Many Republican men have no problem looking at attractive women who aren’t their wives. However, no self-respecting Republican would get caught reading the Washington Post or the New York Times!
I have often been told that the Washington Post and the New York Times are “fake news”. I asked the men (usually self-identified Republicans) if they had ever read these newspapers. Without fail, they always said no. Maybe a right-wing media source tells them mainstream media is fake news. These Republicans should be wondering if this right-wing media source has ulterior motives like wanting to retain customers at all costs.
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You are suspicious of a company that tells you that other companies in town are bad and that you should only buy from them. I know I would do my homework checking out this company and the other companies. Ronald Reagan said once, “Trust but verify” regarding a nuclear arms control treaty with the Russians. This is always good advice!!!
I must confess that I am a new adulterer. I subscribe to the New York Times, I regularly watch right-wing media (Fox News, OAN, etc.). I want to see their perspective on the issues and see if I’m missing anything. Right-wing media sometimes report information that is underreported or not reported by mainstream media. However, I am troubled by the overly partisan perspective of the right-wing media. I have seen cases where they omit inconvenient but important facts. Republicans are almost always portrayed as good guys and Democrats as bad guys. In fact, Democrats and Republicans can be equally stupid and/or corrupt. Both political parties also have good ideas.
The mainstream media is more than willing to criticize both Democrats and Republicans if it makes for a good story. If you were to check a major newspaper over the course of a month, you would see criticism from both Democrats and Republicans.
When I asked Republicans why they considered these newspapers “fake news”. Below are some answers.
One parent said he wanted his news to reflect his beliefs. When I replied saying we want the news to reflect the facts, my family was kicked out of their house at 10 p.m. on Christmas Eve. While I would like my stories to reflect my belief that good always triumphs over evil. I have yet to find such a source of information. For yourself, would you want your broker to only look at news that matches their beliefs or would you want them to look at all the facts?
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I have been told that the newspapers include “analysis” which is definitely not news.
Despite an MBA and two bachelor’s degrees, I confess that I am not an expert on many complex issues. I appreciate someone who researches complex issues associated with a story so that I can better understand the implications of the story. I do not always agree with all analyzes and have written many letters to the editor to complain. I’ve met people who claim to be experts in everything, but I can’t say for sure that I’ve ever encountered such a creature. Therefore, analyzing the complex issues associated with a news story would be useful for most people.
I get why mainstream news isn’t for everyone. For one thing, mainstream news usually presents the news primarily from an urban perspective. Consider gun control. In most cities, someone walking up to you with a gun usually implies that you will become a victim of a crime in the near future. If you are a lone rancher in Wyoming, you must regularly carry a firearm to protect yourself, your family, and your livestock. Since most potential mainstream media clients live in urban environments, mainstream media will naturally focus on issues from an urban perspective.
Mainstream media presents information from a secular point of view, which can make you unhappy if you are religious. However, you would be just as upset if the mainstream media presented information from the perspective of another religion or if you had no religious beliefs. Presenting issues from a secular perspective allows mainstream media to avoid offending potential customers.
Mainstream media news frequently identifies potential problems and solutions. Having worked with many problem-solving engineers, I consider this a plus, not a minus. Readers can and do disagree about whether a question is actually an issue. Readers may also disagree as to whether proposed solutions are desirable or even feasible. Whether you agree or not, the article has served its purpose of giving you food for thought.
Finally, the mainstream media plays the vital role of identifying the facts so people can make decisions about critical issues affecting our society. The facts are neither Republican facts nor Democratic facts. Having worked as an auditor in the federal government, I think the mainstream media usually gets the facts right.
Finally, and most importantly, dictatorships frequently impose press restrictions that limit news sources to reporting only the government side of a story. In dictatorships, stories about government corruption and incompetence are rarely published. I practice news adultery by looking at both sides of the story to draw my own conclusions. If you wouldn’t want the federal government to impose press restrictions on what you can read, why would you allow your news source to impose press restrictions on you? You may want to practice adultery to make sure you hear both sides of a story.
David O’Connell is a former aircraft, avionics and information technology contractor/analyst/auditor for several federal agencies.