News To Validate Our Opinions
For the most part, I have no interest in former CNN anchor Aaron Brown’s opinions on the news business. He’s just as biased as anyone else in that business (on either side of the political landscape).
An event that sticks out where I did respect his work was coverage of 9/11. I remember watching him and others report from New York and Washington D.C. as the events were happening that morning on a big screen TV in my office cafeteria. He covered it about as well as anyone could and I appreciated how clearly he communicated new information as it was coming, with that surreal, horrible scene just behind him.
In a recent speech he spoke about the news business today. Highlights were reported in a Palm Beach newspaper online about this speech. Many topics he discussed I could debate and others I could care less about. However there were two statements I thought were important to note:
“‘Truth no longer matters in the context of politics and, sadly, in the context of cable news,’ said Aaron Brown”
“Many Americans on the left and the right aren’t interested in the truth, but simply want news that confirms their viewpoints,” he said.
I read those sentences a few times. Whichever side of the political spectrum we fall on, we do prefer to hear news that confirms our worldview. However, I think many Americans are interested in the truth, whether it agrees with our position or not and if we want to admit it or not. I can absolutely see why he would question that with the culture we live in today. But I see his point in the sense that the truth is not always what we prefer to hear if it doesn’t confirm of our opinions. I think the statement cuts much deeper than cable news channel choices.
Do we want the news to report the unbiased truth? I think we all do, but to his point, many also want it reported to support our personal opinions. But the truth and our personal opinions do not always match up.
