By Jamie Cooley//Staff Writer
Former CBS reporter and investigative journalist Sharyl Attkisson gave a lecture to MTSU students about the current state of media biases on Tuesday night in MTSU’s Tucker Theatre.
Attkisson was introduced by MTSU Electronic Media Communications professor Chris Clark, who emphasized the importance of our first Amendment.
Atkisson discussed why networking agencies seem to all cover the same stories on a given night.
“In the big picture, all three networking agencies; CBS, NBC, and ABC, all use similar decision-making processes to decide which stories go in the news and which stories will not be presented,” Attkisson said.
She claimed that ideological biases are just one factor that sensors what goes into the media.
“If certain stories didn’t fit this executive producer’s ideological or political ideas on what the public should know; those stories often didn’t make the news.”
Attkisson brought up the issue of propaganda and “astroturf” in her lecture and how they manipulate readers by making them feel like the “outsiders” if their opinions differ.
When Attkisson opened up for questions from students, she was asked what media outlets truth-seekers should look to.
“I wish I had the magic answer,” Attkisson said. “Unfortunately I can’t say that there’s any website that you can go to where all of the information is true.”
More of Sharyl Attkisson’s ideas are available in her recently published exposé, Stonewalled: My Fight for Truth Against the Forces of Obstruction, Intimidation and Harassment in Obama’s Washington or at SharylAttkisson.com.
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