Which is the most important TOP STORY?

Examine the following top stories from the news media. Which is the most important, because it impacts the most people?


Honey, does this drink make me look fat?

We compared the amount of sugar found in some of America's top-selling beverages to the sugar found in common sugary snacks. Are you ready to be shocked? PHOTOS

More:

• Then there's all that salt in restaurant meals ...

Border crisis: Obama likely to delay deportations, experts agree

• Reuters
• ONE OF PRESIDENT OBAMA'S first moves toward trying to 'fix' the US immigration system without Congress will almost certainly be to expand on his 2012 executive order postponing deportation for potentially millions of young illegal immigrants, say experts on both sides of the debate.

Extreme’ abortion law vetoed

‘Extreme’ abortion law vetoed

By Irin Carmon

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The law, which Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon called “disrespectful,” would have required women seeking abortions to wait an extra 72 hours. Read this

Now, can you guess which story goes with which network?

Can you believe this is in the news again?

On CNN, it is of course the LEAD story:

DEVELOPING STORY: SEARCH FOR FLIGHT 370

It's not there

Flight 370 search area 'can now be discounted'

A U.S. Navy official says the pings at the center of the search for the past seven weeks are no longer believed to be from the plane's black boxes. FULL STORY

• What happens next?
• Photos: The search   | Maps
• If pings were wrong, now what?  

Yet, over at Fox, this is the lead story:

#MarineHeldinMexico: Marine tells Greta, '3 guns, man equals prison'

• 
• SGT. ANDREW TAHMOORESSI tells Fox News' Greta Van Susteren exclusively from inside the Mexican prison where he is being held on gun charges that the official who arrested him 'didn't seem to care' about anything but taking him prisoner.
• Friend claims Marine was beaten, chained in Mexican custody
• Marine fires attorney, appears in court
• VIDEO: Treated like POW?
• VIDEO: Will activism help?
• VIDEO: Mexican border arrests common for US travelers?
• GRETA: Help us bring back our Marine
• FULL COVERAGE: Marine's struggle for freedom

 

 Meanwhile, over at MSNBC, this the lead story:

view photo essay

Law and disorder on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation

 

So, it is still true that where you get your news matters in terms of what you will see depicted as very important.

After a one day break due to yet another mass shooting ...

CNN is back to this same story:

BREAKING NEWS: THE SEARCH FOR FLIGHT 370

TICK, TOCK, TICK ...

What happens when pinger dies?

It's a mundane sound, like the ticking from a loud wall clock. But searchers are desperate to hear Flight 370's pinger. FULL STORY

• Search goes under water
• Iranian's misdeed keeps mom away
• Hampered by ocean trash | Maps
• Husband: Life is at a standstill  
• Photos: The search for Flight 370  

Meanwhile, the lead story on MSNBC is about the man who literally created the Iraq war and all the mess that followed:

Then-U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld speaks to reporters in the briefing room at the Pentagon on Oct. 26, 2006 in Arlington, Va.

Mark Wilson/Getty

Rumsfeld’s slippery memory

 And over at Fox, the lead story is of course something negative about the federal government.

POWER GRAB': GOP tells EPA to ax water rule amid outcry from farmers

• AP
• GOP LAWMAKERS are calling on EPA chief Gina McCarthy to reconsider a proposal to regulate many of the nation's streams and wetlands amid intense backlash from farm groups fearing the water rule will drive up business costs.
• Critics say 'transparent' administration anything but open about federal regulations
• Watchdog: EPA human test subjects not always told about lethal risks of studies
• EPA accused of stonewalling records requests from conservative groups
• VIDEO: Global warming media hysteria?

What is BREAKING news?

Imagine talking to a member of Congress about NSA spying, and interrupting her for ...

Now you know what is wrong with the news in America.

Honestly, who cares about such "trivial news?"

Boom goes the dynamite! Finally a scandal with legs.

You remember when the George W. Bush administration allowed a national program that tapped phones of Americans? You remember how this was illegal? You remember how Congress approved it, after the fact, thereby giving the companies that participated in the program immunity from prosecution?

No? Check it out.

So, would it really be that surprising if the Barack Obama administration continued it?

Today it is one of the top stories in the news, as shown below:

Report: NSA snooping on U.S. phones

Source: Verizon forced to give info to spy agencies

A top secret court order requires Verizon to turn over the phone records of millions of Americans to the National Security Agency on an "ongoing daily basis," a London newspaper reports. FULL STORY

7 things to know Time

 

Now YOUR Phone Records Seized

• Reuters
• A British newspaper claims in a new report NSA is collecting phone records of millions of American customers of Verizon on an 'ongoing, daily basis.'

 

White House defends phone snooping after report NSA monitors Verizon customers

Media bias: A case study

This is easy.

Turn on MSNBC today. Watch what they are covering.

Then turn on Fox News. Watch what they are covering.

I bet it's not the same thing. Nor is it being covered the same way.

On MSNBC this morning, they were covering President Obama live talking at and to Planned Parenthood's National Conference. He was talking about women controlling their own health care decisions.

At the very same time, on Fox News, there was a panel discussion about President Obama's investment in electric cars and whether this is an appropriate use of taxpayer resources. No live coverage of the president nor discussions about how Planned Parenthood actually does far more than provide abortions.

This form of bias--what to cover and what not to cover, as well as how to cover it--is the most significant source of bias in the news today.

When it comes to crime we see the same thing--some forms of crime are coverered and others are ignored. Only MSNBC and Fox News typically cover and ignore the same kinds of crimes.

Comparing MSNBC, CNN, and Fox News today ...

Here is the lead story on MSNBC.com today:

Romney, Obama
face challenges
in home stretch

First Read: With 50 days left before Election Day, both candidates are in a less-than-comfortable spot with debates yet to come.

Here is the lead story on CNN.com today:

Romney to retool his campaign message

After a week of GOP handwringing over his comments on anti-U.S. protests in the Muslim world, Mitt Romney is refocusing his message on the issue his advisers think will decide the election: the economy. FULL STORY

• Romney to appeal to Hispanic voters
• Obama, Romney duel over China
• LIVE: Obama campaigns in Ohio

And here is the lead story on Fox News.com today:

Reuters

Libyan Intelligence Challenges Obama
Account of Deadly Consulate Attack

EXCLUSIVE: Libyan intelligence source tells Fox News that contrary to Obama administration claims, there was no demonstration outside the US Consulate in Benghazi before last week's attack that left four Americans dead, including Ambassador Christopher Stevens. Anti-American protests, meanwhile, urged on in Lebanon by Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, above, spread Monday to more Muslim nations.

URGENT: US Diplomats in Beirut Destroying Classified Documents as Protests Spread

Tunisian Police Surround Anti-US Protest Leader Inside Mosque | Anti-American Protests Erupt in Afghanistan

POWER PLAY: Divide Over Cause of Libya Attack Echoes Reaction to 9/11

GOP Leaders: Obama's Foreign Policy Led to Mideast Attacks

OPINION: Obama's Chickens Coming Home to Roost | OPINION: Keeping Americans Safe Amid Mideast Violence

No, there is no bias in the news. That is what we'd like to believe.

Or if there is, it is liberal bias. That is what people say they believe.

Then explain to me the lead story on Fox News being a story critical of Obama Administration claims that is followed up by stories and an op-ed claiming that the attacks were even Obama's fault.

Stunning.

Fascinating day for media studies

Go turn on your TV and flip channels back and forth between networks like CNN, MSNBC, and Fox.

All the talking heads are discussing the debt ceiling issue.

But they're saying totally different things. And they are featuring different people.

The one commonality? Lots of "Tea Party" folks being featured.

Can someone tell me when the "Tea Party" became a real political party and if it really exists why the only people who are members are listed as "Republicans?"

It's just bizarre.

CNN:

Congress set to vote on debt ceiling deal, but will it pass?

GOP Rep. Eric Cantor: Bill is "not perfect."

Congressional leaders are hoping to vote today on a last-minute deal to raise the debt ceiling. It remains unclear whether they have the votes to ensure the bill's passage. FULL STORY

 Fox:

Deal's Big Secret: Tax Hikes Possible

• AP
• Bipartisan committee to be formed in debt deal would be free to look at anything to find $1.5 trillion in spending cuts — including tax revenue — contradicting claims by House Speaker Boehner that tax increases are 'impossible' under plan.
• Clock Running Out as Congress Huddles on Debt Deal — Will It Punt?
• YOU DECIDE: Would You Vote for Deficit-Reduction Plan?
• LATEST VIDEO: What Did Public Win?
• POWER PLAY: Obama Relies on Dem Panic for Votes, Boehner Looks to Soothe GOP
• Follow Debt Drama Play-by-Play: Sens. Kerry, McCain Strongly Support Deal
• How Defense/Non-Defense Deal Was Made
• OPINION: Bolton on the Debt Deal's Threat to America's National Security

MSNBC:

 

Debt-ceiling
deal puts off
major changes
to the future

Entitlement programs and tax reforms remain on the table for later action.  Full story

Deal gains ground on Capitol Hill; first vote expected Monday night

Romney, Bachmann oppose
debt deal; Huntsman backs it

 

MSNBC loses its largest liberal voice

And so now the media are even more imbalanced.

In the book, evidence shows that there are far more conservative than liberal editorial writers in major newspapers, far more conservative than liberal talk show hosts on major radio stations, and far more conservative than liberal talk show hosts on major TV stations.

And now liberals have lost their most successful voice.

MSNBC and Keith Olbermann have parted ways.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110122/ap_on_en_tv/us_tv_olbermann