Opinion news

When I was a kid, okay, older than a kid also, people got their news primarily two ways. They either read the newspaper or watched the evening news. It was known as the news cycle. Many got their news both ways. In my early years, my family subscribed to both the morning and evening papers. Looking back on it all, I'm not sure how my parents found the time to read it all, but they did.

Now, with the advent of twenty-four hour, nine-hundred channel televisions, and an internet that never sleeps, news is everywhere. Well, that is what all that programming would like you to think. All that coverage isn't really news. Back in the day, when the speaker sort of 'went off topic' you would see a notice on the television screen that this was the anchor's commentary or opinion. You know what you don't see any longer? Those words on the screen.

All these alphabet channels with their twenty-four hour programming aren't really news channels. They are opinion shows. The vast majority of MSNBC, FNC, CNBC, etc. type channels simply give their slant to the news. Although it may give some of its audience a new slant to think about, most need to keep in mind the stories are extremely bias toward the hosts or moderators opinions. The facts they provide are facts as they see them.

I think most people could save themselves a lot of aggravation if they simply stayed away from most of these opinion shows. Is Sean Hannity or Rush Limbaugh really in the business of news, or are they in the business of making news about themselves?

My guess is the latter.