New Awake magazine goes after the media

by cedars 36 Replies latest jw friends

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  cedars

  Here is a link to the PDF...

  http://www.jw.org/download/?issue=201312&output=html&pub=g&fileformat=PDF&alllangs=0&langwritten=E&txtCMSLang=E&isBible=0

  

  Some interesting quotes...

  • While it is wise not to believe everything we read in the news, it does not follow that there is nothing we can trust. The key may be to have a healthy skepticism, while keeping an open mind.
  • TONE: When the tone of a news item is angry, spiteful, or highly critical, it suggests that an attack is under way and not a reasoned argument.
  • SOURCES: Is there evidence of thorough research? Is the story based on just one source? Are the sources reliable, fair, and objective? Are they balanced, or have they been selected to convey only one point of view?
  • TIMELINESS: Is the information recent enough to be acceptable? Something thought to be correct 20 years ago may be discounted today. On the other hand, if the news item is a breaking story, it may lack complete and comprehensive information.
  • PURPOSE: Ask yourself: ‘Is the news item primarily to inform or entertain? Is it trying to sell or support something?’(Is anyone else thinking of those news items EVERY year to advertize the conventions?!)
  • SPIN: Even if facts are as solid as bricks, how they are presented depends on the judgment of the journalist. What facts should be included in a story, and which should be left out? A soccer team, for example, may have lost a match by two goals. That is a fact. But why the team lost is a tale that a journalist can tell in many ways. (I can accept that explanation. If anyone can tell me how spin works, it's Watchtower.)

  Paranoid much?

  Cedars
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  CADSkin

  Methinks the appeal is going awry...
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  Emery

  So relieved that I no longer follow this cult anymore.
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  Violia

  we should spread this far and wide.They are bracing for those lawsuits losses and all the nasty ( well deserved) disapproval they will receive.
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  wasblind

  " Timelines : Something thought to be correct twenty years ago may be discounted today "

  They know thier false prophecies won't be discounted but exposed by the media
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  cantleave

  Hmmm - they are calling out their own tactics.
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  LostGeneration

  Bad play Awake writer.

  Now us apostates will be sure to apply those suggestions to everything written by the WTS.
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  Marvin Shilmer

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  It’s embarrassing to see Watchtower write claptrap like that when its own writers have been known to publish flat-out falsehoods. Watchtower is guilty of every violation it cites!

  See more of Watchtower’s shameless self-promotion in Accuracy and Watchtower's Writing Department available at: http://marvinshilmer.blogspot.com/2013/03/accuracy-and-watchtowers-writing.html

  Marvin Shilmer
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  sir82

  TONE: When the tone of a news item is angry, spiteful, or highly critical, it suggests that an attack is under way and not a reasoned argument.

  Yes, you'll never read anything like in a Watchtower.

  W2011 7/15

  How can we protect ourselves against false teachers? The Bible’s counsel regarding how to deal with them is clear. (ReadRomans 16:17; 2 John 9-11.) “Avoid them,” says God’s Word. Other translations render that phrase “turn away from them,” “keep away from them,” and “stay away from them!” There is nothing ambiguous about that inspired counsel. Suppose that a doctor told you to avoid contact with someone who is infected with a contagious, deadly disease. You would know what the doctor means, and you would strictly heed his warning. Well, apostates are “mentally diseased,” and they seek to infect others with their disloyal teachings. (1 Tim. 6:3, 4) Jehovah, the Great Physician, tells us to avoid contact with them. We know what he means, but are we determined to heed his warning in all respects?

  Oh wait....never mind.....
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  AnnOMaly

  It is instilling paranoia or doubt in the media for a purpose:

  About This Magazine

  Awake! magazine is carefully researched. We attempt to document every fact, figure, and quotation. This journal is not influenced by activists, big business, or any human government. This magazine is supported by voluntary contributions. Its publishers believe that the Bible is the Word of God and that what the Bible says can be trusted.

  IOW, "The media often cannot be trusted, but we can be trusted."

  -----

  Just a quick look at the edition's Subject Index for 2013 Awakes, and there is a link to an article from May about Cyrus the Persian:

  The prophecies of Isaiah are especially noteworthy because they were recorded about 200 years in advance —perhaps 150 years before Cyrus was even born!

  From Wikipedia,

  The terms used by the author of Deutero-Isaiah are reminiscent of certain passages in the Cyrus Cylinder: [2] Traditionally, these passages in Isaiah were believed to predate the rule of Cyrus by about 100 years, however, most modern scholars date Isaiah 40-55 (often referred to as Deutero-Isaiah ), toward the end of the Babylonian exile (c. 536 BC). [9]

  It would have been nice to include an acknowledgement of the modern consensus in the article. Is the Awake! writer guilty of OMISSION here? Or SPIN? Or FALSE ASSUMPTIONS?

  From the same article on Cyrus:

  Earlier, in 607 B.C.E., Babylonian armies razed Jerusalem and led most of the survivors into exile.

  Well, of course the date comes from FALSE ASSUMPTIONS, DISHONEST application of sources and is therefore MISTAKEN.

  And these are just two of countless examples.

  Is Awake's journalistic integrity, accuracy and neutrality head and shoulders above the 'worldly' media? I think not!