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I have a bone to pick with those who are badmouthing the media.
The first Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees the rights of a free press. This is vitally important. Think about how non-democracies use state run media to spread what they want people to believe. Although there are a lot of biased news outlets, we have a choice as to which ones we follow.
Many spew lies and what politicians of a particular leaning eschew. But again which ones we watch, read or listen to is up to us.
There used to be a creed for news. It called for reporting to be unbiased and to allow equal time for opposing views when reporting on one side or candidate.
That has pretty much gone by the wayside.
However, I do think that the three major networks (NBC, ABC and CBS) are pretty neutral when it comes to what they say. You may disagree with that, but watch them for a couple of weeks and see.
At any rate, without freedom of the press to let us know what's going on in the government - supposedly of the people, by the people and for the people - we wouldn't know what those whom we elect are doing.
For instance, people like George Santos and Bob Menendez would not be called to task.
The big problem is that some politicians use media to further their lies and to spread their undemocratic philosophies. Fox News and similar outlets only help to exacerbate the problems of misinformation and disinformation. We need to have some guidelines to deal with this.
The best ways we can show our approval or disapproval of a specific media outlet is by which stations we watch, which websites we subscribe to, who we follow on the Internet and what sponsors we support with our business.
This strikes in the place where they are most vulnerable - the pocketbook!
What is your source of news?
Are they telling you the truth or trying to convince you that the other side is the enemy and what you see with your own eyes is wrong? It's hard to be open minded when you are bombarded by professionals who make a living by convincing you to believe them.
But the bottom line is that somebody is telling the truth.
Our job is to figure out what that is.
Yes, it actually takes some effort on our part to get to it.
But without a free press, you would not have access to the information that we have.
Verna Caruso, a Muncy native, is a former staff member at Inc. magazine and past chair of the Lycoming County Democratic Committee.