Growing up during the 1960s, there were two main sources of news: Walter Cronkite and the Huntley and Brinkley Report. Our family was a fan of Uncle Walter. We watched him as he sadly took us through the assassinations of President Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, and Martin Luther King. We also celebrated with him when Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon. He was a man you could trust to get the facts.
The news has grown more convoluted and nasty every day. It’s hard to know who to trust anymore. For one thing, there’s so much of it. In addition to stalwarts CBS, NBC, and ABC, there are now a plethora of cable news channels.
CNN made its debut in 1980 and runs news 24/7. We watched the first Gulf War in front of our eyes in real time with Wolf Blitzer commenting as each bomb dropped. It’s now the premiere channel for breaking stories. And though, some may disagree, it focuses on facts and attempts to present both sides of the political spectrum.
Not all news channels are fact-based
Fox News arrived in 1996 after Roger Ailes left America’s Talking (which is now MSNBC) It was founded by Australian born American media mogul – billionaire Rupert Murdoch. He appointed Ailes as permanent CEO. The channel has been known for its controversial personalities like Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity, and the President’s favorite, Fox & Friends. Ailes resigned in disgrace, and Bill O’Reilly was fired because both were accused of sexual harassment.
No matter what channel you watch, make sure you are getting the real facts. You can try checking breaking headlines on FactCheck.org and Snopes.
According to Ranker, the top 10 most trusted newscasters in 2018 were:
- Wolf Blitzer – CNN
- Lester Holt – NBC
- Morley Safer – CBS – 60 Minutes
- Christiane Amanpour – CNN
- Lesley Stahl – CBS – 60 Minutes
- Shepard Smith – Fox News
- Scott Pelley – CBS
- Gayle King – CBS
- Robin Roberts – ABC
- Andrea Mitchell – MSNBC
It’s nice to see accomplished Baby Boomer women included. Shepard Smith left Fox News and is now on CNBC.
What to watch out for in your news sources
MarketWatch put together a chart that graphs news organizations in terms of how they swing left, right, are opinionated, or slip into propaganda. (shown in the red box)
Best bet: Go for neutral and factual
The most non-biased and fact-based news sources include Reuters, NPR, Christian Science Monitor, AP, Time, BBC, CBS, ABC, & PBS.
Another intriguing list to click on is the 10+ Independent Online News Sources And Why America Needs More of Them. They rate news sources for objectivity, bias, and talking heads. You may want to check out Reason, The Christian Science Monitor, Truthout, Reuters, Democracy Now!, ProPublica, The Center for Public Integrity, Reveal, AllSides, C-Span, Who, What, Why, The Intercept, Consortium News, Mint Press News, and Newsbud.
Is fluffy news as bad as fake news?
Local channels tend to water down the news even if it’s a compelling story. The average person is more interested in what is happening in their town, weather, & sports, rather than national politics.
Understandably, those stations are supported by local sponsors who don’t want controversy and may even be biased. The Sinclair Broadcast Group, for example, made their local news stations give the same speech to millions of viewers pushing their own bias that was called out by CNN.
What would Walter Cronkite say?
Uncle Walter is probably shouting uncharacteristic curse words as Huntley and Brinkley empty another bourbon bottle while they chain-smoke cigarettes.
Where do you get your news and what do you remember about Walter Cronkite? Please leave a comment below.
I think all of them would gape in disbelief. I know I am…
I agree, Diane. It’s gone way off the rails.
Fox News is the news outlet I watch. Since your blog is decidedly left-leaning, I am not surprised that you extol the virtues of CNN and other liberal organizations.
I used to watch CNN as background sound or when there’s not much really good on. I noticed that many story’s were slanted to the left But I have many friends on the left so I watched it and noticed how more and more they kept giving more attention to Trump. They figured he was so unsynchroed to what they feel, that he would never get any votes. So they gave him more and more free air time. But trump isn’t dumb. He’s crafty. Slick. There are no accidental billionaires. He got the media to follow his every word and get his message out. And when it came election day, he cleaned up.. He may joke around like when an interviewer said he isn’t humble and he replies “I am very humble! I am the most humble guy you can meet!” But he’s sharp witted inside. He knows how to connect to the common man. My family’s friends in Chicago voted for him although I didn’t. Now CNN has “Breaking news” every time he tweets something and it has devolved into constant shots at him. And all that does is make people love him more. My land lady’s cable got demoted recently and as I’m on that, I don’t get CNN anymore, and I find myself actually better off without constant cries of the world ending every time Trump posts a tweet. It had a few good things. I like the Anthony Bourdain episode where he went to Japan and interviewed Manga creator Toshio Maeda. But much of it is just promoting propaganda and slanted views. Especially Morgan Spurlock who excels in half truths and whole lies.
I agree with you that he’s not dumb. He knows exactly what he’s doing even though it’s not very savory. It’s completely scary to me. It seems odd that he got into the heads of everyday American’s when he has nothing in common with them but he did. You’re right that the news gave him plenty of airtime to display his “wackiness” which put him center stage. Let’s hope America wakes up and sees what he’s actually doing. I have many friends who are conservative who see right through him and I hope more will before it’s too late. In my opinion, he is dangerous.