No matter what feelings you hold about former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, I hope we can agree that her words in this instance are quite true. Partisan bickering and polarization are becoming major obstacles in the American political landscape. Politicians and their stubborn political supporters are halting progress. The American political system is deadlocked. We as a nation cannot find conciliatory solutions to immigration, tax reform, budgetary issues, etc. The list goes on and on. One of the causes for this deadlock is due to a biased news media where political purists get to speak the loudest.
In a peer-reviewed study titled “Partisan Differences in Opinionated News Perceptions: A Test of the Hostile Media Effect” by Lauren Feldman, an assistant professor of journalism and media studies at Rutgers University, it was discussed that: “52% of cable news stories on CNN, MSNBC, and Fox offered only a single point of view about controversial issues, compared to 20% of stories on the network evening news. Further, the expression of journalist opinion appeared in 28% of cable news stories, twice what was found in network evening news broadcasts and nine times that on PBS’s evening newscast, NewsHour with Jim Lehrer.”
Some of you might be wondering why this is a big deal. Some of you might be saying that Fox News is the only news organization that tells the truth, while others might think that MSNBC is superior when it comes to reporting the truth. But the real truth is that not one news organization holds that magic key to the truth. I am not saying that everything on Fox News or MSNBC is complete garbage; every news organization has their positive traits. What I am trying to say is to not put all of your trust into one news outlet and claim that they are the only true voice in the media. These news outlets are creating ideological bubbles that are endangering the political process within this country and within the entire world. These media outlets brainwash their viewers into thinking that the conservative side of the argument is the superior way of thinking and the liberal way will destroy this country, and vice-versa. This is dangerous because you end up with political ideologues that will not compromise and, in turn, end up hurting the country (last year’s federal government shut down). Is this how we want our country to run?
Besides, does any one person or any one organization hold the entire truth to politics, science, religion, life, or life-after-death? I ask this question with hesitation because I know some people would say yes. That troubles me. I would never allow one person or one organization to say to me that they have all of the answers. No one has all of the answers. If they say that they do, in my opinion, they become highly suspect. I must then question their motivations for saying such things. Someone who is truly honest and sincere would never suggest that they have all of the answers and that any opposing thoughts are wrong.
Believe me, I question everything in life, and sometimes that gives me anxiety. In today’s information age, it almost seems like you must know everything and have an opinion on everything to be listened to. People feel stupid if they respond to a question with “I do not know.” In my case, I might be somewhat intelligent (some would probably disagree). I am book-smart, but I am quite awkward, and I am somewhat unintelligent when it comes to street-smarts. I might be somewhat competent when it comes to politics, but compare me to someone like Albert Einstein and I end up looking like a fetus, intellectually. But that’s everyone in existence. We have our strengths and we have our weaknesses. Even brilliant minds like Albert Einstein would never suggest that they have the answers to everything.
Be suspect of information, even if you tend to agree with it. As Condoleezza Rice suggests, if you are in the company of someone or in a crowd where you say “Amen” to everything that is said or written then it is time to seek a differing opinion out.
Every day I visit numerous media outlets. I visit CNN, Fox News, The Huffington Post, The Drudge Report, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal for national and world news. Locally, I visit KSL (the local NBC affiliate) and The Salt Lake Tribune. If there are stories that I want to research or read more about, I search for these stories in other publications. At the end of the day, depending on the type of news day it has been, my head hurts. Some of the opinions and comments that I read just depress me. It is somewhat upsetting to read about all of the horrors that are taking place in this country and in the world. I want to be informed. I want to be informed on multiple levels, where multiple sides of an argument are presented. This information helps me make more informed decisions. Sometimes my decisions on public policy are liberal (social issues) and sometimes they fall more conservative (budgetary issues). But knowing both sides allows me to see both perspectives. If I can see both perspectives then I am more willing to compromise because I know most issues are more complex. They are not black and white. They are problems that lie in that murky gray middle of life. Compromise may not bring about the total solutions to our problems, but at least we are addressing our problems and not kicking them down the road until they develop into full-blown crises. If we can get things done and compromise, if we discover that our solution is not fixing the problem, then we can go in and find what is not working and fix that. It is not an easy process but it is a better place to be at then where we are now: in a deadlocked, frustrating political landscape.
Even though it may be tough to tolerate the opposing view side, I would rather stomach the other side (while opening up my mind) then sounding or looking like this:
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