Now that I'm back home for the summer, I've been newly exposed to big network news. While at school, I gathered my information about current events via the internet and its many platforms. CNN and Fox weren't on my radar for sources, although I heard all about "fake news" scandals and about how each network likes to take low blows at each other.
I didn't experience this strange phenomenon until just the other night when I sat with my dad as we flipped between CNN and Fox. I found that CNN was only covering Hilary Clinton's return to the public stage, allowing her a voice to speak out about why she lost and who was to blame. Fox, on the other hand, had an inflammatory headline reading "Liberal Fascism" as they discussed how the conservative voice is being stifled. Neither network was coherent, and, as my dad put it, each network just consisted of people talking about things just to talk about them.
It has become impossible to find a network that will cover the news without bias. It has become impossible to find people willing to share events without then stating their own opinions about the event. When commentators come on shows with Anderson Cooper or Sean Hannity for some "debate", they don't listen to each other. They don't listen to understand, they only listen so they can respond.
I don't believe the things I see on TV. I can't, in good conscious, religiously watch a network that is only willing to give me part of the whole story. I am not a fan of Trump, not in the slightest, but I'm also sick of CNN reporting on how he's gained weight. I'm sick of Hannity speaking about "Liberal Fascism", when fascism, in the US, is supported by the "Alt-Right", not the left.
I don't believe what I see on TV because I don't think any network deserves my trust. If I'm honest, in 2017, we don't need big networks to tell us what is true, all the information in the world is essentially at our fingertips because of the internet. In 2017, stories break on Twitter before they hit the desks of writers for CNN or Fox.
While networks can be a source for lots of information in one spot, I'd rather go searching for it myself than hear it from a biased point of view. I will admit, I am naturally drawn to funny stories about Trump (if we don't laugh, we might cry), but I know better than to accept everything Steven Colbert says as truth.
I encourage everyone to ditch the networks and find things out for yourself, there is value in that search and you might find things that the networks aren't talking about. If not that, watch both CNN and Fox to try to gain a more well-rounded perspective. At the very least, question what is presented to you.
The average person's voice has never been so loud and powerful; don't let networks stifle that in their attempt to present their own biases.
