The News

The lesson I have been continually learning over the past few months: The news can not be trusted. As a learner, I am constantly seeking out information. For obvious reasons, news channels and websites tend to draw me in. Lately, I have been trying to make sure that everything I hear from the news, I take with a grain of salt. Today pushed me over the edge. I went on to MSNBC's website to look at current headlines. The first two that I read were as follows:

"Kiddo couch potatoes have narrowed arteries: Sedentary kids have arterial narrowing behind they eyes, an early sign of high blood pressure"

and I couldn't find the exact wording again for the 2nd one but it was something along the lines of:

"Study showed that surgeons commit more errors the day after drinking"

Seriously? This is news? Kids who don't exercise aren't healthy and hung over doctors shouldn't operate.  What ever happened to common sense? Who are the people that don't realize these facts to be true. Now I understand that in order to appeal to the masses, the news needs to direct some of their stories at the lowest common denominator, but come on, even America's dumbest citizens should be able to put those facts together.

Now I know that the news isn't just crazy, unnecessary studies. But it does seem like all the other stories are just there to horrify you. I was reading my news updates on my iPod a few weeks ago and after reading only 2 or 3 stories I was in tears. I'm extremely sentimental when it comes to animals and children. That night the stories that came up for me to read were about a puppy that a shelter tried to put down, but it wouldn't die, an abortion clinic that was shut down because of practices that not even the Nazis would have condoned, and the effect that war was having on children. I didn't stand a chance. The news is really just there to make money, so they use anything with shock value. In that sense, they really aren't any better than a "Saw" movie. I tend to forget that and I need to be reminded.

Like most other people, I support freedom of the press and I'm glad we have it, but it just seems like a wasted resource. This is really pushing me to find other sources of information. The news is just so easily accessible that I forget to question it sometimes. When I remember to question it, it reminds me why I am doing this project in the first place. Information needs to be easily accessible, but it needs to be relevant and correct information. I realize that this post was more of a rant than a learning experience, so I'm going to do some research to find good sources of relevant information to make up for it.