BY RUSSELL TURNER
THEY
With all of the resources of information available to us Americans we should be well informed about the state of our country and the world at large. Sadly I have learned from personal experience that many of our fellow citizens can be led astray by various sources of information. In my home town there is one dominate newspaper that supplies the news to many of the people in my area. Like many other sources of news across the country, the staff will invariably pick sides and write the so-called news in a very slanted manner. Like the news reporters for the various outlets, my columns are published in many newspapers and blog sites across the country. In an ideal world the main difference between their writing and mine is I tell the reader up front that what I am writing is my opinion, whereas the news reporter is supposedly providing his services as an impartial observer whose job is to tell both sides of the story and let the reader weigh the facts and come to his or her own conclusion on the issue. From personal experience I have found that we do not live in an ideal world, and for the sake of our country we Americans need to be skeptical of where we get our information.
Over the past few weeks on the national scene the controversy concerning Herman Cain caused him to bow out of the presidential race. I don’t know whether the allegations against him were true or not, but I am convinced that the vast majority of Americans don’t know either. The mainstream media is very quick to print or broadcast some allegation against someone, but they are not nearly as quick to tell the other side of the story. As in the case of Mr. Cain, he was forced to defend himself instead of staying on the message of his campaign. I once heard a speech by a man who said that he was amazed by the ignorance of many American voters, but he went on to say that he was alarmed by how easily the American people are manipulated by the mainstream media.
Over the years I have heard many people in my area comment on the news paper by saying that, “THEY won’t let them print it if it isn’t true.” I would like to share a revelation about that statement; there is no “THEY”. The news media is a business like any other and the main driving force is to make money by advertising or paper sales. Just because you pay good money for a newspaper don’t assume you are getting an unbiased appraisal of the issue of the day. One word of advice, never trust anyone. Do the work and find out the truth yourself.
THEY
With all of the resources of information available to us Americans we should be well informed about the state of our country and the world at large. Sadly I have learned from personal experience that many of our fellow citizens can be led astray by various sources of information. In my home town there is one dominate newspaper that supplies the news to many of the people in my area. Like many other sources of news across the country, the staff will invariably pick sides and write the so-called news in a very slanted manner. Like the news reporters for the various outlets, my columns are published in many newspapers and blog sites across the country. In an ideal world the main difference between their writing and mine is I tell the reader up front that what I am writing is my opinion, whereas the news reporter is supposedly providing his services as an impartial observer whose job is to tell both sides of the story and let the reader weigh the facts and come to his or her own conclusion on the issue. From personal experience I have found that we do not live in an ideal world, and for the sake of our country we Americans need to be skeptical of where we get our information.
Over the past few weeks on the national scene the controversy concerning Herman Cain caused him to bow out of the presidential race. I don’t know whether the allegations against him were true or not, but I am convinced that the vast majority of Americans don’t know either. The mainstream media is very quick to print or broadcast some allegation against someone, but they are not nearly as quick to tell the other side of the story. As in the case of Mr. Cain, he was forced to defend himself instead of staying on the message of his campaign. I once heard a speech by a man who said that he was amazed by the ignorance of many American voters, but he went on to say that he was alarmed by how easily the American people are manipulated by the mainstream media.
Over the years I have heard many people in my area comment on the news paper by saying that, “THEY won’t let them print it if it isn’t true.” I would like to share a revelation about that statement; there is no “THEY”. The news media is a business like any other and the main driving force is to make money by advertising or paper sales. Just because you pay good money for a newspaper don’t assume you are getting an unbiased appraisal of the issue of the day. One word of advice, never trust anyone. Do the work and find out the truth yourself.
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