More on "Covering the 'Flood'"

Oh, I loved this story! It points out, in a funny and benign example, that the news as reported by any one outlet is not an immutable declaration of fact. News reporters are subject to bias, exaggeration, personal agendas, business exigencies, etc.

To be honest, I've got no problem whatsoever with bias in the media in and of itself. What does concerns me, however, is that people are often not aware of it and tend to place certain news outlets on a pedestal like CNN and the New York Times. Another thing that bothers me is the relative dearth of dissenting viewpoints among news reporters. This is changing, however. I just hope that as news consumers we are savvy enough to read some of those other news outlets and come to our own conclusions.

I remember, many years ago, when a local television news broadcast adopted a new slogan for its commercials. It was something like: “We report the news…and tell you what to think about it.” I cannot begin to describe how utterly aghast I was at the stupendously blatant arrogance inherent in that statement. I just couldn’t believe they had just said that. Well folks, what can I say. Don’t let anyone tell you what to think of anything whether it be Fox News, CNN, the Washington Post or anyone else. But by all means, listen to them all.