FAQ Challenges #2

2. I hear so much partisanship in the media and I just don't know whom to trust. How can I figure out what is true and what is just spin?

Numerous studies, such as "A Measure of Media Bias", indicate the American people correctly believe that the media are overwhelmingly partisan and slanted in their reporting. If our media truly presents a slanted view of the news, we consequently have only two options. The first is to sit idly by, listening to everything on TV and reading everything in the newspaper and just hoping that it's true. The other is to be proactive and become an educated news consumer who is much less likely to be taken in by spin. Learn the facts and read some background information. Look things up in an encyclopedia or other fact-based reference book. Research the history of a particular subject. Start varying the sources from which you get your news. Watch more than one cable station, alternate your local evening news, read more than one newspaper. It doesn't have to take a long time - fifteen minutes a day on the Internet is plenty to do a little research and read a news story or two. Then start to trust your instincts. If something sounds questionable, look it up on the Internet. Find verification from another source or see if someone else is telling the story in a different way. Developing your ability to recognize and neutralize spin, or slanted reporting, is an important self-defense mechanism for your brain. Don't allow someone else to think for you. Teach yourself the basics, verify any information that sounds suspect, and start to take responsibility for your continuing education.