Evaluating Media for Credibility Myranda Anderson Critical Thinking CRT/205 December 7, 2012 Amanda Hawkins

Evaluating Media for Credibility

The two channels I chose to watch were CNN and MSNBC. On CNN I watched “New Day” broadcasted on December 13, 2013 at 7am. On MSNBC I watched “Morning Joe” broadcasted on December 13, 2013 at 8am.

The news program I felt was the most credible was CNN. First, CNN allowed more broadcast time for their segments compared to MSNBC. CNN’s broadcasts seemed more detailed than MSNBC’S broadcasts which gave me a better insight into the story line. I compared three different stories between the two news channels. I say the stories listed below were credible even though I did not agree with some of the words used by the news reporters. For instance, the story on CNN about the laser lights, the news reporter used the word “stupid” several times. He should have chosen a better word to use or should have just omitted the word entirely. The story about Ethan Couch the news reporter used words such as “slap on the wrist”, “money influence”, and “cushy, I don’t care family”. The stories I compared were:

1. Details of “Affluenza” Trial – The trial of 16 year old Ethan Couch accused of killing four people in a DWI case. 2. Jet Blue Pilot Blinded by Laser Light – The ongoing stories about pilots blinded by red and green laser lights. 3. Bombshell Report on Missing Man – The story about Robert Levinson gone missing and working for the CIA.

Several characteristics influenced my decision about the programs’ credibility which included airtime for each story line, the emotions and facial expressions of the person delivering the story, and references given about each story line. On CNN, I watched the segment titled “Details of “Affluenza” trial”. The segment was based on the trial of 16 year old Ethan Couch. The judge’s decision was to give Ethan 10 years’ probation for the fatal accident where four people were killed. “The term ‘affluenza’ was popularized in the late 1990s by Jessie O’Neill, the granddaughter of a past president of General Motors…It has since been used to describe a condition in which children – generally from richer families – have a sense of entitlement, are irresponsible, make excuses for poor behavior, and sometimes dabble in drugs and alcohol…” The broadcast time given to the segment was almost twenty minutes. I watched the same broadcast segment on MSNBC, and the air time given to the segment was about five minutes. After comparing the two different networks news casts, I felt CNN was the overall best broadcast to watch. The news reporter for “Bombshell Report on Missing Man”, shown on CNN, interviewed several people for the segment and showed paper documents which, led me to believe the story line was credible.

Reference
MSN News. (2013). Sentence in Texas Teen's Fatal DWI Wreck Stirs Ire. Retrieved from http://news.msn.com