On sources of information

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Hello Reader, Suraj here –

Alongside Philosophy that I mentioned recently, I have also begun to take an introductory class in Journalism. One of the major things we do in class is that we go through news stories published across multiple media outlets. The reason I’m mentioning this here is that there is a concerning pattern I’ve noticed.

The pattern is that every media outlet has chosen a side, and they tend to skew the facts to support their agendas. In other words, media/news is biased, which implies that every news we receive is only partially true.

Now, I understand that this is common sense to a lot of people, but the effects of this go beyond what we might generally assume.

As somebody who has only recently moved to the US, I assumed that Fox Media is pro-Trump and every other outlet is neutral. That has turned out to be far from the truth. Every single news/media outlet is biased in the sense that they have an interest vested in how the public perceives things.

It might not necessarily be because the journalists want to do so, but because they are controlled by large corporations that can profit directly from how the public perceives something. So, since they can manipulate the news, they manipulate the news. This is not only the case here in the US, where capitalism is so powerful, but also in other countries, including Nepal. In Nepal, we’ve begun to pay more attention to independent media as compared to traditional media such as Kantipur, but who is to say that the media we call independent are free of bias? Perhaps we simply are not aware of it, or they do a good job at keeping it hidden.

A really good example would be the plethora of review channels that we use to make a purchase decision. We might assume that the “best laptops for gaming/programming” videos would be neutral, but when you look into it some more, you will learn that most of those reviews are made on the basis of which seller provides the most commission. This is called affiliate marketing.

Regardless, this is a dangerous thing. It is dangerous because we form our opinions on things based on what we hear and see. We hear and see what is shown or fed to us by media companies. We make decisions, choose friends, and build our entire lives around those opinions we hold, which, most probably, aren’t fully true in the first place. Moreover, when we have been disposed to a certain viewpoint, even if we are to look into it more, it won’t help much since we will have already built a biased opinion.

So what are we to do? How are we to stay informed? More importantly, how are we to pursue more of the truth?

One of the ways to do so could be to take everything with a grain of salt. Even if you read/watch news that confirms your beliefs, try to figure out if it’s actually the case. Perhaps even consider checking what the other side of the media is saying. That might, sometimes, help either strengthen or clarify the opinions you’ve formed.

One thing is for certain: we might never really find the objective truth, but we can always pursue it. Perhaps that is what we should aim for.

I will see you next week.

Warmly,
Suraj