It is unequivocally important to be an informed citizen. Being an informed citizen encompasses things like being a well-rounded intellectual and having an understanding of current events and national and global affairs. Becoming a well-rounded intellectual is as simple getting the best education one has available to get. And how does one gain an understanding of current events? Well one would watch the news of course. This, however, is where one of the biggest problems we face as a society is encountered.

Allow me to share a little secret with you: the news industry is a business, and a very lucrative business at that. What exactly does this mean? Well, to state the obvious, it means that someone is making money every time you consume a news story through any news outlet. There are also further implications then just lining someone's pockets with a thick layer of green.

News networks are so concerned with their bottom line that the basic elements of "hard news" are being forgotten. Hard news is news that is rooted in fact; facts and professional reporting is the kind of journalism that allows us to become informed citizens. However, a news network will make more money by being the first station to report a story. So, many networks report news with unproven "facts" or even with no facts at all. Without facts how are consumers of news supposed to understand and interpret current events?

However, if news organizations are too slow at getting the news to citizens, there are also negative ramifications. The most notable of these is the fact that we, as citizens, are left completely in the dark. With no way of knowing what goes on in the world around us except for what we observe ourselves, we are severely handicapped by the media. We rely on news to tell us when to take action, who we should be voting for and how safe we are in our day to day lives.

So, we are at a bit of an impasse. We have a necessity for news, but we are faced with a corrupt, agenda and deadline driven news industry. Many people might think the easy solution is to put news in the power of the government, thus making it a common good and no longer a commodity. But let me tell you why that is wrong. For starters, the American government can barely pass a budget without something as important the entirety of the news industry to account for. Secondly, with the government in power news goes from being filtered by capitalism and profits to political agenda. Thus, the First Amendment including freedom of the press.

I really see no way of fixing the corrupt news industry, but I have one piece of advice for all of us as consumers of news and media. When consuming news or any kind of media, try and think about who is making money off of the news story, how fair and balanced a particular story is and consumer all media with a critical eye.