Friday, August 14, 2009

Fair And Balanced

…which is not to say that the media other than Faux News are any paragon of virtue.

Another certain news channel who (in the interest of fairness) will also remain nameless (…but who’s name is comprised of three consonants) seems to have confused news with sensationalism. In the past, the news network in question presented actual news as opposed to reading emails and presenting them as news.

If you’re not going to report fact, but are going to read opinion from Facebook, MySpace and Twitter, then call yourself an opinion network. (Though, if you change your initials to reflect you’re now an opinion network, the name becomes unflattering, now, doesn’t it?)

The other day I was watching the “news” network in question and besides the continuing question of the Michael Jackson saga, (Newsflash: Michael Jackson is still dead – the fight over his estate is still raging…) I saw email opinion of who should care for the Jackson Children, and Twitter updates on what to do about healthcare.

It is getting so that to get ten minutes worth of news, one has to watch three hours of newscasts on a variety of sources and strip-out the chaff from the wheat. Which is what I tend to do and have done for years, but these days, I have to watch a lot more newscasts to get any actual news. No wonder the populace as a whole is uninformed. It is actual work to become informed!

I can only hope that some day the pendulum swings back the other way and we get news in our newscasts again.

Wherever you are today, I hope that you will make the effort to become informed.

Don Bergquist – August 14, 2009 – Lakewood, Colorado, USA

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