Many people have been jumping and down of late about Fox News. They argue vehemently about bias, half-truths, and distortions. On some level, they do have a point. And there was a time in my life when this sort of thing would have gotten me worked up. For good or for ill, that time in my life has passed. I suppose its what happens when you live enough life to have seen these cycles run their course numerous times.
The truth, as I see it, boils down like this... There is not a single media outlet that does not exercise some degree of editorial discretion. And there is not one that doesn't allow the outside views of the editors, producers, and ownership from finding its way into print copy, or onto air transmission. The news media is not innocent on this issue, and never has been. And rarely back in the day, when Walter Cronkite signed off with, "And that's that way it was..." was it ever totally true.
Bias is just a simple fact of the 24hour news cycle that's been created, and every owner of these outlets from Ted Turner, to Les Monves, to Rupert Murdoch, and beyond are all guilty of engaging in it. Its a fact of life in our post-modern world, and we should get used to it. We should become more informed, and more saavy consumers of news from the outlets we chose to consume news from. We should spend time weighing the opinions we hear against those from other sources. Anything less is just wanton stupidity.
We live in a free society that allows anyone to say just about anything. Its the beauty of the republic we reside in. Its the wonder of our democracy. Its the freedom that multitudes of people fight and die to get here to partake in every day. The United States does not have an official state news media like say Cuba, Venezuela, Iran, or North Korea. We don't have to accept the version of events, or the spin on the truth being presented to us. Its our virtuous right, its our glorious priviledge, its downright American in every sense of the word.
The truth, as I see it, boils down like this... There is not a single media outlet that does not exercise some degree of editorial discretion. And there is not one that doesn't allow the outside views of the editors, producers, and ownership from finding its way into print copy, or onto air transmission. The news media is not innocent on this issue, and never has been. And rarely back in the day, when Walter Cronkite signed off with, "And that's that way it was..." was it ever totally true.
Bias is just a simple fact of the 24hour news cycle that's been created, and every owner of these outlets from Ted Turner, to Les Monves, to Rupert Murdoch, and beyond are all guilty of engaging in it. Its a fact of life in our post-modern world, and we should get used to it. We should become more informed, and more saavy consumers of news from the outlets we chose to consume news from. We should spend time weighing the opinions we hear against those from other sources. Anything less is just wanton stupidity.
We live in a free society that allows anyone to say just about anything. Its the beauty of the republic we reside in. Its the wonder of our democracy. Its the freedom that multitudes of people fight and die to get here to partake in every day. The United States does not have an official state news media like say Cuba, Venezuela, Iran, or North Korea. We don't have to accept the version of events, or the spin on the truth being presented to us. Its our virtuous right, its our glorious priviledge, its downright American in every sense of the word.
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