The Unreliable Media

Beginning over 25 years ago, I have informally surveyed a variety of people for their experiences with the press in general. By "press" I mean any major media - newspapers, TV, etc. I asked them how accurate was the coverage of events or stories for which they had PERSONAL experience. These people included corporate executives, celebrities, scientists (social & natural), financiers, academics, and others. The NEAR UNANIMOUS result has been that the media coverage is either misleading or inaccurate or just wrong. So the concept of a "reliable" press is a null set. One must always PRESUME the story is wrong or just a promotion of an agenda or just a reporter trying to get the story past an editor or some similar reason for being unreliable. One needs to be highly skeptical of every media source. There are no safe media sources - not The Wall Street Journal, not the New York Times, not the Washington Post or Washington Times, certainly not any TV news. I think one can only listen for facts, get multiple sources (especially non-media ones) and form one's own conclusions. Distrust authority and the press at all times.