British Expatriate Network

I was wondering what you listen to or watch to get your political information. I know lots you get most of it online, but as there are less national tv/radio things I figured it'd be easier. Do you like the echo chamber or are you one of those people that can't stop watching Bill O'Reilly because he pisses you off? Are you an Air America loving conservative or a Fox News watching liberal?

On cable tv I no longer watch American news - Fox is so awful, and CNN so dull/bad that I've settled for CNN International. I cannot bear Bill O'Reilly (another of the "I call myself Independent even tho I'm not" crowd), Sean Hannity or Neil Cavuto. Brit Hume has to be the least ethical and respected journalist on the national stage. I do think the Sunday political show is interesting - Bill Kristol is the leader of a movement so hearing what he has to say is interesting, and I really like Juan Williams. Fred Barnes is a political lacky and having your lead anchor (Hume again) as a pundit - and a terribly partisan one at that - is laughable. Bill O'Reilly is, frankly, a liar. CNN is wall-to-wall Blitzer and Anderson Cooper. Both are half decent but Klein has killed that channel.

On radio the appeal of Rush Limbaugh's show escapes me entirely. I do listen now and again, but it usually has me cracking up when he refers to the Clinton's killing Vince Foster, or when he calls David Gregory the "mouthpiece of the radical left." I do like Air America if only for Al Franken. I don't care if you agree with him - he's extremely funny and very thorough. Randi Rhodes tho, she's demented.

But mostly I'm an NPR guy. Yeah, as O'Rourke said they do have that "the Earth will be destroyed tomorrow - minorities and children expected to suffer most" thing at times, but that's why I like it. And no other radio station will dare do a 30 minute segment on origami, followed by a piece about Australian trees. Eclectic and interesting. And they actually have their ombudsman come on and take criticism. No-one else does that. I can hear the BBC and even the odd cricket broadcast on the AM channel along with a daily forum show that is often really really good.


You?

I've caught Fox now and again, just in case they actually developed some talent but apparently they are happy making stuff up still.

I have an Associated Press wire feed on my work computer that the newspaper subscribes to, as well as Reuters feeds that anyone can get on their web portal and I generally get the news from those. For opinions, I'll trawl some of the decent, mostly central or left blog sites or portals.

TV and radio here are quite dire. I tried NPR and yes it is the pick of the bunch but Radio Four would lap it many times in a straight race.

I get all my political information from my father-inlaw. Bush good, democrats bad. That's all I need to know -\

I tend to watch it from a range of places, including fox, air america, bbc just to name a couple. I then range what the truth to be cuz they all have thier particular ways of reporting facts.

Tend to see folks that only ever watch one news source, don't want to know the facts or can not really face a particular truth.

I particularly liked the segment ''Civil war in Iraq - is it actually a good thing?'. I watch Fox News to try to balance out my day as I listen to Air America/Jones Radio most of the day. Stephanie Miller is hilarious, Al Franken is good, Ed Schultz is great - a kind of liberal Rush Limbaugh, only truthful.

Fox News is a joke. I recently got the movie documentary Outfoxed which interviews former Fox employees and critics about the blatent biases commanded down from upper management. It is certainly an eye opener.

I tend to ignore American 'news' outlets as they really don't present news, particularly at the local level - just hysterical manufactured stories and endless psuedo tradgedies or genuine ones exploited to the nth degree.

I tried most of them in the first year or so here but didn't find any to be worth my time.

I tend to read the Daily Telegraph, Guardian and BBC websites and then look to english or french language sites for perspective on international stories (g.g.if you want to know whats going on in somewhere like Israel - then go to a local Israeli news site like Haaretz). The Sky news site carries decent quality video stories, but I rarely have the time to sit and watch.

I periodically check the NH news sites to see what prejudicial information the prosecutors are leaking to the media about my clients roll

I'll bet he sends you senseless emails on how the people of New Orleans are all looters who never deserved houses in the first place and how Hilary Clinton is linked to over 100 strange deaths and Bush is a better war hero than Kerry.

I hate to say it but I like to watch Lou Dobbs sometimes. I swear he will one day have a stroke live on TV it looks like his blood pressure is that high. His shows are all very samey though, China is buying the US out, Foreigners shouldn't run the ports or enter the US illegally, There is Outright War On The Middle Class, Mexico Is Evil.

Read the Guardian with a pinch of salt. Like the BBC for straight facts. Love NPR though I only listen for twenty minutes in the morning driving home.

My first port of call is usually the BBC News website, followed by My Yahoo (where I have all the major news gathering websites- doesn't mean that I look at them all though!! wink ) and then links left by everyone else here there and everywhere!! wink
I generally stay away from news channels because the missus dont like them!! roll but I do take a sneaky peak at CNN Fox and CNBC, but to be honest these shows like O'Reilly, Tucker the tosser and Lou Dobbs and etc... annoy me, so generally I rely on people like yourselves here to watch it and post here!! (like the O'Reilly Donahue thread which was excellent by the way grin ) I also watch the BBC News on PBS and I'll listen to the BBC world service on PBS and also the local news on PBS when I get the chance, and I'll also listen to Radio 5 Live on occasion online and Radio 4 too.

So you rely on Bungle for your political news and punditry? Thats scary.... :lol:

My local public radio station carrys the BBC overseas service from midnight to 5AM, then a one hour BBC world Update, then at 9AM, BBC Newshour. In the evening, at 8PM they have "The World", an NPR magazine program that uses a lot of BBC feeds.

I watch Lou Dobbs because, of all the cable people, he has a soothing voice, he rarely shouts, and he doesn't try to stab me with his finger. In other words, he is the least obnoxious. I agree with dianey though, with each program, you get the "been there, done that" feeling.

The BBC, Fark.com for watching rabid Bush supporters having heads explode from cognitive dissonance, SmirkingChimp.com, assorted AP and international feeds and The Daily Show.