When we hear the term "media", trustworthy isn't the first word that comes to mind. Indeed, when I turn on the television and see a headline, my first instinct is to assume it's an overreaction, a hyperbole of some actual, reasonable event. Because news is meant to entertain now, right?

Well, not really. News and media began as important mechanisms for people to find out information pertaining to their town and community, The Boston Gazette, New-York Gazette, and the Pennsylvania Journal featuring in the colonial era.

And media really began to play a part to the public's advantage during the Gilded Age. A true representation of the term coined by Mark Twain, this era was marked by rapid industrial expansion at the cost of huge corruption, with political machines like Tammany Hall rigging elections, and monopolies taking over the political and economic scene. Money almost never went where it was supposed to, and the public were in the dark about all of it. If it were not for journalists, news, and media, who exposed many famous scandals like the Whiskey Ring and the Credit Mobilier, and brought to light the true nature of these entities, forcing them to maintain good reputations to ensure business.

So, news was actually an avenue to the truth. Why is it so twisted now?

What was their goal eventually changed their direction: the public. It is human nature to value entertainment over information, story over statistics, and fiction over fact. Media became a business of its own, and its necessity to please the public overrode its original service to the public. While scandal originally shocked and disgusted people, it had an entertainment value that could not be matched with just the boring day-to-day. So, the media transitioned to exploit our love of the fantasy, providing us with raunch, secrecy, and illicit activities. And on a slow news day, amped up the language to make things seem more interesting than they really were.

Don't get me wrong; there were many local media companies and newspapers that offered the truth, in its pure, unadulterated form. And there still are, only, they are overshadowed by the larger corporations spewing fallacies.

There are, of course, other factors that contribute to our unwillingness to trust the media. One of them is party preference, and like any business entity, the media is greatly tainted by it, providing us with a lens on how to view, say, CNN versus Fox.

So this incredible statement of irony, that organizations that once exposed fraud and gave us truth are now labeled as "fake news", confuses many. And it begs the question: do we need the truth? It's become evident that no one wants the truth; it's also human nature to escape reality by living others', through reality television, literature, and news media. But do we need it, is the question. We've survived thus far, and people seem to be getting along alright, although the country is, not at its best.

But one thing has become clear: the media have become slaves to everyone around them. They're like the kid that tries to make friends by agreeing with everything others around them are saying, even if it's overtly contradictory. We all knew a kid like that. They're slaves to businesses to pay them for advertisements, slaves to the government to offer them more coverage of events in exchange for publishing what the government tells them to. And most of all, they're slaves to the people, bending to their will, when they know better.

The thing is, we may say we know what we want, but we don't, really. Or at least, we don't act on that knowledge What person goes out of their way to eat healthy every day, just because it's good for them? (besides those few fitness fanatics)

So media, give us the cold hard truth. In the end, that's all we really need, wouldn't you agree?