The REAL World News

Try and think back to the last time you sat down to watch the news. It’s safe to assume you turned on CNN, WNDU, Fox or MSNBC. It is also pretty safe to assume that the news channel you turned on is aligned with your views in life whether it be political or otherwise. Many people do this without thinking about it. I remember asking my mom why she switched from watching WNDU to Fox news when I was younger and the answer I got was always somewhere along the lines of “WNDU doesn’t know what they are talking about and Fox does”.

In a perfect world all news channels would broadcast the same information. They are supposed to show us the news, not their opinions. Let me give you an example to prove my point.

Let’s imagine there is a country called “NotRealLand”. Let’s also imagine that some sort of natural disaster happens in NotRealLand. America, being the friendly country we are, sends our national guard and several million dollars to help. Fox news would report that America is wasting our money, time, effort and resources in helping some other country that wouldn’t do the same for us. They would then figure out a way to explain that it's the Democrats fault for everything wrong in the world. CNN world report that America is the world's most gracious country and that the only thing wrong with it would be the fact that republicans exist.

Both of these stations aren’t wrong, as they are expressing their opinions. They should, however, not be expressing their opinion as they are there to tell us the news, not what to believe in. Both news stations should have said “There was a natural disaster in NotRealLand and America has sent X amount of money and the national guard to assist them”. That doesn’t get reported and it's a huge problem.

In today's age of social media and technology more and more people are flocking to these news stations to get their day to day information. When this information is so biased as it is, there is no wonder why there is so much hate and bias in today’s society. I believe the world is in desperate need of a completely unbiased news source.

If I had the money to get some proper recording equipment I would create my own internet based news station. I would also hire one or two other people to ensure that none of my unconscious or implicit bias comes through while I attempt to create this news broadcast. I believe that people not only want but that they deserve to have a news source that isn’t trying to persuade them one way or another and is just detailing the news.

I would run this newscast on a subscription membership basis because one of the main reasons these biased news channels have occurred is due to where they receive their funding from. Many if not all of them receive funding from governmental entities, employees, or other people who benefit from certain political mindsets. This can be upwards of millions of dollars, and when these companies are given millions of dollars they are also given subtle recommendations to portray the news in a certain way. If I ran my “company” on a member based subscription model, where everyone paid the same 5 - 10 dollars a month I wouldn’t have to be worried about my funding being cut because of something I say. I wouldn’t have to worry about ad’s being pulled off my channel because I’m not inherently left or right wing.

Now allow me to play devil's advocate for a paragraph or two. One of the main reasons these biased news broadcasts have occurred, other than funding, is because people like to feel right and they want to feel included. If you had the choice between watching something that you agreed with and had the same opinion about versus watching something you didn’t agree with and you found wrong, most people would watch what they agree with. It’s human nature to want to feel included in things and be part of something bigger than yourself. Many people utilize their political or social orientation to get this feeling. While that is fine, and I am ok with people wanting to feel needed, I am not ok with the young and impressionable population being fed this information and forcing them to have certain viewpoints. And you shouldn’t be ok with that either.