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One thing to keep in mind, as biased as it can be the media in the West is based on a journalistic tradition that lets it operate free from government interfere

One thing to keep in mind, as biased as it can be the media in the West is based on a journalistic tradition that lets it operate free from government interference. The media in authoritarian countries like China and Russia has no such tradition and has, from inception, existed to advance the government's positions. This does not mean the West is free from bias but no one really is. So while Western journalistic outlets may be far from perfect, you have the opportunity with them to get less politically biased information. The best of them are actually quite good at providing factual, less biased information. The same is not true of China and Russia. One tradition offers more truthful and factual reporting than the other (which in reality offers nothing less than full on governmental propaganda... especially in the case of the Chinese media. They provide a counter narrative in the same way that the Saudis have provided a counter narrative to the Khashoggi murder).

Viliam1234 8y ago
Also, nothing prevents China and Russia from having their own newspapers in the West... and they are going to have them... so it's not like reading Chinese or Russian propaganda gives anyone info they couldn't access otherwise.
yorwba 8y ago
Yes, if you had to choose between Western and other sources of journalism, you'd probably have a higher chance of getting reliable facts from Western sources. But there's no need to make that choice. You can read a diverse selection of sources and compare their reporting to not only get a more accurate approximation of the truth, but also to notice what various sides focus on. The latter means that even if one side only publishes complete lies, the things they choose to lie about still tell you something.
dingoegret 8y ago
This is just false. Western journalists are plutocratic and rely on their relationship with their governments to compete for access to information and reports. Information that their governments are the gatekeepers of. It's the reason Aljazeera was so heavily penalized during the Iraq and Libyan war by being cutoff by American and Nato governments to officials and reports from those sources. Journalists in the west also tend to be hyper nationalistic and partisan. They tow their political party's line just like any state run media. Western journalists are invited to government parties and meetings, enjoy gifts and interviews from officials. Journalists in all parts of the world are extremely biased and all news outlets act as propaganda outlets for the people in power in their country. Western media has the added danger that is its touted as being more credible than other media.

Viliam1234 8y ago

Also, nothing prevents China and Russia from having their own newspapers in the West... and they are going to have them... so it's not like reading Chinese or Russian propaganda gives anyone info they couldn't access otherwise.

yorwba 8y ago

Yes, if you had to choose between Western and other sources of journalism, you'd probably have a higher chance of getting reliable facts from Western sources. But there's no need to make that choice. You can read a diverse selection of sources and compare their reporting to not only get a more accurate approximation of the truth, but also to notice what various sides focus on. The latter means that even if one side only publishes complete lies, the things they choose to lie about still tell you something.

dingoegret 8y ago

This is just false. Western journalists are plutocratic and rely on their relationship with their governments to compete for access to information and reports. Information that their governments are the gatekeepers of. It's the reason Aljazeera was so heavily penalized during the Iraq and Libyan war by being cutoff by American and Nato governments to officials and reports from those sources. Journalists in the west also tend to be hyper nationalistic and partisan. They tow their political party's line just like any state run media. Western journalists are invited to government parties and meetings, enjoy gifts and interviews from officials. Journalists in all parts of the world are extremely biased and all news outlets act as propaganda outlets for the people in power in their country. Western media has the added danger that is its touted as being more credible than other media.