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Most of my news, I get from the radio news stations. One of the stations' advertising lines is 'Give us 22 minutes, we'll give you the world.' In 22 minutes, they just have time for the headlines, so they can only really tell you what happened - which, by the way, is the news. They tell you how many people were killed in Iraq today, but they don't then bring on some Republican senator to explain to you how that's good. Or, on the contrary, they don't bring in a bunch of Democrats to tell you why it's bad. They just tell you what happened. That's the news. I am capable of analyzing my own news. What makes these people qualified to analyze my news for me? No matter what side they're on, I never agree with them.

Fran Lebowitz#5

PoliticsMediaAnalysisFactsIndependenceNewsObjectivity

About this quote

What does it mean?
The speaker prefers news that just reports facts without political commentary or analysis. They believe everyone should form their own opinions rather than trusting pundits.
In plain terms
News should just state facts, not spin them.
What can you take from it?
Fact-based reporting is better than opinionated news.

Where it applies

  • watching news
  • media literacy

Putting it to work

  • media consumption
  • news analysis

Questions to consider

  • Should news outlets stick to facts instead of opinions?

Another view

Factual reporting is better than political analysis on the news.

More from Fran Lebowitz

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  3. Should novels generally be 600 pages? No, they should not. Half of writing, maybe 3/4 of writing, is editing. This seems to be a thing that has not gotten thro…

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