The Young Turks

[TheCommunistManifestor]

You guys should check out this leftist online news channel ,The Young Turks, this news speaks out to 1.5 million subscribers the crimes of the bourgeoisie and come see them speak their mind.

[Sperm-Doll Setsuna]

How can they enlighten the crimes of the bourgeois when they are the bourgeois? I do watch them, but I despise them - mostly watch to keep in touch with American politics, along with RWW's silly videos. Cenk is such a noxious piece of shit.

"I love capitalism--"
Yesterday he said that if it wasn't for unequal opportunities offered, inequality would not bother him.
"Please don't say heteronormative-"
He also loves him retributive justice and constantly bemoans "European liberal treatment of criminals", and he's a pig-lover extraordinarie.

[BITW434]

I remember one time on his show he was going on about which ideology he disliked the most, and he came to the conclusion it was communism.

If that isn't reason enough to dislike the man then I don't know what is.

[Sperm-Doll Setsuna]

Oh, yes, let us not forget the recent time when that prick said it wasn't wise of Snowden to reveal that the NSA had bugged 100,000 foreign computers - they're not in the USA, so who cares? He loves to kiss government arse when it comes down to it.

[Nakidana]

How can they enlighten the crimes of the bourgeois when they are the bourgeois?

Just because they're bourgeois doesn't mean they aren't aware of the crimes committed by their class and can enlighten others about them. Warren Buffett admitted a class war was going on and his own class' role in it, and he's bourgeois as fuck.

Anyway, the Young Turks are social democrats lite. They know the system is unfair, but they just want to reform it, they don't want to get rid of it. The show is watchable, just remember to filter the bs.

[TheSocialistMetalhead]

They're not social democrats, they're what you'd call social liberals.
All in all they're typical Keynesian American exceptionalist 'liberals'.

[Mather]

It says a lot about the American left when they mistake liberal programmes like the Young Turks (and other shows of this kind) as being progressive. I feel that many on the American left seem to mirror the arguments of the right-wing in saying that liberalism and the Democrats are socialistic and progressive.

[TheCommunistManifestor]

Can anyone at least suggest a better news show instead of making jokes?

[Mather]

Can anyone at least suggest a better news show

Sadly there are no better news channels on TV, they are all awful for a whole host of different reasons. Rather than relying on one particular news outlet, your best bet is to try and get your news from as many different sources as possible and the internet seems to be a better bet than mainstream TV.


instead of making jokes?

Why not, the idea of the Young Turks being a progressive show is a joke. They are just a mouthpiece for the Democrats so they can go fuck themselves for all I care.

[IBleedRed]

Can anyone at least suggest a better news show instead of making jokes?
MaoistRebelNews (search: Jason Unruhe) is not bad as a Youtube show. But I don't know of any massive Marxist news outlets.

There's nothing horribly wrong with some of the mainstream news outlets like Associated Press and The Guardian. Obviously, read multiple sources and stay skeptical, but those are decent sources. There's also Socialist Worker, the ISO paper, which isn't too bad. Also, "In Defence of Marxism", at marxism.com, is a pretty good site.

[Fourth Internationalist]

I actually used to watch them daily on my phone, and still do occasionally now and then. Not that I endorse their politics, but some of their commentary on a lot of non-serious issues is fun to listen to. If I want to keep up with some of the news and not read, I'll watch a few videos of theirs on serious news. I mean like it isn't going to be worse than any source of news on TV, so why not.

Also, I sometimes watch their other smaller affiliated channels because they are often interesting (TYTU, The Point,).

[Wonton Carter]

MaoistRebelNews (search: Jason Unruhe) is not bad as a Youtube show. But I don't know of any massive Marxist news outlets.

There's nothing horribly wrong with some of the mainstream news outlets like Associated Press and The Guardian. Obviously, read multiple sources and stay skeptical, but those are decent sources. There's also Socialist Worker, the ISO paper, which isn't too bad. Also, "In Defence of Marxism", at marxism.com, is a pretty good site.

I'm M-L and I love Socialist Worker. For other M-Ls, I also suggest checking out Liberation News, from the Party for Socialism and Liberation. Awesome paper.

[The Jay]

You guys should check out this leftist online news channel ,The Young Turks, this news speaks out to 1.5 million subscribers the crimes of the bourgeoisie and come see them speak their mind.

Words are failing me here. I will try to help you though.

There aren't any leftist news orgs really, but I watch The Real News a lot on youtube. They are pretty good for providing info on subjects and have some good interviews. That said, they aren't really socialist.

I get info from Al Jazeera too but most news orgs can be good if you know how much BS you're about to filter.

[IBleedRed]

Words are failing me here. I will try to help you though.

There aren't any leftist news orgs really, but I watch The Real News a lot on youtube. They are pretty good for providing info on subjects and have some good interviews. That said, they aren't really socialist.

I get info from Al Jazeera too but most news orgs can be good if you know how much BS you're about to filter.
Sorry bud but Al-Jazeera is the cream of the crop of shit.

[The Jay]

Sorry bud but Al-Jazeera is the cream of the crop of shit.

It isn't that bad, besides I prefaced my recommendations with an inoculation against taking things uncritically.

Your post is especially funny after you just posted this:



MaoistRebelNews (search: Jason Unruhe) is not bad as a Youtube show. But I don't know of any massive Marxist news outlets.

There's nothing horribly wrong with some of the mainstream news outlets like Associated Press and The Guardian. Obviously, read multiple sources and stay skeptical, but those are decent sources. There's also Socialist Worker, the ISO paper, which isn't too bad. Also, "In Defence of Marxism", at marxism.com, is a pretty good site.

[IBleedRed]

Al-Jazeera is directly tied to the Qatari royal family. In what world would that make it anything but a highly reactionary and deceptive source of news?

[The Jay]

Al-Jazeera is directly tied to the Qatari royal family. In what world would that make it anything but a highly reactionary and deceptive source of news?

You recommended the Associated Press . . .

[IBleedRed]

You recommended the Associated Press . . .

Not nearly as bad as a news agency affiliated with backwards, Islamic, feudal cavemen.

I mean, every news agency has a bias of some sort. Multiple sources is the way to go.

[Yuppie Grinder]

Most far left news sources are bad. Every Trotskyist publication takes every piece of news ranging from Justin Bieber controversy to a new flavor of Mt. Dew coming out as evidence of "SEE MARX WAS RIGHT ALL ALONG THE REVOLUTION IS RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER".
The Young Turks are worse though. Generally I read bougie news sources and read everything through a critical lense.

[RedHal]

therealnews.com
http://www.youtube.com/user/TheRealNews/videos
is very good

http://www.democracynow.org/
usually good progressive news, but their Libya coverage was disgraceful

http://www.wsws.org/
is a very good news source with a heavy socialist bias(not a bad thing), just ignore their ultra sectarian trot nonsense

[Bala Perdida]

Anybody heard of Truthloader on Youtube?
http://www.youtube.com/user/truthloader

They don't seem to align themselves politically to anything, but they do seem to be more "progressive" when it comes to social issues. They also report on big business with an antagonizing tone. I watch their videos frequently.

[Queen Mab]

I wouldn't trust Al Jazeera as far as I could throw it on Middle Eastern matters. In other areas they're about as good as you're going to get from bourgeois media outlets. Which in the end is pretty much all we have under capitalism for original reporting.

[Sperm-Doll Setsuna]

Not nearly as bad as a news agency affiliated with backwards, Islamic, feudal cavemen.

I mean, every news agency has a bias of some sort. Multiple sources is the way to go.

Umm...

Anyway, Al-Jazeera isn't so bad outside of their coverage of Middle-Eastern matters, particularly related to Saudi Arabia and Qatar and UAE, but I wouldn't say that there is such a massive discrepancy between them and AP/Reuters. They are far better than RT for example, who are a joke that will latch onto any sort of "non-mainstream" tripe with even less professionalism and journalistic integrity. Of course one shouldn't blindly trust information from anywhere, but broken clocks, right, etc.

[Marshal of the People]

I can't believe the trash you guys get your information from. I get all my news from the Kim Jong Il Show. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZ_giRCO72E

[IBleedRed]

Umm... So you disagree that the Qatari royal family are pigs?



Anyway, Al-Jazeera isn't so bad outside of their coverage of Middle-Eastern matters, particularly related to Saudi Arabia and Qatar and UAE, but I wouldn't say that there is such a massive discrepancy between them and AP/Reuters. They are far better than RT for example, who are a joke that will latch onto any sort of "non-mainstream" tripe with even less professionalism and journalistic integrity. Of course one shouldn't blindly trust information from anywhere, but broken clocks, right, etc.RT is marginally better than Al-Jazeera IMO. Reuters and AP are better than both of them. The New York Times is absolute garbage (forgot to mention that one earlier).

[Future]

The Young Turks are not anti-bourgeoisie in any way. The Young Turks are liberals and any good socialist recognizes liberals for what they really are: our enemies. Liberals are just slightly less sociopathic reactionaries.

[The Garbage Disposal Unit]

Hey y'all - I trashed all the trollish/dickish one liners. Please make meaningful critiques, and don't just shit on the newb.

[The Garbage Disposal Unit]

Personally, I'm a big fan of the high-paced, foul-mouthed Stimulator's "It's The End Of The World As We Know It and I Feel Fine" which you can watch here (http://www.stimulator.tv/). New episodes are usually monthly.

[Os Cangaceiros]

Most far left news sources are bad. Every Trotskyist publication takes every piece of news ranging from Justin Bieber controversy to a new flavor of Mt. Dew coming out as evidence of "SEE MARX WAS RIGHT ALL ALONG THE REVOLUTION IS RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER".
The Young Turks are worse though. Generally I read bougie news sources and read everything through a critical lense.

God Trot papers are the worst. Same formula for every article, every single time:

1) there's a problem, and it's caused by capitalism

2) reformists policies will be inadequate to solve the problem

AND 3) THAT'S WHY WE NEED A NEW WORKER'S PARTY AND A REFORGED 4TH INTERNATIONAL

[Mather]

I wouldn't trust Al Jazeera as far as I could throw it on Middle Eastern matters. In other areas they're about as good as you're going to get from bourgeois media outlets. Which in the end is pretty much all we have under capitalism for original reporting.


Umm...

Anyway, Al-Jazeera isn't so bad outside of their coverage of Middle-Eastern matters, particularly related to Saudi Arabia and Qatar and UAE, but I wouldn't say that there is such a massive discrepancy between them and AP/Reuters. They are far better than RT for example, who are a joke that will latch onto any sort of "non-mainstream" tripe with even less professionalism and journalistic integrity. Of course one shouldn't blindly trust information from anywhere, but broken clocks, right, etc.

Al Jazeera English (AJE) is a rather curious case in some ways. AJE was set up and is owned by the Qatari royal family who are thoroughly reactionary and preside over an absolute monarchy that allows no democracy whatsoever and treats the foreign workers (mostly South Asian and South East Asian) that build all their fancy skyscrapers brutally and they live in slave like conditions. Yet when reporting on non-Middle Eastern affairs they tend to take 'progressive' view on things such as protests, strikes, healthcare, the NSA/Snowden story, gay marriage, women's issues etc... Of course like all bourgeois news outlets any 'progressive' slant is entirely superficial and should there ever be an upsurge in global working class consciousness I would expect them to change their tune very quickly.

However I can tell you that the main Al Jazeera channel that broadcasts in Arabic and is aimed at the Middle East is very different from AJE and far more reactionary and conservative. As I speak Arabic, I watch both channels and they have on many occasions taken a very different approach to covering the same story, especially when it comes to Middle Eastern affairs such as the Arab Spring or the standoff over Iran.

At the end of the day, AJE and Al Jazeera speak for the interests of the Qatari ruling class and this makes them no better or worse than any of the others such as CNN, BBC, France24 or RT. During the Occupy protests RT gave them sympathetic coverage whilst CNN and the BBC gave them negative coverage and when there were protests in Russia against Putin, CNN and the BBC were sympathetic to them whilst RT was not. These stances have nothing to do with principle and everything to do with them promoting the interests of the respective ruling classes that they all serve.


RT is marginally better than Al-Jazeera IMO.

I'll have to disagree there on the count that on many occasions RT has given a platform to conspiracy theorists which makes them appear comical, even by the low standards of the bourgeois mass media.


The New York Times is absolute garbage (forgot to mention that one earlier).

Your absolutely right.

The NYT and the Washington Post both have had links to the CIA and have published 'articles' that were planted by the intelligence agencies to misinform their readers. This campaign was known as Operation Mockingbird (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Mockingbird).

[#FF0000]

RT is marginally better than Al-Jazeera IMO.

Nah. Al-Jazeera I'd trust for the most part outside of middle east issues -- RT is like a step above PressTV and just barely.

[adipocere]

Nah. Al-Jazeera I'd trust for the most part outside of middle east issues -- RT is like a step above PressTV and just barely.I would trust RT more because there is nothing really slick about it's propaganda. It's almost bumbling in it's honesty. For instance, they were airing a documentary about illegal fishing by Europeans off the coast of Africa...all the dramatic music and moral outrage and so on...and then in the very next news segment, one of their top stories was a Russian ship caught off the W. Africa coast and detained for illegal fishing. This sequence aired over and over. Of course they are going to cover for the Kremlin, but you can see it coming from a mile away; it even has an apologetic quality to it. AJ, on the other hand, manages their set like a billion dollar Hollywood drama - every single thing is meticulously staged. Seriously, scroll down and look at the video still for "Al Jazeera's Zeina Khodr has this update from Geneva" (http://live.aljazeera.com/Event/Syria_Live_Blog) Their grim-faced reporter is in front of a high-def FSA flag ffs...
I suppose AJ is ok - so is VoA - as long as you know what you are getting.

[Althusser]

MLM Mayhem
http://moufawad-paul.blogspot.com/

Signalfire
http://www.signalfire.org/

Maosoleum
http://maosoleum.wordpress.com/

I used to look far and wide for a news source with a communist lean, but it's really useless. I just read different articles that end up on my facebook newsfeed to get a general idea of what's going on. Knowing random events just becomes a crude empiricism without theory to synthesize these particular events to understand the universalities of imperialism, revolution, the repression of oppressed nationalities, etc. etc..

Go read the basic texts (Marx, Lenin, Mao) + Ideological State Apparatuses by Althusser. Then go watch CNN or read the NY Times... sifting through it will be a breeze.

You can watch Russia Today for general info about America's imperialist exploits, but they work for the Kremlin and anti-imperialism can't be confused for anti-americanism. Imperialism is a world system, and Russia and China are imperialist powers.

[Criminalize Heterosexuality]

http://www.wsws.org/
is a very good news source with a heavy socialist bias(not a bad thing), just ignore their ultra sectarian trot nonsense

The nonsense is pretty much the point. The SEP are also notoriously workerist and racist. Most "socialist" newspapers are horrible. I fondly remember the time I was so drunk I sent a mail to International Viewpoint asking them to print the newspaper on three-ply paper.

[Nakidana]

They're not social democrats, they're what you'd call social liberals.

Meh, what is social liberalism but a lite version of social democracy? Sure, their origins are different, but I think nowadays a social liberal would get along quite well with a social democrat.

Regarding Al Jazeera vs RT, I think I prefer Al Jazeera simply because they don't have fucking Alex Jones on. :glare: They've also made some pretty good programs, e.g. Working Man's Death:

nlKrhndjF6k

But yeah again it's about being skeptical and getting news from different sources. If riots start happening in Qatar then Al Jazeera might not be the best place to get your info from.


I fondly remember the time I was so drunk I sent a mail to International Viewpoint asking them to print the newspaper on three-ply paper.

Hah, I wonder if such an option is available for the dominant liberal newspaper here. Next time they call me up to offer a month free subscription I'll ask them. They're in such dire straits they might actually agree to it. :laugh:

[Tim Cornelis]

I'll have to disagree there on the count that on many occasions RT has given a platform to conspiracy theorists which makes them appear comical, even by the low standards of the bourgeois mass media.

^This.

RT is annoying, it lashes unto anything "anti-Western establishment." Any narrative that is contrary to the interests of Brussels or Washington, no matter how marginal, gets a platform. Stefan Molyneux, the Dutch Libertarian Party leader (which got 4,000 votes in the last election, what warrants giving him a platform?), and indeed conspiracy theorists, such as AIDS conspiracy theorists.

The comment section of RT on YouTube is also, unexpectedly, filled with conspiracy theorists and white nationalists.

[bill]

Their analysis is pretty crude. They seem like pretty plain liberals. I mean, they're basically reactionaries against reactionaries. Their beliefs are left-wing but their punditry is very conservative in style and approach.

Cenk seems like a quirky sort of guy, likeable in his own way, well-meaning but also kind of dumb. He reminds me of a lot of my friends. I'm thinking G. Dubya if he was a Democrat.

[Manic Impressive]

RT also champions UKIP who have claimed to want to be the UK's Tea Party and the next moment have a piece bemoaning the tea party. The levels of hypocrisy are astounding.

[Captain Red]

I would trust RT more because there is nothing really slick about it's propaganda. It's almost bumbling in it's honesty. For instance, they were airing a documentary about illegal fishing by Europeans off the coast of Africa...all the dramatic music and moral outrage and so on...and then in the very next news segment, one of their top stories was a Russian ship caught off the W. Africa coast and detained for illegal fishing. This sequence aired over and over. Of course they are going to cover for the Kremlin, but you can see it coming from a mile away; it even has an apologetic quality to it. AJ, on the other hand, manages their set like a billion dollar Hollywood drama - every single thing is meticulously staged. Seriously, scroll down and look at the video still for "Al Jazeera's Zeina Khodr has this update from Geneva" (http://live.aljazeera.com/Event/Syria_Live_Blog) Their grim-faced reporter is in front of a high-def FSA flag ffs...
I suppose AJ is ok - so is VoA - as long as you know what you are getting.
This is on a nazi party in Sweden facebook page it said something about finally getting their voice heard
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sqw7-YHeMY
http://rt.com/news/sweden-riots-multiculturalism-not-working-598/

Edit: Also before youtube changed their comment system it was filled with nazi spam and propaganda and they didn't block the comment section like Al Jazeera usually do

[Sperm-Doll Setsuna]

This is on a nazi party in Sweden facebook page it said something about finally getting their voice heard
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sqw7-YHeMY
http://rt.com/news/sweden-riots-multiculturalism-not-working-598/

Edit: Also before youtube changed their comment system it was filled with nazi spam and propaganda and they didn't block the comment section like Al Jazeera usually do

Oh, I remember that bloody report now, it was preposterous. It was on the level of Fox News reporting on Rosengård riots a number of years ago.

[Atsumari]

One of the few media outlets that I find to be pretty good overall is Democracy Now! Yes, it mostly appeals to the social liberal and social democratic crowd, but they do give a major voice for left-wing figures on the US from moderates such as Chris Hedges (someone I know most of you hate) to revolutionaries such as Chomsky and Ayers.

[DasFapital]

Counterpunch has some good stuff.

[Nakidana]

Counterpunch has some good stuff.

Yeah, but their website design is bloody terrible though, could definitely do with some modernization.