NBC and other news outlets do. They edit certain parts of a comment, snip content, or misquote. Are they lying? Probably not. They are just presenting the information to fit their narrative. I guess it is up to the viewer/reader to decide for themselves. In most cases, if you agree with their narrative, they are telling the truth. If you do not agree, they are misrepresenting the truth.

In the past few years, we have been burdened with outlandish statements to defend bizarre behavior. Most of those statements were either a new conspiracy theory or defamation of a person...Much of those came from our top people in government.

While, most (Greatest part) of them were flat out lies, because the United States Government was involved, it became a joke trying to follow the lunacy.

So many on here cried out for the days of the evening news and the sanity......in those days when America was great, and conspiracy theories were reserved for the grocery store checkout line, we had civil conversations, with never a nod to the whacky headlines we saw checking out.

Holt simply said it well, in saying these things deserve no attention. You can say (in a nod to MLB opening day) that you were cheated while video shows there was no cheating. We have wasted a lot of time chasing these things (which probably was their intent) but they serve no purpose in a civil society.

The comment was not aimed at any media, but the selected quotes by a poster..in this case the OP

I keep asking for examples (I am sure some must exist) of the accusations made against news coverage (I bolded news because it is obvious many cannot differentiate between news and comment Was not that hard in the past

That is my point. You are taking the OP to task when the news media does the exact same thing.

Need one example please

"Some beliefs do not deserve to be treated "fairly". That is what Holt meant. Lies do not deserve fair airtime."

THAT is exactly what he meant. Obviously, those who would rather believe lies (especially big ones) and conspiracy theories - don't agree.

Only 9% of Americans have a lot of trust in the media and 60% have no trust at all.

So here's some stuff that shouldn't be fairly "evenly" reported from "both sides."

1. This is the country known as the United States of America.

If you want to claim it's not true, that this is not the country known as the United States of America, you don't deserve a "fair" representation. You're wrong, period.

2. Cotton fabric is made from plant substance.

If you want to pretend it's actually the dried, processed snot of aliens who came to the planet and blew their noses in fields 40,000 years ago, your information is not credible and doesn't deserve a "fair" representation. You're wrong, period.

3. McDonalds sells Big Macs.

If you live in a reality where McDonalds sells Wendy's Hot-n-Juicy-Burgers, more power to ya. Your warped view of reality doesn't deserve a "fair" representation. You're wrong, period.

4. Masks can reduce the risk of COVID-19.

If some stranger on Frontline or Stormfront or 8Chan or Parler or whale.to or anywhere else is telling you that masks cause sickness and can't help anyone with the hoax virus, then your delirious brain cells cannot be trusted, and you don't deserve a "fair" representation. you're wrong, period.

I'll give you one... During the Mueller investigation, Adam Schiff claimed that there was ample evidence that Trump colluded with Russia.
Schiff: 'Ample evidence' of collusion between Trump campaign, Russians

That was one person's claim. Yet the media didn't label it as "unsubstantiated" (as they have done repeatedly to Trump's claims that there was voting fraud). They reported it "as is."

The Mueller investigation reported that there was NO collusion. Yet MSM reported it as "news" for months.

Adam Schiff lied about the Trump probe — and the media let him

Some see that the bias of the MSM is obvious. Others are oblivious to the not-so-subtle wording in MSM stories.

Those annoying facts seem to get in the way. Fact check everything, period! You can have your own opinion but not your own facts.

media
 

The mainstream media slants everything to fit their own agenda, has been doing so for years, and is much worse now. We all need to be CRITICAL THINKERS, and use our own common sense to to determine what is really happening in the world, and especially here in America. In other words, THINK FOR YOURSELF PEOPLE, because if we don't, we become changed from people to sheeple.

You and Lester Holt are spot on!!!!!!!!!

So you are saying responsible journalists should perpetuate a lie?

I don't want to rehash the first impeachment, but your recitation of what was said and what was found is generously incomplete. The first link you provide to a US Today story is very very clear in what it says, well beyond the headline. In it Schiff says that there were several interactions between members of the Trump team and Russian operatives. He carefully states, fully reported in the story, of these interactions
This MSM story is extremely clear and very accurate. There is no crime of collusion. No one has ever been criminally charged with collusion because such a crime does not exist. Collusion is a term to describe an interaction between parties that does not rise to a conspiracy. It describes an interaction, teamwork, mutual support toward a goal that many would see as nefarious but not illegal. Of course Mueller did find crimes committed by members of the Trump team, and Russians working toward a common goal:
Of course the Mueller report did not make of finding of collusion, because it was looking for evidence of crimes and collusion is not a crime. It did find, and substantiate many interactions and episodes of coordination and cooperation.

Directly from the Mueller report page 181
Your statement: "The Mueller investigation reported that there was NO collusion" is patently wrong. The report clearly says collusion is not a term on which it makes a determination as collusion is not a legally prohibited act and is not legally defined.

You can say the report did not say "collusion happened" because it cannot define and charge such activities as did occur as "collusion"

Congressman Schiff as cited in the article and the Mueller report when finally issued [and the full unredacted report is still not available] are 100% in agreement. Stuff happened as described in the contacts described in Volume I, Section IV which was not conspiracy per the legal requirements. Now explain to me again how what US Today reported was a lie?

Take it easy, you’re shouting. Yes, you took parts of what Lester Holt said & highlighted smaller parts of that WITHOUT the context of his own explanation, which started with “Before you run with or tweet that headline, let me explain a bit.”
There’s really no such thing as ‘whose truth’. If an argument is unsupported, by definition there are no corroborating FACTS, which relegate it to opinion status.
E.G.: Wildfires in California have been caused by power transmission lines, lightning & arson. (Provable fact)
vs.
Wildfires in California have been caused by space lasers. (Something else entirely)
My meaning here is that whether or not something is misinformation shouldn't be a matter of opinion. You’re equating truth & opinion, which are not the same – although they can be. There is no such thing as my truth vs. your truth, only different opinions, values, beliefs, viewpoints, etc.
I really do see the dichotomy between opinion and fact and have tried to explain that here.

FOX has nothing to do with this, as far as I am concerned. Why would you even ask that? And, really, this whole overblown issue is ancient history. The FCC abandoned their own so-called 'Fairness Doctrine' in the late 80's, which, among other things, required broadcasters to air dissenting views along with their own presentation of certain types of stories. Read all about it here: FCC fairness doctrine - Wikipedia

Thank you for your thoughtful and well-reasoned comments.

Bull
 

He will only report things he agrees with. What a crock! He is supposed to give an unbiased reporting of the news. What an unprofessional charlatan. He obviously thinks that citizens in the USA need to be molded into people who think just like he does. He should be fired!

Nice extreme examples.

Who gets to decide when it is not so obvious?

I think the operative word in your argument is “unsupported “. If Lester Holt keeps to standards of proof before he reports on an issue they why shouldn’t anyone else ?

And there lays the problem.......since when did reporting the the news become “ an opinion report” and not a News report?
Why can’t you just report what happen without adding or sliding in their views. The left media has forgot how to report news they now just report opinions.
This is why you can watch opinion (news) stations anymore.
No one fairly reports anymore

There is little to no accurate reporting today. It’s clearly just social media now. Both on television or online. Our college’s are so infected they offer very little free speech. Now they are targeting our children’s schools. History is out fiction is in.

I’m sorry, but I have to agree with Lester. When one side is complete nonsense, the purveyors of such nonsense do not have the right to equal time to express their opinions. When I’m watching SpaceX launch a rocket into orbit, I don’t want half of the coverage to be wasted by some idiotic flat-Earther who’s saying that it’s all a lie and a conspiracy.

And who determines the "lies"? Who determines what "facts* are common?

Facts are arbitrary and political these days. Shame on you. If yob ask Hillary why she lost the election her answers will be different than Trump's. Who gets to decide the truth....Lester Holt the Demonrat?

Wakeup and see that supporting this new method of "reporting" is not supporting reporting at all.
It's called indoctrination, it's called Big Brother, it's called Communism.

No surprise, the entire main stream media is in cahoots with our socialist government. Censorship, manipulation and control is the agenda. They only tell you what they want you to know. Wake up folks.

For those of us who do not have a response to the subject, it has been a great read! Keep it up, this is the way a forum should be.
Good Morning to all.

You’re on to something “Wake up folks.” :bigbow:

Go back and read the highlighted section about providing an open forum to anyone. I couldn’t agree with him more.

So when there is a problem with the old Ford Pinto having the gas tank explode on a rare occasion of a rear end collision, the network reports it with a fake explosion to manipulate the news as just one example. Then, there is the report on flooding in a news report from a women in the flood waters in a canoe only to have 2 guys walk by in the report in ankle deep water. The News reporting at times now is nothing but sensational BS.

Somehow I think Mr unbiased Holt is talking about the last election. And hes full of it!

This is just the start . Agree or you are racist!

I fully understand what he was saying. But when you have a news network like NBC, covering someone and that coverage is 95% percent negative, or when there is a real story out there that is not reported on that is not journalism it is an agenda, and any sense of fairness goes out the window