(Partly?) Ban RussiaToday (RT) as a source in Sensationalist Headlines - General

I'll be blunt - personally I think that the news site is a horrible source for information and should be banned. Here are some recent examples that have been posted: [URL]http://facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=1305436[/URL] [URL]http://facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=1304875[/URL] A post from Sobotnik (of all people) in this thread kind of sums up my thoughts: [quote=Sobotnik] Russiatoday is a shit source. It actively says that the 9/11 attacks were carried out by the United States government on its own people. It says NOTHING about the gay laws in Russia. It offers NO CRITICISM of the Russian government whatsoever. It bans dissenting opinion on their talkshows. It's so laughable biased and shit that even Reddit banned it. Fascists and White Nationalists frequently cite it as well. Other media is fine. It just can't be shit. At least put secondary sources instead of sucking Putins cock. [/quote] [URL]http://facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=1304391[/URL] (even though this was an op-ed, still... jesus christ) [URL]http://facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=1303562[/URL] [URL]http://facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=1303381[/URL] And there's more, but these are from the first 7 pages (within the last week). If you read through them, you can see complaints from other FP users about the source in which they sometimes quote specific parts that were especially retarded. It's not that the site is satire (sometimes it seems like it), but it's legitimately biased and is horribly written and managed. It's basically a propaganda machine for the Russian government. Though their reason for banning RT was dumb, I think reddit (r/news) had the right idea in banning them as a legitimate source. If you aren't okay with banning it outright, having a requirement that another secondary source be provided would be alright too. I added a poll in case anyone wanted to throw their opinion out there.

It's a biased source but it's not satire or straight up lies. Just about every news site you run across well be biased in some direction, it's just that RT is biased in a direction you don't like at this very time.

I vote keep it because it's fun to laugh at

Censorship of any kind is incredibly disgusting. Even though RT may be extremely biased, you have a mind of your own and it is your job to choose and defend your own opinions. Censoring news sources that you don't agree with, although convenient, is incredibly childish.

[QUOTE]it's legitimately biased and is horribly written and managed.[/QUOTE] Might as well ban all the fun news sites.

[QUOTE=Wafflemonstr;42106246]Censorship of any kind is incredibly disgusting. Even though RT may be extremely biased, you have a mind of your own and it is your job to choose and defend your own opinions. Censoring news sources that you don't agree with, although convenient, is incredibly childish.[/QUOTE] You really shouldn't be using facepunch as a news hub to begin with. Most of the BS posted in SH is purely for comedy reasons rather than informative ones. It's not really big deal if we restrict the septic tank to only certain kinds poo.

I want RT banned not because it's shit but because of the reaction is causes. It's gotten the point that the OP doesn't actually care about the story, they just post it because they know that RT articles will always, [I]always[/I] start a shitstorm. It's practically trolling.

[QUOTE=ScottyWired;42106372]start a shitstorm. It's practically trolling.[/QUOTE] Yeah but that happens with alot of other news sites too.

As far as I have seen, RT isn't much more biased than Fox news for example. No news source in this world is completely ubiased, because the people that are providing the news care about the issues they cover, one way or another, or they woulden't be in that business.

Asking for completely unbiased news isn't realistic due to human nature Especially in America, where everything is capitalistic...how do you expect news organizations to be unbiased when you can buy a news organization to run biased news? Isnt that what america has kind of done to themselves?

who fucking cares

"a news source says things i don't like, therefore it should be banned!"

Sure is reddit in here

Suggestion: close sensationalist headlines.

[QUOTE=Falchion;42106786]Suggestion: close sensationalist headlines.[/QUOTE] GD and fast threads first tia

MaxofS2D is closing RT threads anyways so this thread is moot. [editline]7th September 2013[/editline] [QUOTE=Trunk Monkay;42105946]or straight up lies.[/QUOTE] This made me laugh.

The Daily Mail should be banned as a source first. It's sensationalism with an agenda at its finest.

I oppose to banning sources like RT or Fox News or Daily Mail or The Sun or MSNBC and so on... What I don't understand is why an entire site should be banned from Facepunch, just because they're "biased", "writing badly" and so on. Can't you just ignore the thread? And refrain from posting in it? Why do you want it blocked for everyone else? I get that it's perhaps because you don't want other people to read that crap, but at the same time, I don't think censoring things on this site is the way to go. I think we should have some clear and new guidelines regarding posting news in the SH section.

Oh, now FP wants to ban RT too?

Does this mean I can finally post infowars.com articles

[QUOTE=Wafflemonstr;42106246]Censorship of any kind is incredibly disgusting. Even though RT may be extremely biased, you have a mind of your own and it is your job to choose and defend your own opinions. Censoring news sources that you don't agree with, although convenient, is incredibly childish.[/QUOTE] not allowing something as a source on a forum is not censorship, I don't think you know what censorship is edit: still don't think it should be banned, a lot of the fun of the section is reading clearly bias stuff

Also if we can't read about how the Russian News Media is promoting news that is diametrically opposed to the Western version how are we ever supposed to find the middle-ground between their two biases. (within the limits of FP)

[QUOTE=Zenreon117;42110138]Also if we can't read about how the Russian News Media is promoting news that is diametrically opposed to the Western version how are we ever supposed to find the middle-ground between their two biases. (within the limits of FP)[/QUOTE] [url]http://www.themoscowtimes.com/[/url]

[QUOTE=Zenreon117;42110138]Also if we can't read about how the Russian News Media is promoting news that is diametrically opposed to the Western version how are we ever supposed to find the middle-ground between their two biases. (within the limits of FP)[/QUOTE] exactly , we need to post rt and fox news and other places that are biased as shit just so we can appreciate the occasional unbiased article from another news source

i don't care, but where the fuck they get brits to work there and present the news???

How about instead of banning it, require people to cite two sources instead of one? Maybe one from a well regarded news source like Reuters or the BBC?

I think it goes without saying that you should read RT's material with a grain of salt, and a respectable majority of their audience (including FP) knows this. I don't really see the point in banning it outright, since people are capable of judging for themselves - don't judge it as an professional source that you would use for an college paper.

[QUOTE=EddieLTU;42110241]i don't care, but where the fuck they get brits to work there and present the news???[/QUOTE]Very cushy contracts for young journalists iirc. Normally one cannot ever expect such a well-paying job while being relatively new to the field. Quite a few of them probably also agree with the Russian government line on certain world issues, as well.

RT is little more than a propaganda machine for the Kremlin

[QUOTE=MaxOfS2D;42110766]RT is little more than a propaganda machine for the Kremlin[/QUOTE]And a remarkably effective one, especially considering peoples' tendencies to stick with one news source that agrees with their preconceptions. Doesn't help that the US has made enough serious mistakes on the world stage that RT can just open those up like some political Goatse and shove a few conspiracy theories in there.