I suppose I should elaborate on my dislikes and offer some proposals on how you might be able to get news without fear of being led astray by some ratings hungry overzealous news anchor. These three news bureaus provide me with the greatest number of gripes against the media. The Big Three are in the entertainment business, have noticed the recent upsurge in public interest in real life drama, and have sacrificed their journalistic standards for ratings. This had led to such trashy shows as Dateline or Prime Time Live. These shows, while derivatives of investigative news programs such as the once admirable 60 Minutes, have no business being portrayed as news.
Producers slant the stories they show even before the first interview takes place.
I guess a general rule of thumb would be to never trust a show that has been accused of fraud as many times as NBC's Dateline or ABC's Prime Time Live has. Both networks have been caught with their pants down on numerous occasions, and should not be watched even if your are trapped on a desert island with nothing but a rabbit ear equipped television. It too was accused and convicted of fraud this past summer when one of its most respected reporters, Peter Arnett, accused the military of using chemical weapons during the Vietnam War's Operation Tailwind. Arnett's story, regardless of who wrote it, was proven to be unfounded. I do truly welcome the format of CNN's sister network, Headline News.