Can We Believe the Media Any More?

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Black Friday Sales came in slightly better than some experts believed; sales were up 3% over last year. To read in some papers you would think that sales were not as impressive and in some cases downright depressing. One story I read even suggested that the economy was in bad shape because people were only buying big ticket items and leaving the store with only one or two high priced item rather than bags of low price items. During the election we were told that this was the worst economy of the century yet the unemployment numbers are still lower than 15 – 20 years ago. In some sectors of the economy the numbers are showing improvement, yet we are told that we are heading for a depression. For the last two years we were told that we were in a recession despite the facts that showed the economy was still growing. One expert made the statement that if the media kept reporting that we were in a recession the people would believe it and act like we were in a recession. He stated that people would reduce spending, put off making major purchases and if unemployed would stop looking for work even though there were jobs available. Well it looks like the media talked us into a recession. Remember a few years ago we were told that the elderly were so poor that they were forced to eat dog food because it was cheaper? Then, these past years, we had the contaminated dog food from China and there was not one reported or suspected death of a person due to eating the dog food. Surly some person should have gotten sick or died if that many elderly were eating dog food. We are told that we are a racist country and the media reports incidents weekly that show we are racist. Yet when I walk through the malls and the streets I see many mixed couples socializing and enjoying each others company. This is not only blacks and whites, but Hispanics, Native Americans, and Asians together. What seems to a defining barrier is age. You do not see older and younger people mixing. What I do see people reacting to is when you get 5 to 10 young people dressed alike and being loud and disruptive. People tend to shy away from them more because they have the appearance of being a gang. I fear that the reporters and editors want to present a picture of what they believe and want to sell that as the truth. Rather than go out and do some invesgative reporting it is much easier to find a story and write about what you think it should be and report that as facts. The Duke LaCrosse team, the Marines at Haditha, Abu Grate Prison and the list can go on. News reporting is getting back to what it was early on in this country a person had an opinion on a topic and printed a newspaper to express his opinion except you knew that it where he stood on the issue just as you know today where someone who writes a blog on the internet stands on the issues. The problem with the Media is that they have convinced us and themselves that they are fair and report only the facts.