Just an experiment. Do politicians and government officials fib more to satisfy their own needs? Or do you think media folk are really trying to shape your way of thinking?
I'm not so sure one is more trustworthy than the other. The government has all kinds of classified material they are hiding, and through the media, they add to wild speculation and paranoia in the media. If forced to choose, seeing as how the media is the conduit for the government, I would guess the media is more trustworthy - in the sense that they show what the government says. That being said, the media adds in their own slants and opinions that clouds everything.
Both sides have vested interests in skewing the truth that make them both impossible to fully trust. However, I would trust the media more than the politicians, because I know precisely what there primary motivation is(money), as opposed to politicians, where the motivation might not be as evident.
My favorite was the situation in Bosnia... Bush downplayed the situation because he didn't want to intervene. The media wanted a story, and reported about mass genocide. Clinton wanted to win an election, so he made a big deal out of mass genocide. Clinton got elected, he downplayed the situation because he didn't want to intervene. Nobody was being honest. The media wanted an intervention because it was a good story. Blaming Bush was good for Clinton's candidacy... but it would have been bad for his Presidency. He finally did, but not when he promised.
