biased news

[Rory7]

I've been noticing lately on the site that the news has slowly just started to turn into a page which slaggs of everything Microsoft or anything remotely monopolistic, and its about as pro Linux as i'll ever see. Wouldnt it be wise to present news more objectively.

 

[Godataloss]

I dont think Microsoft has had too much to brag about lately and you are welcome to present alternate news stories or your view point. Sure there are a lot of Linux fanboys, but that just speaks to the quality of the nerds here at techspot- they even converted me to firefox though I still hate what it does to the cursor as you type.

 

[Julio Franco]

We are always looking for ways to improve our content and we appreciate constructive criticism. And even though I definitely wouldn't consider us biased towards anything, I'd once again appreciate if you can take some time to point out what comments you considered out of place, etc.

Thanks.

 

[Rory7]

An example of the top of my head would be Microsoft Being More Scroogey. I not complaining, just saying perhaps it would look more professional if you worded things more objectively.

Edited by Poertner_1274: Watch language, even when trying to get point across

 

[Phantasm66]

The purpose of the front page is to report on news.

Microsoft have been receiving some very bad press recently.

I can't help what happens in the news. I can't help the fact that IE gets a new security flaw found every week, or that Microsoft is cutting costs and laying off workers - they did this, not me.

I've just been reporting it.

Naturally, this can lead to a bit of "hacker mud-slinging" which can have an anti-Microsoft basis.

But if you are afraid that this is about to turn into a "Microsoft Haters" site, then no, its not.

Microsoft slagging has become something topical right now. That time will pass and soon IT and PC sites will be talking about something else. DOOM III, perhaps. Or HF2.

 

[poertner_1274]

Very true Phant, although at the rate those games are going we all might be dead before the real hype gets going about them

 

[Didou]

Well Phant isn't a news bot so don't expect him to simply drop generic news items. Phant likes to give a few comments on the news item he has just posted but always leaves the link for the original news article so you can make up your own view of the matter.

I'd rather have it that way, then just some link with a quote.

 

[Nodsu]

Regular users can post in the news thread. Rory7 could balance things out by posting references to pro-MS news if he can find any.. MS press releases don't count!

 

[BrownPaper]

I think if there is a flaw that everyone should know about, then we should get the news. Whether it be Microsoft, Linux, MacOS X, IE, Mozilla, or Opera, we should be given the information so we can understand what is going on. It just so happens that Microsoft has been having a bit more problems of late than its competition, that it may seem bias. There is no denying the flaws or faults however.

 

[Godataloss]

Well Phant isn't a news bot so don't expect him to simply drop generic news items. Phant likes to give a few comments on the news item he has just posted but always leaves the link for the original news article so you can make up your own view of the matter.

This seems to enforce Rory's point. Any news article should be simply a reporting of facts otherwise it's an editorial. Perhaps Phant should give the headline then offer his "color commentary" within the thread like the rest of us. When Rory started the thread, I thought he was complaining about the AMOUNT of anti-MS news which is entirely MS's fault, but perhaps he is correct about the slanting of the stories- we wouldn't like TS news to start resembling FOX News now would we?

 

[Phantasm66]

If many of you think this is a serious issue, then we'll take it on board.

To be honest, I wanted to stir up a bit of discussion. Its just a bit of fun, really.

There are plenty other things to attack in the IT world. A bland and featureless front page that merely cut and pasted the facts would be boring and not particularly worth reading.

But I strongly feel its pretty clear what's opinion and what's fact in the news I have covered.

AND - I stick to my original point! Microsoft have been receiving bad press recently and I've been reporting that and commenting accordingly.

When another company shafts the consumer I will be hard on that too - the day may well come when Intel, AMD, Nvidia or something else may do something lame.

 

[Godataloss]

There are plenty other things to attack in the IT world. A bland and featureless front page that merely cut and pasted the facts would be boring and not particularly worth reading

Phant, the facts are the news, and I dont find news boring. And while I personally don't find your commentary particularly distracting, the world is populated with many exceedingly impressionable people. To me it is actually less effective reporting if you say in words what the facts logically infer. This isn't your personal Blog after all.

 

[Phantasm66]

Originally posted by Godataloss
This isn't your personal Blog after all.

That's a very good point and a fairly astute observation - I thank you for making it. Remember that this is a learning curve for me. I've not done this long.

I am glad you care enough to post that and I thank you for doing so. I think I agree with what you have said.

Well, after a fashion...

One point I do want to make is that I am not some kind of blind Microsoft hater - far from it.

I was an NT/2000/XP admin for several years and they have some good stuff. OK, for every Windows 2000 there's been a Windows ME but they are an important part of computing.

However, one might think differently about some of their business practices. I am not the only one who thinks this. Whole States in the US have taken Microsoft to court and they have legal problems galore. And yes - there ARE lots of security problems being found with IE right now. And people have to know that, because we PAY for this software, we don't get it free like Linux.

So I agree with some of the things you have said, but I stick by some others.

When someone else (i.e. AMD, Intel, the CIA) wants to mess with you, I will post about that too. After all, its news.

I get my stories from coverage of other news sites, and if I do a lot of Microsoft stuff right now, its mostly because its topical and interesting (I think.)

 

[Godataloss]

That last post is so full of contridictions, that I don' t think I need to point them out.

More to the point take the lead-in paragraph for the current TS top-story.

Microsoft's Internet Explorer has been hardly critiziced over the past few months given the impressive number of security holes found which has kept increasing as times passes. Rest assured however no piece of software is perfect and with all the attention PC security is getting nowadays, it came as no surprise a new security flaw discovered in Mozilla browsers caught the big headlines earlier today:

Now from all the vitriol in this lead-in one might think that the story is about all the past bugs in IE or about security in general, but in fact the whole point of the article is downplayed- "it came as no surprise a new security flaw discovered in Mozilla browsers caught the big headlines earlier today" If it wasn't a suprise, it wouldnt of been news at all, but in fact, it was the whole point of the story.

Again, I must repeat this is not reporting, this is editorializing and Phantasm, if that is your goal fine, but don't claim impartiality (in a bloggish-crusading kind of way even)-

When someone else (i.e. AMD, Intel, the CIA) wants to mess with you, I will post about that too. After all, its news.

and then write things like this

However, one might think differently about some of their business practices. I am not the only one who thinks this. Whole States in the US have taken Microsoft to court and they have legal problems galore. And yes - there ARE lots of security problems being found with IE right now. And people have to know that, because we PAY for this software, we don't get it free like Linux.

That said, I'm likely to be the most opinionated MF you are ever to come across and lord knows I have poked my opinion in many a discussion simply because it was there to be poked, but then again, I'm not in charge of the news...

 

[Godataloss]

Phant I apologize- my first example was a news story by Julio, but I'm not gonna edit it because I feel my argument is still valid, but now you and Julio have to SHARE the blame.

 

[Phantasm66]

thanks for all of your comments.

 

[Godataloss]

you bet!

 

[Julio Franco]

I've been following this thread closely while staying away from posting in order not to influence your opinions. On a general overview, our news reporting comprehends those stories which we find relevant to our audience as the PC Enthusiasts we are ourselves.

I believe there is not much to add onto the Microsoft bias thing. In the other hand, Godataloss came up with some interesting arguments. The fact is however, this IS kind of our blog and for years I've been sharing my opinion on every piece of article I've written for TS (and way before it).

Then of course this is not your usual blog and the reason is objectiveness as we find ourselves in a position where we must deliver to the community and we are commited to it.

If there's a reason for reading TechSpot and not some other site (although I much recommend the approach of reading a handful number of sites/sources) is probably because you've been involved with the medium and because you find the opinions and information found here valuable to you, not to mention the opinions of others within the community.

 

[Rick]

When I go to CNN, I expect objective news.

When I come here, I don't.

I expect some flavor. Editorials, opinions on events. As long as the facts are there (which they always are), some amount of subjectivity is fine with me for any computer gaming/hardware site.

Techspot isn't a news site. Techspot doesn't have press, reporters etc.. The news articles are almost always linked to a full news article elsewhere from a site dedicated to giving your objective news, like c|net. While Techspot does have original "stories" from time to time, the frontpage is mostly a consolidation of what's current so we don't have to view 20 websites.

 

[SNGX1275]

As Rick said the facts are there, the headline might not be the headline of the story being posted about, but there is almost always a quote from the article and then the link to that article.
News posts are there to present to you a portion of the story written by someone else and then a link to read that story, then you come back here and post your reply to previous comments made in the thread because you are now educated on what just happened.
I think the point is being missed on what the news threads are for. As far as I knew (and I've been here for a long time) the news was for people to read the actual story, and come back and have a discussion about that news story. I don't understand why people think there is a spin or some false news being represented. The comments made by the poster are opinions, the facts are in the article that is likely quoted, and always linked.

 

[Phantasm66]

That's certainly been my intention. I've tried to make it clear what are my thoughts and what is the actual news.

 

[Goalie]

Not to get flamed as a fanboy or anything, but Slashdot has a rather subtle way of marking the editorial color commentary and the "news article" (which usually contains its own color commentary, but let's assume it's just fact for now. ). The "original" article is in italics, the editorialization is in a normal font after the article.

Perhaps adopting a subtle mannerism, like, but not copying that, would be in order? Personally, I enjoy the news, but I also enjoy the commentary as often it'll take a perspective that I wouldnt' have considered. You could do something like posting the article, then a line of =====MY OPINION===== then editorialize, etc. I'm sure we can find someone with a better idea on it.

Actually, I've got an idea, but it's a pita to code so I'll keep my yap shut.

EDIT: As a side note after rereading comments above this- I like the commentary on our "copied" articles when we link to others. When TS does an "original" article, however, I think I usually find it much more to the point and with less opinions in it- more like what you'd expect in a report. That should be commended. And of course, props to everyone who keeps us running and entertaining.