There is a lot of news about the news lately. Even more so than there already has been in recent years.
The news about the Fox News Channel has sparked all kinds of questions about what news is and what news is not. And the difference between what news is and what opinion is.
And it has raised questions among news consumers about who is telling the truth and who isn’t.
It has raised questions about the integrity of news organizations and the motives of those in the news business and those who own and operate news organizations.
And it raises even more questions about who you can trust. And questions about the responsibility of news organizations to tell the truth.
With the extreme partisanship in politics for some time now, those on the right think the those on the left are responsible and those on the left think those on the right are responsible.
Having taught journalism for years to college students, it’s easy to see what has changed about the news business. There are more and more people now getting much or most of their news from social media and there are fewer and fewer people reading, watching or listening to not just one source for news, but several.
With all this talk about the news, it’s a good time to remember what Thomas Jefferson once said, that “a well-informed citizenry is the best defense against tyranny”.
(Photo Getty Images)
Photo: Getty Images