5 ms·

No, by every political spectrum test I've tried, I'm a democratic centrist / liberal.

pmarreck 6y ago
That doesn't mean your evidence against/assessment of NPR/BBC isn't flawed. I have certainly never thought of the BBC as biased, and NPR only slightly to the left. What do you think of The Guardian?
- brigandish 6y ago
  > I have certainly never thought of the BBC as biased With respect, I'm not sure why your opinion is relevant to whether it is biased. There are certainly many instances of bias, that like Twitter, only appear to occur in one direction. The Emily Maitlis opening to Newsnight in May[1] is one of the most egregious examples. For opinion on the innards of the BBC you can listen to Rod Liddle's (former editor of the Today programme) many, many stories about it, or John Humphries, or for instance, this interview with Robert Aitken[2]. He's promoting a book called "The Noble Liar: How and Why the BBC Distorts the News to Promote a Liberal Agenda", and whether or not you feel it's right or even right for him to write it, it surely hints that some scrutiny might be applied to claims of unbiased centrism. If you're looking for BBC reporters who you should watch for a bit of bias, Dominic Casciani is one. As to the Guardian, I was a reader for 20 years but I had to stop because it's seriously lost its way. Any given day I can find outright lies, let alone bias. I could go on but this piece[3] by the Guardian on Humpries' claims of bias at the BBC includes several quotes about his Brexit bias. He voted to remain. Maybe they didn't know - aren't journalists supposed to check? [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d88goijIsas https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d88goijIsas [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aucDmK5E4bU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aucDmK5E4bU [3] https://www.theguardian.com/media/2019/sep/21/john-humphrys-attacks-bbcs-liberal-bias-days-after-retiring-from-radio-4 https://www.theguardian.com/media/2019/sep/21/john-humphrys-... Edit: I obviously can't number properly. I promise it's not because of bias :)
  - pmarreck 6y ago
    It's funny, after I posted my comment I happened to check the mediabiasfactcheck (a site whose ratings I've come to respect) report on The Guardian https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/the-guardian/ https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/the-guardian/ and, while left-center political bias is OK by me, "factual reporting mixed" is unforgivable in this day and age. I can't accept anything less than "factual reporting: HIGH", so... The Guardian is out. :(
    - brigandish 6y ago
      Good for you. Slant is one thing - I even welcome it - but bias is another. I used to rely on a paper like the Graun to be a paper of record but I believe we've moved from the age of information into an age of epistemological mystery (a terrible name, sorry). Like with so many things, more is not always better and it seems information is no different - it does not always lead to clarity.
yawpitch 6y ago
I’ve looked at your comment history; you’ve taken political spectrum tests that were written by people so far right of you that your far right looks center, from their distorted perspective. Not unusual: we self select for confirmation bias. Through no healthy intellectual lens does the BBC look significantly left of center.
- bufferoverflow 6y ago
  No, I haven't, you just made that shit up. Why do you feel that lying to me about the tests that I took is a reasonable way to talk? I just took another test on this website: https://www.politicalcompass.org/ https://www.politicalcompass.org/ And here's my result: https://i.imgur.com/9h5l4Jc.png https://i.imgur.com/9h5l4Jc.png
  - yawpitch 6y ago
    Tests you’ve taken that you’ve selected ... my point is that you’re self-selecting tests that confirm your biases, including the bias that you’re somehow without bias... your comment history is unmistakably and indelibly right of the center, by a substantial degree, which tracks sensibly since, again, that’s the only perspective from which the BBC appears significantly left of center. Also that site’s model is laughably simplistic and its questions both leading and rather idiotically phrased; I can apparently swing from far right to far left merely by changing my stance on religion.
    - bufferoverflow 6y ago
      I linked to the test I just took. You told me I took far-right biased test. That was a lie you made up. This is a general political compass test. You're so far left, centrists look right-leaning to you. Please stop lying.
evgen 6y ago
I think we now can clearly see why you think the BBC is left-wing. You are in no possible way a centrist. You may toy with a bit of libertarianism now and then, but for the most part your extensive comment history shows you to be a bog-standard conservative. Given how the current US government is right-wing to the point of nearing fascism I can see why you might see them to your right on a political spectrum and think of yourself as somewhere close to the center, but this is not an accurate read of the situation.

That doesn't mean your evidence against/assessment of NPR/BBC isn't flawed. I have certainly never thought of the BBC as biased, and NPR only slightly to the left. What do you think of The Guardian?

brigandish 6y ago
> I have certainly never thought of the BBC as biased With respect, I'm not sure why your opinion is relevant to whether it is biased. There are certainly many instances of bias, that like Twitter, only appear to occur in one direction. The Emily Maitlis opening to Newsnight in May[1] is one of the most egregious examples. For opinion on the innards of the BBC you can listen to Rod Liddle's (former editor of the Today programme) many, many stories about it, or John Humphries, or for instance, this interview with Robert Aitken[2]. He's promoting a book called "The Noble Liar: How and Why the BBC Distorts the News to Promote a Liberal Agenda", and whether or not you feel it's right or even right for him to write it, it surely hints that some scrutiny might be applied to claims of unbiased centrism. If you're looking for BBC reporters who you should watch for a bit of bias, Dominic Casciani is one. As to the Guardian, I was a reader for 20 years but I had to stop because it's seriously lost its way. Any given day I can find outright lies, let alone bias. I could go on but this piece[3] by the Guardian on Humpries' claims of bias at the BBC includes several quotes about his Brexit bias. He voted to remain. Maybe they didn't know - aren't journalists supposed to check? [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d88goijIsas https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d88goijIsas [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aucDmK5E4bU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aucDmK5E4bU [3] https://www.theguardian.com/media/2019/sep/21/john-humphrys-attacks-bbcs-liberal-bias-days-after-retiring-from-radio-4 https://www.theguardian.com/media/2019/sep/21/john-humphrys-... Edit: I obviously can't number properly. I promise it's not because of bias :)
- pmarreck 6y ago
  It's funny, after I posted my comment I happened to check the mediabiasfactcheck (a site whose ratings I've come to respect) report on The Guardian https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/the-guardian/ https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/the-guardian/ and, while left-center political bias is OK by me, "factual reporting mixed" is unforgivable in this day and age. I can't accept anything less than "factual reporting: HIGH", so... The Guardian is out. :(
  - brigandish 6y ago
    Good for you. Slant is one thing - I even welcome it - but bias is another. I used to rely on a paper like the Graun to be a paper of record but I believe we've moved from the age of information into an age of epistemological mystery (a terrible name, sorry). Like with so many things, more is not always better and it seems information is no different - it does not always lead to clarity.

yawpitch 6y ago

I’ve looked at your comment history; you’ve taken political spectrum tests that were written by people so far right of you that your far right looks center, from their distorted perspective. Not unusual: we self select for confirmation bias. Through no healthy intellectual lens does the BBC look significantly left of center.

bufferoverflow 6y ago
No, I haven't, you just made that shit up. Why do you feel that lying to me about the tests that I took is a reasonable way to talk? I just took another test on this website: https://www.politicalcompass.org/ https://www.politicalcompass.org/ And here's my result: https://i.imgur.com/9h5l4Jc.png https://i.imgur.com/9h5l4Jc.png
- yawpitch 6y ago
  Tests you’ve taken that you’ve selected ... my point is that you’re self-selecting tests that confirm your biases, including the bias that you’re somehow without bias... your comment history is unmistakably and indelibly right of the center, by a substantial degree, which tracks sensibly since, again, that’s the only perspective from which the BBC appears significantly left of center. Also that site’s model is laughably simplistic and its questions both leading and rather idiotically phrased; I can apparently swing from far right to far left merely by changing my stance on religion.
  - bufferoverflow 6y ago
    I linked to the test I just took. You told me I took far-right biased test. That was a lie you made up. This is a general political compass test. You're so far left, centrists look right-leaning to you. Please stop lying.

evgen 6y ago

I think we now can clearly see why you think the BBC is left-wing. You are in no possible way a centrist. You may toy with a bit of libertarianism now and then, but for the most part your extensive comment history shows you to be a bog-standard conservative. Given how the current US government is right-wing to the point of nearing fascism I can see why you might see them to your right on a political spectrum and think of yourself as somewhere close to the center, but this is not an accurate read of the situation.