Let me paint you a picture. You’re driving home from work and you decide to turn off the eight re-run of Ariana Grande’s new song and instead tune into NPR. You begin to listen to the current events, including the most recent police brutality case, the newest inane comment by Donald Trump and a new email thread from “crooked Hillary.” As you listen, you subconsciously formulate an opinion based on how the story is being portrayed. If the reporter tells you that an officer tazed a man during a routine traffic stop and it was a police brutality case, you’ll probably believe it. I mean, the man did nothing wrong other than attempt to flee the scene and in the process hit three other cars!

It seems too often nowadays that we see the media setting the mood and trend for every major event or happening. The media dominates public opinion and has the ability to sway that opinion based on what and how they choose to report. Before I really begin writing articles and stories, I want to explain myself.

I intent to write on the “non-popular opinion.” This does not mean that it is what I personally believe, but I think it is important to get the other side of the story rather than just the opinion of someone else. By providing a counterpoint to what you have probably heard, you just might find yourself actually forming your own opinion based on the facts. Take those three examples at the beginning of this article … as soon as you read those, it put the idea in your mind that police brutality is on the upswing, Donald Trump is an idiot and Hillary Clinton is a liar. These are thoughts that are being embedded into our minds through mainstream outlets. Although there may be legitimacy behind these statements, I want to know both sides before I accept these seemingly force-fed reports.

I’ll be writing on the topics that light a fire in your belly. You know, the kind that everyone seems to have a really strong opinion about but 90 percent of them don’t know why they do? This also serves as a learning experience for me because in no way do I think I have all of the answers, but through some hefty research, I just might be able to make you question why you believe what you believe.