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Study shows that cable "news" is lacking on the news front

As I've been saying for a long time, cable news is about as reliable as a few older drunk guys at a bar discussing politics. It's based much more on opinion than fact, and even when facts are shared, they are often times overshadowed by controversial, headline-grabbing opinions.

A new Pew Research study confirms my long-held suspicions. Of the three major cable news networks, CNN is the best when it comes to factual reporting, as 54% of the network's coverage is factual, whereas 46% of it is simply opinion. Fox News flips those numbers around, as just 45% of it is based on factual reporting (thanks Shepard Smith and Chris Wallace) and 55% of it is opinionated commentary. MSNBC's programming is showcased to only be 15% factual, while 85% of it is opinion. This means that on the three major cable news networks, it's coverage on average is comprised of 62% opinion and 38% fact.

This is a growing problem in this country, I feel, for over 3 out of every 5 stories (bits) reported on the three major cable news networks revolve around opinion and not fact, and a progressively increasing number of people are blurring the lines between the two.

Even though I admit to being liberal and my beliefs being more closely aligned to those regularly expressed on MSNBC than those on CNN or especially Fox News, I still feel it's wrong for MSNBC to spout opinions 85% of the time and continually try blur the lines between fact and opinion for viewers and listeners alike. It's becoming a growing problem for people's "facts" being dependent on partisan cable news channels. When Republicans can go to Fox News for their "facts" and these run in stark contrast to the "facts" expressed on MSNBC, where Democrats go, this often times leads to very frustrating conversations and debates between people of different political persuasions.

People wonder why I'm so good at debating politics and why I've never lost a political debate. It's because I've learned how to differentiate fact from opinion, don't mistake opinion as fact, and use fact to back up my opinion. When a person comes at me with an opinion they mistake for fact, I'm able to dismiss that opinion via fact-checking, and am further able to back my opinion with fact, the debate winds up being as fair as a grizzly bear getting into a fight with a hamster named Squeaky.

http://stateofthemedia.org/2013/special-reports-landing-page/the-changing-tv-news-landscape/
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