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by AndrewFinlayson from Chicago

Last Post 9 days, 16 hours Ago


The future of news
Jul 17, 2007 | 7:22 AM
Category: News
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Later this week I've been asked to participate in a discussion of news and look into the future of television.  It is an event being held at Northwestern's Medill Media Management Center and I've been told all the news directors in Chicago will be present.

This Center has looked at how newspapers, magazines and online media "engage" consumers.  I look forward to hearing what the researchers have to say but one of the problems I see is describing people who watch television primarily as "consumers." 

I worked with a journalist who never thought of the people consuming news.  He always called the people who watched our news his "friends and neighbors".  The more I worked with him, the more I saw his point.  We are working for you.  Many of you become our friends and given how our newsroom staff lives all over the Chicago area, many of you are our also our literal neighbors. 

We hope that this blog gives us a chance to become better neighbors and perhaps even friends.  There are some who use the internet to exclusively argue with and abuse others but I'm constantly impressed with those on this website who refuse to insult individuals and instead inspire with their personal stories and perspectives. 

I hope that is what the research will show, that our friends and neighbors feel they can safely share experiences on air and on line.   I hope that it shows that we can work together to tell important stories and in the end, make sure that we all have the information we need to make good decisions.

Of course, we invite you to tell us when we disappoint and offer advice on how we can improve.  Friends and neighbors share a community and a desire to make it better, no matter what their race, religion or income and we want to make our newscasts and this website your best place to find the stories you need. 

 

 

 

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Member Comments Total Comments: 12
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ChgoWatchdog2 read my blog
Jul 17, 2007 | 9:58 AM

No one's here to "argue", or to start arguments Andrew. Believe it or not, we too would like to see a better Fox News Chicago, but this is like a train wreck now.

Your station is deliberately misleading Hispanics, in hopes of inciting violence in Waukegan over the illegal immigration debate, and I'm sorry....that's not right.

You as a media source, have to obligation to the public to present the "truth". Not twist it to upset one side or the other.

As far as being "consumers" goes though....isn't that exactly what we are? Isn't that the bottom line of Fox News Chicago? Isn't it all about the advertisements when it comes down to it?

You guys are slowly fading out to see, and we're throwing rope after rope to try and bring you back in, and you keep looking the other way.

You have the hardest, of hard core Fox Fans here. Make use of them for a change. Try "listening" to them for a change. You might be surprised with the results.
badtothebone read my blog
Jul 17, 2007 | 1:51 PM

Thank you for the blog, we get to see we are not alone in some of our thoughts and ideas.
I hope the repot shows how bias the news is and that many times we are given wrong info.
The news has made us "consumers", pick up any news paper and thier is more ads in it then news as with magazines. Look at the internet, more ads. With the money you make on ads we should not have to be paying for our newspapers or magazines. Money is the bottom line so we are "consumers".
Just as when cable started, they claimed no
commericals, different movies every night, etc.etc. ...... Cable stinks and we pay more for it now even though most of it is commericals. The most news networks have become a big propaganda machine, as we know news is propaganda of sorts but they have taken it to the top. People say do not believe what you hear and read for a reason.
You want us to be friends and neighbors but I don't even trust my friends and neighbor anymore either, because they also say one thing and do another. Is this what they call diversity??
freeramosandcompean read my blog
Jul 17, 2007 | 4:47 PM

If you want to be a good neighbor, stop pandering with Laraza and the illegal alien lobby and start reporting every time one of the illegals commit a felony, identifying them as such - every time. Get the truth out there of the costs in taxpayer money and lives that are 100% preventable. The media has no problem giving 5 minutes to some 'hispanic activist' supporting criminal activity and your people put that in a positive light? Where are the American voices that don't get interviewed. maybe a snippet, editted to barely a sentence or two.
Where has been the coverage of ramos and compean, how the federal govt. sold out two border agents for an illegal alien drug smuggler. When we were out protesting their conviction, the media talked to illegal alien supporters, who were counter-protesting us as racists?

and as for the obama tracker? no thanks. not until he uses his education to get off the amnesty bandwagon.
MrMcgoo read my blog
Jul 17, 2007 | 5:50 PM

The future of news is bleak with the direction Foxnews in Chicago is going.
freeramosandcompean read my blog
Jul 17, 2007 | 9:16 PM

and fox does it again.
interviews a guy claiming that it is the history of the police in waukegan to harass brown people.
Then...
He said the police ask for driver's licenses and points out many of them don't have one, and reminded viewers that these people drive anyway......
and we are supposed to allow these criminals to ignore that law as well?
and handing them licenses is not the answer.
Mommacat read my blog view my photos
Jul 17, 2007 | 10:19 PM

It would be appreciated if The Media would first of all, stop deleting the posts/blogs of some of us who dare to offer an opinion that differs with one of the members of Fox. I respectfully stated that I wasn't particularly impressed with a new weather team member and my post and gave the reasons why, and my post was deleted three different times.
There have been many of us here who have offered our perspective to Fox on our blogs, on many different subjects only to have our posts deleted, passwords reset, or accounts locked completely. If you want to have the freedom of speech protected for yourselves, then you can start with upholding that same right for your viewers! Another great place to start is to really pay attention to what your viewers are saying. Many of us are not very thrilled with the whole "Spotlight on LaRaza". The Majority of the bloggers are Anti Illegal/Anti Amnesty, but the spin gets put on the issue to make it look as though it's an anti immigration issue. This is absolutely misleading, and untrue. There is a big difference between those who immigrate illegally, and those who immigrate legally. Making threats to cripple the economy, and Inciting violence against those who want our Federal laws enforced is a form of terrorism, and La Raza is one of the loudest voices singing that song. These issues, as well as a few others are turning many of us away from Fox.
Sparklebubble read my blog view my photos
Jul 18, 2007 | 7:59 AM

and fox does it again.
interviews a guy claiming that it is the history of the police in waukegan to harass brown people.
Then...
He said the police ask for driver's licenses and points out many of them don't have one, and reminded viewers that these people drive anyway......
and we are supposed to allow these criminals to ignore that law as well?
and handing them licenses is not the answer.
.. You get caught driving without having a license is a class B misdemeanor in Illinois. You get cuffed and arrested. Period. Shouldn't matter what COLOR OR RACE YOU ARE and handing out driver's licenses like candy is a slap in ALL our faces, when WE have to take a written, eye and driving test in order to get one!
.. And as for 'crippling our economy' crap? Gee, isn't that a threat? But no one cares, do they? We've heard that song & dance for years. "If We Don't Get What We Want There's Gonna Be Hell To Pay". THOSE people should be locked up for enticing riots instead of giving into their demands and kissing their as**s.. The media thrives on catering to these morons, instead of turning their backs on them and not making 'celebraties' out of the worthless pieces of scum.....
.. And I might add as well, that 10pm news show? It's a waste of time.. Just the same news repeated what we heard at 9pm.. Ya, that makes sense...
.. Mommacat, you're right on target! Seems they don't want to hear different opinions from their own. Can't handle it I guess that maybe 'other opinions' make more sense?????
slimshady760 read my blog view my photos
Jul 20, 2007 | 4:52 PM

to add one more point,

regarding the woman who is hiding in a church to defy INS laws. Her son is a citizen, so he can stay, but get her ass out of this country. It is up to the news to broadcast that point, and no station, including FOX has pointed out that she IS a criminal and should be in jail, including the priest who is aiding a fugutive.

Local police should have the power to enforce immigration laws and racial profiling, even though it may piss people off, needs to be done, because let's face it, when there are a group of minorities in a white suburb late at night, chances are they are up to no good.

If FOX really does want to be a station of the future, then you need to report the news the way it is, not the way you want to report it so you dont piss off the advertisers. By nature of FOX programming, you have a younger audience than the other stations in Chicago, and need to realize that we dont think the same way that older people do, we expect the laws to be followed and expect the news to expose when people break the laws.
Mark_Allen read my blog view my photos
Jul 20, 2007 | 10:16 PM

unlike any other ne3w sources, FOX gets access to a variety of news sources, some professional and many from just ordinary citizens with an opinion, which in many instances are not even used by FOX, so WHY HAVE IT?

Your Voice Your Choice is probably the best avenue that you currently use when you quote various people opinions, buts based on news already generated versus showing bloggers their input in to new story ideas.

Personally, I used to put "FIRST ON FOX" on my blogs because I shared them exclusively first on Fox before I shared them with other news sources, and itwas always unfortunate to see other news sources use my information when Fox had it first.

I will continue to support the blog for I learn more and more each day, and I use a lot of the input in to my other news commentaries from the balance I get here.
AvatarOfUrDreams read my blog view my photos
Jul 26, 2007 | 4:44 PM

I stopped activly watching the news... ANY news... because of the last election...

Everywhere I turned all I could see was how the facts are twisted and warped to fit into someone's narrow view of what is right or wrong.

When I do watch Fox Chicago I am now super-aware of when the story has been worded to incite a specific reaction.

It doesn’t matter who is controlling the content… The Democrats, Republicans, WHATEVER… It is all the same: Twisted to fit an agenda.

I was taught a lesson by a friend of mine… she told me there are 2 views for each event. 1. What actually happened. 2. What YOU THINK happened.

That boils down to: There is the event caught on video showing the event and there is the bias of the human standing back and watching the event take place.

Two people see the same exact thing as two completely different and distinct things.

1 fact. 2 completely disparate views.

It has become an art for me to separate the Bull$#*^ bias from what REALLY happened!

Did the cop shoot that black teenager because the cop was racist or did the cop shoot that black teenager because he was shooting at the cop?

Did the company REALLY deny her that promotion because she was a woman or did they deny her the promotion because there was a better candidate for the job?

Was that couple made to wait an extra half an hour for that table at the restaurant because they were gay or did they need to wait because there were people ahead of them that they were not aware of?

With each event there is what happened and what YOU think happened!

Nothing is r
AvatarOfUrDreams read my blog view my photos
Jul 26, 2007 | 4:44 PM

Cont:
That boils down to: There is the event caught on video showing the event and there is the bias of the human standing back and watching the event take place.

Two people see the same exact thing as two completely different and distinct things.

1 fact. 2 completely disparate views.

It has become an art for me to separate the Bull$#*^ bias from what REALLY happened!

Did the cop shoot that black teenager because the cop was racist or did the cop shoot that black teenager because he was shooting at the cop?

Did the company REALLY deny her that promotion because she was a woman or did they deny her the promotion because there was a better candidate for the job?

Was that couple made to wait an extra half an hour for that table at the restaurant because they were gay or did they need to wait because there were people ahead of them that they were not aware of?

With each event there is what happened and what YOU think happened!

Nothing is real but the base facts… Putting a spin on anything twists and warps the story past recognition.

It is not the media’s job to tell us what to think… It is the media’s job to give us the base facts so that we can make up our own minds…

I watch CNN & The Fox News Channel so that I can take BOTH sides of the story and squeeze out the truth!

I listen to both Right AND Left Talk Radio not because I’m on one side or the other but so that I’m always aware of what the whack-jobs on either end are preaching to the converted.

If you think what someone else wants you to think without examining BOTH sides then you ar
AvatarOfUrDreams read my blog view my photos
Jul 26, 2007 | 4:45 PM

Cont:
If you think what someone else wants you to think without examining BOTH sides then you are a sheep and that is sad.

I refuse to be a sheep.
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AndrewFinlayson

I am the vice president of news for Fox Chicago. It is my honor to work with some of the best journalists in this great city. We are working hard to make sure that you get the best possible newscasts and the best information on line. We thank you for your support and welcome your feedback. MyFoxChicago is another way that this station is having important conversations with the community. Thank you for watching Fox Chicago and for visiting this website.

Member Since: 9/6/2006