If there is one thing I need to keep reminding myself in today's world of political discourse, it is that Truth Matters.
At any point in time I can turn on (insert news agency here) News and what I see is vastly different depending upon the news agency I watch. Why is that? Every mainstream news organization is bias in some way based upon who runs or owns the news organization. Don't get me wrong; there are great and impartial journalists and agencies out there, but we are talking in aggregate and not about individuals or one-off agencies.
When an issue like immigration is at the forefront of political discourse you can tune into CNN, MSNBC, and FOX and likely get three completely different takes on immigration. Each news organization tailors their message to speak to what they feel is their viewer base and potential viewer base.
That in and of itself is understood by people who follow politics on a regular basis and dig through multiple news sources in order to get to the 'core set of facts'. The core set of facts is the information that is indisputable and verified that led to the stories covered on each news channel. Each news organization received the same core set of facts; sometimes video or audio format, or documented source material that was vetted and verified to be correct through corroborating sources.
Sometimes news agencies receive speculative information as well. This is information that is believed to be true but has not been factually verified. Most news agencies try to stay away from speculation, but with shows like The View and multiple opinion shows on FOX, CNN and other channels, speculation is in part how 24 hour news cycles are filled.
Why is that? If you go back in time to before 24 hour news cycles we received the news in paper form on our doorsteps or at news stands. We received the news in the morning, lunchtime, and evening on our televisions that had only a handful of channels. We also received the news on the radio.
Then came major events that led to the 24 hour news organizations we know and either love or hate today. The format of the 24 hour news organization was designed around major events like 9/11. When a major event like that occurs, the news organizations continuously talk about it and provide BREAKING NEWS updates 24 hours a day. As a news consumer, it is great because regardless of the time of day or night, you can turn to a channel and get immediately caught up on the news. The format works when major events occur. The format doesn't work during times that only normal news exists.
The results we see are television news agencies who must put out news on a constant basis every minute of every day filling time slots with opinion shows that don't necessarily publish themselves as opinion shows. We see BREAKING NEWS updates on things that aren't that important. We see news agencies struggling to fill the time and looking to make anything possible exciting to watch.
Because of that and the bias that is mentioned above, it is necessary to dig, even if just a little bit into the source material or 'core set of facts' that all news agencies receive when things happen that are worth talking about and reporting. It is our job as consumers of the news to do our due diligence and find the facts that are often times hidden behind a wall of bias no matter where you look.
This isn't limited to the news agencies I listed above. It exists across the board. It also exists in traditional print media and on the radio. Bias is everywhere, and Americans aren't doing enough to cut through it in many cases; resulting in personal biases that exist only because people accept one bias without digging into that core set of facts.
There is a cross section of society that consumes news media from either just one source, or from multiple sources with the same biases; which is essentially no different than consuming it from one source. This cross section of society watches only one side of a story on a regular basis and they tend to eventually take everything they hear from that source as the TRUTH or as FACT. That is a dangerous way to consume the news.
When an agency has a specific bias against a party, organization, or person, there are always going to be facts that are left out of the coverage they provide because those facts don't meet the bias they are trying to represent to their consumer base. In essence, you are receiving only one part of the story. In addition to leaving out facts, agencies will stretch the truth, manipulate data, and do other things to make sure the data matches their bias.
Couple all of this with the new wave of false ads and news on social media and there is a melting pot of misinformation out there. I bring up social media because every day on Facebook and Twitter I see political posts put up by people. Every day I also see inaccuracies in the posts that are put up. People post stories from bad sources or from organizations that aren't even news organizations. They post the stories because they present a point or belief the poster wants to get across to others within their sphere of influence on social media. The problem with that is posting false, unvetted information is detrimental to us as a society.
How? Here is one example to explain what I mean. A verified account on Twitter this last month posted a story from a bad source and promoted it as fact to their entire follower network. If those people were all good news consumers they would go out, verify the information is false or misleading, and ask the verified account to take it down. Instead what I saw was 35,000 likes and 18,000 Re-Tweets of the information, That is dangerous. That is also what the likes and Re-Tweets were when I saw them. It likely spread much farther from there. So 10s of thousands of people Re-Tweeted false information to their own follower networks, and by the end of the day, there were likely millions of people who had consumed that information; many of which took it as fact because of a lack of vetting. Even if just a fraction of people who consumed that information took it as fact, you are still talking about 10s of thousands of people who believe something that isn't true.
I am not talking about Democrats and Republicans here. I am saying that citizens who are affiliated with whatever party they are affiliated with owe it to themselves to ensure they do their due diligence and get to the core set of facts in every story they see. Don't just believe something because it came from what you consider a reputable source. That source, just like most others, has a bias.
Do your homework when consuming the news. Do your homework on candidates when you plan to vote. There are people who are still in office at the state or federal level simply because people recognize their names; decades of service because of name recognition. Many of those people don't deserve to hold office, but the voters aren't digging in enough to get to the core set of facts regarding their representatives to know what they don't know. In most cases, if voters did do that extra research, would have voted many politicians out of office long ago.
In closing, remember that this country is ours. WE THE PEOPLE! It is our job to fix that which is messed up or failing us. We need to have the passion to do something about those things that need to change, and just sitting and complaining is not the answer. Let's stand up, and at the very least ensure we are consuming and sharing information that is true.
Until Next Time,
DUNK
At any point in time I can turn on (insert news agency here) News and what I see is vastly different depending upon the news agency I watch. Why is that? Every mainstream news organization is bias in some way based upon who runs or owns the news organization. Don't get me wrong; there are great and impartial journalists and agencies out there, but we are talking in aggregate and not about individuals or one-off agencies.
When an issue like immigration is at the forefront of political discourse you can tune into CNN, MSNBC, and FOX and likely get three completely different takes on immigration. Each news organization tailors their message to speak to what they feel is their viewer base and potential viewer base.
That in and of itself is understood by people who follow politics on a regular basis and dig through multiple news sources in order to get to the 'core set of facts'. The core set of facts is the information that is indisputable and verified that led to the stories covered on each news channel. Each news organization received the same core set of facts; sometimes video or audio format, or documented source material that was vetted and verified to be correct through corroborating sources.
Sometimes news agencies receive speculative information as well. This is information that is believed to be true but has not been factually verified. Most news agencies try to stay away from speculation, but with shows like The View and multiple opinion shows on FOX, CNN and other channels, speculation is in part how 24 hour news cycles are filled.
Why is that? If you go back in time to before 24 hour news cycles we received the news in paper form on our doorsteps or at news stands. We received the news in the morning, lunchtime, and evening on our televisions that had only a handful of channels. We also received the news on the radio.
Then came major events that led to the 24 hour news organizations we know and either love or hate today. The format of the 24 hour news organization was designed around major events like 9/11. When a major event like that occurs, the news organizations continuously talk about it and provide BREAKING NEWS updates 24 hours a day. As a news consumer, it is great because regardless of the time of day or night, you can turn to a channel and get immediately caught up on the news. The format works when major events occur. The format doesn't work during times that only normal news exists.
The results we see are television news agencies who must put out news on a constant basis every minute of every day filling time slots with opinion shows that don't necessarily publish themselves as opinion shows. We see BREAKING NEWS updates on things that aren't that important. We see news agencies struggling to fill the time and looking to make anything possible exciting to watch.
Because of that and the bias that is mentioned above, it is necessary to dig, even if just a little bit into the source material or 'core set of facts' that all news agencies receive when things happen that are worth talking about and reporting. It is our job as consumers of the news to do our due diligence and find the facts that are often times hidden behind a wall of bias no matter where you look.
This isn't limited to the news agencies I listed above. It exists across the board. It also exists in traditional print media and on the radio. Bias is everywhere, and Americans aren't doing enough to cut through it in many cases; resulting in personal biases that exist only because people accept one bias without digging into that core set of facts.
There is a cross section of society that consumes news media from either just one source, or from multiple sources with the same biases; which is essentially no different than consuming it from one source. This cross section of society watches only one side of a story on a regular basis and they tend to eventually take everything they hear from that source as the TRUTH or as FACT. That is a dangerous way to consume the news.
When an agency has a specific bias against a party, organization, or person, there are always going to be facts that are left out of the coverage they provide because those facts don't meet the bias they are trying to represent to their consumer base. In essence, you are receiving only one part of the story. In addition to leaving out facts, agencies will stretch the truth, manipulate data, and do other things to make sure the data matches their bias.
Couple all of this with the new wave of false ads and news on social media and there is a melting pot of misinformation out there. I bring up social media because every day on Facebook and Twitter I see political posts put up by people. Every day I also see inaccuracies in the posts that are put up. People post stories from bad sources or from organizations that aren't even news organizations. They post the stories because they present a point or belief the poster wants to get across to others within their sphere of influence on social media. The problem with that is posting false, unvetted information is detrimental to us as a society.
How? Here is one example to explain what I mean. A verified account on Twitter this last month posted a story from a bad source and promoted it as fact to their entire follower network. If those people were all good news consumers they would go out, verify the information is false or misleading, and ask the verified account to take it down. Instead what I saw was 35,000 likes and 18,000 Re-Tweets of the information, That is dangerous. That is also what the likes and Re-Tweets were when I saw them. It likely spread much farther from there. So 10s of thousands of people Re-Tweeted false information to their own follower networks, and by the end of the day, there were likely millions of people who had consumed that information; many of which took it as fact because of a lack of vetting. Even if just a fraction of people who consumed that information took it as fact, you are still talking about 10s of thousands of people who believe something that isn't true.
I am not talking about Democrats and Republicans here. I am saying that citizens who are affiliated with whatever party they are affiliated with owe it to themselves to ensure they do their due diligence and get to the core set of facts in every story they see. Don't just believe something because it came from what you consider a reputable source. That source, just like most others, has a bias.
Do your homework when consuming the news. Do your homework on candidates when you plan to vote. There are people who are still in office at the state or federal level simply because people recognize their names; decades of service because of name recognition. Many of those people don't deserve to hold office, but the voters aren't digging in enough to get to the core set of facts regarding their representatives to know what they don't know. In most cases, if voters did do that extra research, would have voted many politicians out of office long ago.
In closing, remember that this country is ours. WE THE PEOPLE! It is our job to fix that which is messed up or failing us. We need to have the passion to do something about those things that need to change, and just sitting and complaining is not the answer. Let's stand up, and at the very least ensure we are consuming and sharing information that is true.
Until Next Time,
DUNK
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