[MD] Global Warming: Science or Politics?

[Case]

[Platt]
Do you consider Fox News a credible source? If not, please explain.

[Case]
Since we are in some kind of three way here, I would say yes. When someone
on Fox says that something happened I have to agree that is probably
happened. I would not use Fox as a source for much of anything because they
actually revel in their bias. Owned by a foreign media conglomerate I think
they represent the worst in American journalism but they continue to pay lip
service to journalistic ethics.

To continue my rant on this subject I would add that the move from print to
broadcast news has not been healthy. Broadcast news is inherently shallow.
Sound bites and over simplification are its stock in trade. Electronic media
reporters influence what is happening by their very presence. Their
equipment and celebrity changes dramatically with way people act. Print
reporters may be obnoxious but at least they are inconspicuous.

Worse still, in electronic media since advertising dollars are driving by
ratings. The trend in local news has been toward fear mongering of the worst
sort. Sensationalism is the order of the day and few people can distinguish
between CBS news or Fox if you like and Entertainment Tonight and Cops.

I know you are no fan of Michael Moore but his insights in Bowling for
Columbine are profound.

While much has been made about our educational system's failure to teach the
3Rs, it is our system's failure to develop critical thinking skills that is
our greatest national tragedy. The inability to discriminate between fact
and fiction is the sad result.