_Jessie Staley is a freshman studying political science at MU. She is an opinion columnist who writes about student life for The Maneater._
American news broadcasting is in shambles and a colossal waste of time for information-seeking citizens. The news is pathetic.
I want better news. I _need_ better news. Popular news channels have become so irrelevant and biased that people who wish to be well-informed citizens have to search for alternative outlets and even channels from other countries. It is a disgrace to violate the foundational purpose of news, which is to provide the common population with comprehensive and accurate information about current events.
Television media is an incredibly influential source of “information.” Whether the information is even remotely accurate is irrelevant to some news outlets. Some people may be persuaded about something just by the hearsay of a trusted source. Modern news realizes the influence it has on widespread viewers and disrespects this power with questionable information and swayed opinions. It is wrong and manipulative.
The website Politifact.com provides a broad understanding of the accuracy of major news networks through the analysis of statements made by news pundits, hosts, or paid contributors, excluding political figures, and rated based on a range from completely false, or “Pants on Fire”, to true. Charts from January 15, 2016 showed ratings for Fox and Fox News, MSNBC and NBC, and CNN. Fox was found to have 60% of claims rated Mostly False or worse. MSNBC had 44% Mostly False or worse. CNN did pretty well with only 21% found Mostly False or worse. Now, obviously this is not a fool proof rating system or statistics, but it is just to give you a general idea of the kind of accuracy between news networks, and how much stock they take into making sure what they say is true.
When I turn on the news to hear about the presidential election, I want to hear a summary of the events in reference to the important points: the candidates’ behavior towards each other, their stated points and their responses when confronted. I do not want to hear about their hair or whether a news anchor liked Hillary Clinton’s dress.
When I turn on the news and hear reports of criminal events, I want to hear the facts, an actual evaluation of the event and statistics on the crime rate or frequency of that particular crime to put it in perspective. I understand that “if it bleeds, it leads,” but there are other crimes and important events that occur on a regular basis that people may need to know about.
If there are major events happening around the world, especially if our government or military is involved, I want to know about it. I don’t want to have to search all over the internet to find legitimate and comprehensive facts on the impact ISIL is having on American military efforts, or vice versa, or the devastation it causes to other countries.
As an American citizen living in the 21st century, I deserve to know everything that is going on. It is ridiculous when, in an age where there are widespread sources for statistics and public information, the popular news sources fail to provide all Americans with accurate, comprehensive reporting of current events. It is an abuse of freedom of the press to use airtime to provide a possibly misinformed or biased opinion instead of giving people the facts. We need to clean up the news, and do away with unqualified or biased news networks.
