As we plunge deeper into the current election cycle, it behooves us to consider what news is, what it is not, and how we consume it. I remember when news came via either the three major broadcasting networks or a newspaper. We furrowed our brows in wonderment when a new network, CNN, started broadcasting. After all, we mused, how would they fill twenty-four hours a day with news? Then came the Internet with grand promises of an informed society. Sadly, the proliferation of platforms does not appear to have resulted in a well-reasoned thoughtful conversation over matters of national import. Instead, we shout at each other across a great gulf, periodically retreating into our self-created echo chambers to reaffirm our convictions, emerging to reengage in continual diatribe, and congratulate ourselves on standing up for what we believe. This is not the product of thoughtful consumption of news.
Sometimes news challenges our “sacred-cows.” All too often, we cry “media bias” simply because the news does not line up with our particular viewpoint. If our news choices never challenge us, never makes us ponder, never makes us question, never make us uncomfortable, then we’re consuming propaganda. Producers of propaganda rarely seek to inform. Instead, they seek to reconfirm and strengthen existing biases. News informs. News presents facts. News seeks to sharpen our understanding of the world and how it works. We use the claim of “media bias” in order to avoid confronting truth that does not support our particular position.
Thoughtful consumption of news requires a devotion to truth. Jesus famously said, “…and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” (English Standard Version JN 8:32) And while Jesus apparently refers to himself in this passage, He also reminds us that a devotion to truth, even the prosaic truth of day-to-day life, frees us. Intellectually honest consumers of news not only insist on truth-telling in their news sources, but they also do not share spurious stories in their own social media accounts. We must understand that when we share a lie, we share in that lie. Legitimate news sources take great pains to ensure the veracity of their product. They know that their reputation depends upon their truthfulness. They employ fact-checkers and the editorial staff holds reporters accountable. A discriminating consumer of news can easily find reliable trustworthy news outlets and eschews frequenting those sources that must issue frequent retractions or simply ignore failure.
An educated consumer of news understands the difference between news and opinion. Of course opinion pieces, well-written ones, traffic in the realm of fact. They do not twist the facts. However, news presents the who, what, where, when, and why, without opinion or bias. When we find ourselves focusing our news consumption on opinion pieces without perusing the news, we must take the time to recalibrate our consumption and focus more on news intake. Reading a good news article takes time and effort. Opinion pieces tell us what to think, news pieces present the facts and leave us to decide what we think. The allure and peril of a news diet focused on opinion and propaganda is we do not have to think. We let someone else think for us, trusting them to handle the truth. Then, when we confront facts that do not line up with our view-point, instead of girding up our intellectual loins and sorting through the facts and possibly adjusting our view, we raise the hue and cry of “media bias” and excuse ourselves from further thought.
During several assignments in the Army, my duties included media evaluation, both domestic and foreign. I can safely say that all the reputable news outlets in the states provide reasonably unbiased news. A number of the major foreign news outlets are similarly trustworthy. All opinion contains bias or it would not be opinion. Far too many of us enjoy the salaciousness of opinion pieces and count them as news. In doing that we display our unwillingness to do the work of a good consumer and our willingness to remain ignorant. So as the election cycle grinds on, let us commit ourselves to the heavy mental lifting required of being good consumers of news and become a literate electorate. Let us leave the echo-chambers of comfort and instead confront the reality of the world around us. Let us make well-informed decisions regarding the future of our nation.
