In this bi-monthly column I plan to comment, complain, etc. on topics relating to the media and consumerism and how these two evils (at least sometimes) affect Americans.
I think the media is far too influential on how Americans live their lives. Most of us depend on a certain news source to receive all of our information on current events. Now this wouldn’t be such a problem if all media were fair and balanced. Unfortunately this is not the case. Americans need to wise up to this fact.
It’s sad that many liberals probably go to MSNBC for their news. At the same time conservatives flock to Fox News and those seeking “unbiased” coverage go to CNN. Each demographic has no idea what they are missing.
No news can be unbiased, most reporters have an agenda and very few will look for a story they aren’t interested in covering. With that said, Americans are in trouble. Thankfully, we can rout out this problem by focusing on the younger generations and how they perceive and seek out media.
I strongly believe kids should be taught about media bias from a young age. As most of us know, the older we get, the more stubborn we become. If children begin to understand that the media has all kinds of influences that affect the final draft of each story, they will become less likely to believe everything they hear or read (that is if we can still convince them to keep reading).
I would also hope these classes would encourage students to actively seek out a variety of sources, so that they can get a number of different sides of every story and form their own opinions on the issue.
Not only would this make for smarter Americans, it would help push journalists to a new level. No longer would they be able to mold the brains of the public.
Families also need to make it a priority to talk with each other about how certain types of media affect them. For most, a conversation about the nightly news is probably a little boring, but if your kids watch MTV or Sesame Street, ask them what they liked about it. Americans need to become active participants with the media they consume.
I realize this may be a long time coming, but it’s important that it happens. So many Americans today take what Sean Hannity or even Keith Olbermann say seriously. And yeah, sometimes they might be correct, but there’s more than one side of any story.
In fact, there’s normally five or six.
Americans are known as being excessive. We need more food, bigger cars and louder movies.
Settling for one news source is simply un-American.
By Kelly KO.
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