Posted on 12/13/2006 9:55:58 AM PST by FLOutdoorsman
Players and creators of video games could face imprisonment for acts of virtual violence under draft legislation being drawn up by two of Germany's state governments.
Politicians in Bavaria and Lower Saxony have proposed a new offence that will punish "cruel violence on humans or human-looking characters" inside games. Early drafts suggest that infringers should face fines or up to 12 months' jail for promoting or enacting in-game violence.
The scheme comes in response to a shooting last month in the town of Emsdetten on the Dutch border, where Sebastian Bosse, an 18-year-old games fan, stormed into his former school and wounded 37 people before killing himself.
(Excerpt) Read more at guardian.co.uk ...
ping
Like Islamism, Communism, Christianism, Fascism, Scienticism, Prism, Democratizism, Cretinicism, Shizm, Fizzm, Internet Smartassizism etc.
LOL!
Second, this made front page in the internet edition, category 'networld'.
Third, yes: The 'Spiegel' IS ultra liberal and seular, but it's not what I would call decidedly anti-american. Of course it is when you read David's Medienkritik. But what DM leaves out is the noticeable portion of pro-american (or pro-conservative) views the magazine prints.
Fourth: Stop putting words in my mouth. What I said ON THIS BOARD in 2003 is that starting Iraq with Afghanistan unfinished is unwise and may lead to more Chaos than is good for the West. I never started a materialist debate, because I well knew this war would be very expensive either way.
sounds like the politicians got owned at some point in their lives (or is it pwned?)
Ahhh...a classic.
Yep, terrifying. -- and very German.
How about promoting, or preferably enacting, violence on politicians in Bavaria and Lower Saxony who propose bonebeaded legislation like this?
I need to own this game.
And you will bow to me, as I convert you to my religion BY FORCE, or I will KILL YOU.
Yes...presenting your world view or bias is somewhat the point of compiling a magazine. Every magazine does it to some extent. But IMO the Spiegel is enough of a professional news magazine to realize their bias and counter it to some extent, by bringing stories that are not in line with it. The last story I can remember was one I recently translated for FreeRepublic, an interview about Quaeda influence and structures in Bosnia that implicated that the former SPD/Green government had chosen the wrong side in that war.
2. Near all articles in "Der Spiegel" have a strong pro left and yes, like it or not, anti-American spin. Example: [...] Bush
Pro-left: yes, 'anti-American': no. I'll give it to you that they hate Bush and tend to report negative about his government. On the other hand, they tend to publish many articles of Henryk M. Broder, for example. Broder is a decidedly pro-conservative Jew, whose last book on the mindstate of the German war on terror bore the name: "Horray, we're surrendering!".
Der Spiegel is within this left oriented media landscape on the more far left edge.
I'll make it short and give you a through pass: Not in the German media landscape. It is the biggest news paper with a bias to the left, but by far not an extremely left paper (those, like for example the "Junge Welt", are really completely unreadable).
A NO NAME company, a NO NAME computer game, not carried in any store, hardly known to anyone gets a major story devoted to it on line. Why?
Because it's news. Anyway, that "Left Behind" series was quite a success up to now, wasn't it? And I am still waiting for you to tell me how this game needs any spin to make a negative impression. Anyway, the topic stayed on the online edition front page for about a day and was then exchanged.
Is it Buddhism?
It is actually quite easy to write something that is objective and neutral. However, Der Spiegel does NOT fit this description.
The most popular newspaper, at least some time ago in the US, was USA Today: http://www.usatoday.com One of the main reasons for this was that they used color. What sells a paper or magazine is not quality of reporting, its conflict, sensationalizing, color, pictures, etc. Thats the market Der Speigel is in. Der Spiegel is to weekly magazines what Bild is to a daily paper, trash. The fact that Der Spiegel is a popular magazine is no testament to its accuracy, neutrality, or anything else. Its rather a statement of their ability to sell news.
When issues are controversial, is it a hard concept to grasp that fair reporting means both sides get equal coverage? That both sides are represented by people of equal rank and authority on the position? That the moderator is there to keep the discussion on topic, and not throw rocks to the side he does not support and throw snowball questions at those he likes. The media has come to a point where it is acceptable to literally have three liberals and a moderator discuss a topic and claim this was an objective view.
Its easy to measure bias!
Content bias can be determined in many ways. This is one example-
We can look at the use of Syntax (Key words), referential (example drawing connections to Vietnam in Iraq), propositional, or thematic (Your story on this PC game) as measures of bias. Copy articles into a Word doc and then do searches and youll see trends. Coincidence? No.
***Der Spiegel FAILS in every aspect*** Bias in reporting is blatant.
Because the US is a religious country, thinks nationally, is economically conservative, has an English heritage, Der Spiegel generally will have a negative reporting slant in what they write about the US since the US in those aspects is everything Der Spiegel opposes in its editorial slant. Thats why they pick up on such nonsense articles such as this computer game. The goal of such a nonsense story is to associate guilt. I could state that in Germany there are some NAZIs and continually run stories on these two NAZIs, what image would that create? Is Germany really at risk of falling under control of the NAZI? No. In Germany you recently had another school shooting. If the same would have happened in the US, what would Spiegel have written, who would they have spun it reference gun laws in the US? Trying to associate the American Christian right with a no name computer game which no one watches is like trying to say all Germans are NAZIs because someone somewhere in Germany wrote a NAZI statement. Its BS news, and when a media outlet consistently engages in such behavior, as Der Spiegel does, its a testament to their agenda and lack of professionalism as a media outlet.
It's not news, it's creating news, news that fits into their agenda.
Best. WTFPWN. Video. Ever. (Hope the embedded links still work).
I advise you to wait until you have a new president, no matter whether democrat or republican. But I think I understood what you're saying.
The Spiegel has a history of investigative journalism (as does the Times, if I'm not mistaken). Since the former owner and chef Augstein died, they have become worse. I am not reading the magazine constantly, just checking the internet portal every day (along with Tagesschau.de and google news).
But to put it like this: Even if I should agree with you that the Spiegel is a no-good lieing piece of chlorophyll, that would still change nothing about the convert or die christian fundamentalist game, would it? You find it unfair that they report it (even in an online publication under 'internet news', hardly a good place for a media war campaign)? Because 'no one will play it anyway'? I am a Lutheran and I wish all the best to Christianity, but seriously, that game is SUCH a gift to everyone ridiculing Christian fundamentalism, that all I have left for those who feel adressed by that Spiegel Online story is:
Awww...
Reading your posts gives me an inexplicable craving for grilled bratwurst and a tall doppelbock...must be lunchtime.
Read my first post!
A story on a man being "executed" in Gaza by Palestinian gunmen in real life, not some fictional game does not make the website a day earlier. A story about a computer game that is in NO major retail store, is hardly known to anyone, has practically no sales, from a no name company makes the news. What's your point?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.