by Bruce B.

Created on: February 07, 2007   Last Updated: April 19, 2007

It is absolutely true that you sometimes cannot rely on news outlets for accurate information. Fox is too conservative, CNN is too liberal, and MSNBC just doesn't know where they are.

Lets take for example the story that broke on Fox news about presidential hopeful, Barack Obama, having attended a Muslim Madrassa as a child. As soon as the story broke on the Fox News network other news outlets picked it up and regurgitated it without scrutiny. Shortly after, CNN actually sent a reporter to the school to investigate the facts and busted the story apart.

CNN boasted then and continues to boast about their outstanding journalistic standards in regards to this story but in reality they were just doing what they should do as professionals which sadly, is not being done by others in the media.

But CNN is not always fair and unbiased. Take Lou Dobbs for example. Lou Dobbs does an incredible job at talking about the issue of illegal immigration and bringing out aspects of the issue that others are too afraid to do at the risk of being called a racist or bigot. But sometimes Lou crosses the line and aggressively criticizes others which is something a professional reporter should never do. For example, Lou called the members of the North American Union movement "unqualified" and "elitist". And though not many would take issue with his frequent labeling of the Bush administration as "arrogant", it is still considered unprofessional to express such an adverse opinion about a news figure and a president no less.

So who should you trust for accurate news? Well, no one. From my experience there is no single news outlet that is reliable enough to trust for all the facts, all the time. News is a business and ratings pay more than facts. I find that BBC and NPR are good at reporting only the facts and keeping opinions out of it however you might find yourself bored out of your mind and I don't recommend prolonged listening while operating machinery.

The bottom line, use everything available to you with your own level judgment. Pay attention to those statements that you know are biased and in the facts, listen to your own opinion.

Learn more about this author, Bruce B..
Click here to send this author comments or questions.