All the opinion that’s fit to print

Take a quick survey of your current events intake. How much of it is actual news, reported in a “facts only” news story, and how much is punditry? I’ll bet 60-75% of it is opinion, editorial, or social media reaction. It used to be “we report, you decide.” Now it’s “We report, we decide, we tell you what you should think.” We choose our outlets not by how accurate and thorough they are, but by how well their slant lines up with our own.

How often do any of us purposely go out and find stories on what “the other side” thinks? How many of us do it with the intent to weigh their arguments fairly and alter our own perceptions if necessary? More often than not, if we take in any media from the opposition it’s with the intent to be outraged or mock.

We have access to more opinion than ever before. Unfortunately, doubling the size of the haystack doesn’t make the needle of truth any easier to find. Not that we’re really looking for the needle. Why bother, when the straws of hay are so darn entertaining? “When I want up-to-the-minute, accurate news…I go to Caesar’s Palace!”

When is the last time you learned something new about current events on Facebook? When is the last time you got irritated or upset over some commentary about news someone posted on Facebook? Even if you can think of a recent example of the former, I suspect you’ve had many, many more examples of the latter.

Mark Twain once said, “It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.” That’s only become more and more prevalent as we come to rely, not on the actual details of situations, but on what our trusted talking heads have to say about the situation. Not that there is any such thing as impartial journalism, but we’ve come to rely on people who have no obligation to inform, only entertain and opine. We’re getting our information three or four steps removed, and from people who are more than happy to expound on things they know no more about than we do.

And we asked for it. We responded positively to it, even sought it out, and so the market shifted to provide us what we want instead of what we need. It’s like those fairy tales where someone makes a wish thinking their problems will all be solved, only to find they’ve traded one set of problems for another, and often worse. It’s the magical gift that proves to be a curse.

I’m guilty of it. It’s hard not to be guilty of it, especially since most of the sources of unfiltered news have disappeared, and the few remaining sources are struggling to stay afloat. Why waste time wandering about with our lanterns in search of an honest source? Stay inside where it’s warm and familiar, and where our favorite thinkers will tell us what to think about news we’ve not even heard.

The Truth is out there. Stay home where it’s safe.