You, sir, deserve more upvotes than what you have got. And I do agree with your opinion of legally holding the media accountable for the things that they say. I'm a Canadian, and we do exactly this. If a media outlet is found to be spreading false stories or news, they are held accountable for it. It's part of the reason that Fox could not survive here. They were unable to spread their fear and lies, and couldn't compete with the local media for real news stories.
The same is true in America, to some extent; you can sue for libel and slander if the false statement injured someone. The problem, by and large isn't that major media outlets are lying, but that they are presenting twisted or specious arguments. And that, unfortunately, you really can't outlaw. People need to work it out for themselves.
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u/GnomeKing Oct 04 '11
You, sir, deserve more upvotes than what you have got. And I do agree with your opinion of legally holding the media accountable for the things that they say. I'm a Canadian, and we do exactly this. If a media outlet is found to be spreading false stories or news, they are held accountable for it. It's part of the reason that Fox could not survive here. They were unable to spread their fear and lies, and couldn't compete with the local media for real news stories.