Are You Watching News or Listening to Someone's Opinion?

You need to be careful about how you form your opinions around what's going on in the news these days. The information you are getting might not be fact but someone's opinion.



More and more, it's becoming OK for "anchors" to state their opinion on TV. I use "anchors" loosely because the person you are watching may not actually be a journalist.



This is not generally the case in local news (certainly not KTAB-KRBC, I can assure you). It tends to happen on the cable news networks (CNN, HLN, MSNBC, Fox News Channel) and syndicated tabloid shows like Access Hollywood, Entertainment Tonight and TMZ). You also need to be very aware of what websites you get your news from.



In the age of hundreds of TV channels and millions of websites, everybody is competing for your eyes. Lots of opinion-based shows have emerged, even on the news networks. It's getting harder and harder to distinguish between a newscast and an opinion show with news topics. As we move further and further in this direction, (and here's my opinion) I think some people are not able to tell the difference, especially young folks who weren't around before the change took place.



Glenn Beck, Bill O'Riley, Sean Hannity, Rachel Maddow, and Nancy Grace do not do newscasts, they do opinion shows. Sometimes a big national or international story (like what's going on in Egypt right now) breaks during one of these shows and they do news, but for the most part each one of these shows is planned as an opinion program on a nightly basis. And it works. Ratings have soared. If you listen to them closely, sometimes they will say "this is my opinion, I've done my homework and you should do yours". Be careful. Not every talk show host reminds you of that.

You don't have to get a degree in journalism to be on TV. Likewise, you can go into TV not knowing anything and become a pretty good journalist just by learning from those who are and by practicing it yourself with guidance. All of our reporters at KTAB-KRBC have good training and guidance, just so you know. That's not the case with the national cable networks these days. How do I know? I went to Colorado City every day for a month covering the Hailey Dunn story. During that time I worked with many people on the Nancy Grace Show. That's all I'll say about that (it's a whole different topic for another day)

You can trust your local TV news outlets (not just here, but anywhere). Here's my opinion again...if you hear about a story on one of the opinion shows, look it up on the website of a local TV station in that area. They are probably reporting the most accurate information.

And, most importantly, be aware of what you are watching and use your head to determine if someone is reporting or giving their opinion. It's getting harder and harder to tell what is fact and what is opinion in this changing society we live in.