I was thinking about this sitting in my bed with a fever. Do I feel more or less informed in this 24 hour news cycle world?
It is absolutely true there is more information for a person to have. We know more about what is happening in government than ever before, and we know more lies and spin than ever before. The one thing I learned at university is, there is no unbiased history and there is no unbiased journalism. While the facts may all be true, the facts you choose to tell and how you choose to present these facts color the opinion of the reader. I feel as though journalists are modern historians, in a way. In fifty or sixty years when historians and political scientists are trying to make sense of the early 2000’s they will look at all of this “news” and probably have trouble understanding it.
That is the problem with all of this news–it is difficult to figure it all out. I admit that I have a busy schedule. I only look at a few news sources. I know there is a bias in all news sources, so I try to look for common information and decipher what I read. I know that I look for what is important to me and I don’t always pay attention to other things. I think it is nearly impossible to be fully informed on every issue, if you have a job and a social life–unless it is your job to be informed on every issue, such as the White House Press Secretary. So do I feel more or less informed? I feel less informed because simply, I don’t know what is important anymore for our nation. I only know what is important to me. And while I am important to a lot of people, I am not the most important person. Please vote tomorrow, it is the one-act of active participation in government that lazy people can do. I don’t care who you vote for, just vote.
