The News is our source for what is happening in the world around us. We rely on them to keep us informed in the most accurate & unbiased way possible. Unfortunately it’s becoming more and more apparent that not all News providers are holding themselves to that standard.
A few months back, during the whole Obamacare palooza, reporters scrambled to be the first with the courts ruling decision. It was a madhouse. Such a madhouse in fact that several News stations reported incorrectly what the outcome was. They were in such a rush to be the first to tell all of America that they half-ass skimmed the documents and belted out what they thought was the decision before knowing all the details. Below is a video of the clusterfuck in action:
Their behavior is very similar to trolls on various forums and blogs who comment ‘FIRST!’ in the hopes of popping the proverbial cherry of the post. Sorry kids, you’re still virgins, being the first to comment a post isn’t going to magically change that. Just like being the first to give breaking news to people isn’t worth jack shit if you can’t even give it to them accurately.
Why should it matter who says it first when they don’t get it right? Do any of us really care if one news source is able to tell us 10 seconds sooner than another one? Shouldn’t accuracy and fact be more important than being the first jackass to barrel through the finish line?
But wait, there’s more! There are even scarier things lurking behind the scenes! Rather than just reporting things inaccurately, some news organizations have taken it upon themselves to completely fabricate stories out of thin air. For example, while we all are searching for information on the mysterious James Holmes in an effort to understand the horror and find some explanation, some have decided to take advantage of our thirst for knowledge via made-up stories. From ABC News
Since being held in the Arapahoe County Jail, Holmes has been spitting at the officers so much, they are forced to use a spit guard on Holmes when they have to move him.
The next day, this happened:
The story claiming Holmes was in a protective headgear was reported Tuesday night, despite a report by Ferrugia on Monday that, “contrary to what some media organizations have reported, our sources say in the past 48-hours Holmes has been calm and docile in jail, just like he was in court. There have been no outbursts at all as he is in isolation.”
There is a difference between gossip sites and News organizations. On gossips sites you’re not really expecting that everything you read is going to be fact – hence the name “gossip”. So when you have a news station who decides to create gossip, what does that mean for the rest of their stories?
These are just two examples of how screwed our News providers have become. There are many more; from basic grammar errors on their websites to the Fox News fear mongering. I may be somewhat of a liberal, in my own way, but I’m not generally one to jump on conspiracy bandwagons. I’m not attributing all of this to some sinister plot to make us into sheep – far from it. The fact is that our society is becoming lazy and our standards are getting lower. If we can’t trust the News to uphold its own standards, what can we trust?
