We, as people of America and citizens of the world, are facing a gross injustice — one that many are unaware of and that many remain ignorant of.
Our media has become so obsessed with capitalizing on trends and half-truths that it has lost sight of its intended purpose: to provide factual information about what is going on in our country and in our world.
Sometimes what is newsworthy (e.g. the attack on the Mexican consulate in Austin) is not trendy. More often, what is trendy (e.g. the continued search for missing flight MH370) is not newsworthy.
It all comes down to one thing: ratings, ratings, ratings. If no one wants to read about unpopular issues, the media isn’t going to focus on it.
Sure, Fox News could admit that the Obama administration did nothing wrong in Benghazi. But, as talk radio host Brian Joyce says, “Why tell you that, when it’s so much easier to pedal in lies, myths and misinformation?”
And sure, CNN could have just said that there were no updates on the missing airplane. But, why do that when MH370 coverage seems to attract viewers?
Thus we face a number of problems with the media as we know it today: its inability to admit when it is wrong, its reliance on speculation and hysteria and its insistence on making something out of nothing.
That is where we stand. How we got there, on the other hand, is a different story.
The media functions in this way because we have allowed it to do this. As consumers of information, we have become complacent.
We have stopped questioning what is presented to us, taking everything we see on “The O’Reilly Factor” or “The Daily Show” at face value. We seek out news that fits with our personal bias rather than news that has no bias and relies on facts. We have grown so reliant on the opinions that the media feeds us that we have stopped forming our own opinions.
This needs to change.
A well-informed and rational civil society is the key to progress. When we have multiple voices in our ears telling us that Obama’s immigration legislation is “unconstitutional” and “unprecedented,” it is hard not to believe it, however untrue it may be.
The media has done a lot of damage by working to even further polarize the already divergent ideals of right and left-wing politics.
It is time that we, as consumers, take ownership of our media. Explore different sources. Do your homework. Ask questions. Think for yourself.
Do not allow yourself to be lied to anymore. Instead, actively seek out the truth.
It is only when we stop accepting things as they are that they have room to change.
