Policing the News

The news simply keeps the public informed as to what is going on. It delivers accurate and unbiased accounts of world events. At least, that's the idea. The emergence of 24 hour news channels has seemingly led to the need to fill several of those hours with biased and vitriolic news reporting.

Alarmingly, "the news" has become completely unreliable and needs policed. We can no longer sit down in front of the television and expect accurate portrayals of events from the major cable news channels, namely Fox and MSNBC.

This is, precisely, where the internet comes in. No, I'm not making any claims as to how reliable the internet is as a news source, but I am underscoring the importance of the internet as a watchdog.

One could watch Fox news and get the distinct impression that President Obama called The United States a "Muslim Nation" and gave 9/11 doubters a voice on the national stage. Now, both of these things are obviously untrue, but you wouldn't have any idea if you were watching Sean Hannity and his questionable edits of the President's speeches.

Perhaps in days past, he could get away with this, and no one would be the wiser. Now, you can get the whole picture from the internet. Not only are there myriad sites itching at the opportunity to juxtapose what Hannity claims to what Obama actually says, but you could simply watch the whole speech and decide for yourself -- anytime, anywhere.

"Sola Scriptura" was the name of the Protestant idea of learning about god through reading the bible, opposed to listening to a priest or preacher. Basically, the printing press made bibles more easily accessible and literacy more widespread. People realized that they could forge their own ideas and no longer needed a "middle man"to convey the message of their god.

I propose that this is what we start doing with the news. The internet allows us to view the evidence unlike ever before. So, whenever possible, go to the source. Watch the speech, read the documents, form your own opinions and simply cut out the news channels. When the middle man has his own agenda, it's time to take back control.