In writing some suggestions about simple steps to take that might enhance survival, both business and personal, I also suggested that having a diverse list of news sources may help. I personally voiced liking Redacted. To be clear, many sources are as much entertainment as news and in mho all contain healthy doses of opinion which must be discerned as such. You can agree or disagree with opinions but first must know that's what you're looking at.
In the 60's, 70's and 80's the Networks ran Newsrooms that claimed to be Independent of their management/ownership and that may have been true to a degree. In more current times, I believe there is little independence to be found but a friend suggested Reuters. Wire Services like AP and Reuters attempt to provide a news stream for others that can be used as the basis for further reporting. Reuters also is a large service provider of various professional level services like Westlaw and others. Pretty good too.
Whether you prefer CNN, Fox, MSNBC or another news channel might be the somewhat natural instinct to seek an echo chamber that agrees with your own viewpoint. I like a diverse smattering of sources and particularly favor those who openly display source materials. Truth is that which conforms to reality and as the old car accident witness analogy goes, it is in the eye of the beholder. Consensus is not necessarily Truth, but in the legal system, a Jury is asked to reach a consensus and thereby reach the truth of the matter at hand. OJ likes the system.
All in all, the least amount of opinion and/or manipulation is very desirable in selecting news sources. I am guilty of using the smell test - a non-scientific process similar to using the Bullshit Meter. Others may use the “if it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck and walks like a Duck” approach. No matter, we are all individually responsible for accepting or rejecting the news we get exposed to or seek out. That's a tough job. With so much politicization of the FBI and DOJ and the attempt to influence social media one way or the other the job isn't getting easier. Once upon a time, The Trump Dossier was true. Now it isn't. Yet many will still hold it to be true because that is what they want to be true. It's very human to want to be right. In fact, I don't think I;ve ever met a fellow human being who wants to be wrong.
However, I believe that the Editorial decision to cover or not cover news items is telling. The Orwellian erasure of certain news by biased news sources/CIA and many others at least points to the perceived potential harm if not truth of what is being erased. Musk's exposure of the “twitter files” is an attempt to pull back the curtain on this. I like transparency. We have many barriers to it. Why? That is simple…there is something considered better hidden than known. Such attempts to keep people in the dark often succeed yet sometimes a moment exists where the light of day gets applied. What was true last week may now be false and vice versa.
My biggest filter as mentioned in other writings is Freedom and that includes freedom of information pro or con to my own disposition. Censorship always espouses “good reasons” but I say let it fly and let the people be responsible for what they accept or reject. This also allows if not demands that the freedom to change ones opinion or what one accepts or rejects exist as previously unseen or falsely reported items come to view. Reporting the news is a sacred trust. I tend to trust sources and individuals who do not tell me to look away from the man behind the curtain who might hold contrary views. Freedom is messy. Let the people decide. My biggest and most important advice is to look don't listen. Truth seems more apparent in actions than in words. Maybe because it comports with reality which is the time, place, form and event not the story telling telling. Just the facts Mam.
I am all in for Truth, Justice and the American Way! Please let me know where I can get it.
Best,
Donn Marier
DM-Your Own CFO