The media has been handed more than its share of blame these days for just about everything.
I remember an old Three Stooges line, I believe it was Curly who said “I resemble that remark” and as a member of the aforementioned media, I can understand the sentiment but it’s often misguided. To hear folks tell it, all the media does is try and promote their own agenda. Most often I hear about the liberal media. It’s a favorite tagline when people read something they don’t like.
The other favorite line these days is “fake news.”
I hate to break it to you, but the idea of fake news is not a new one. Yellow journalism was a style of newspaper reporting that emphasized sensationalism over facts. During its heyday in the late 19th century it was one of many factors that helped push the United States and Spain into war in Cuba and the Philippines, leading to the acquisition of overseas territory by the United States.
According to government sources, the peak of yellow journalism came in 1898 when the U.S. battleship the Maine blew up in Havana harbor. Initial conclusions had the Maine blowing up by misadventure, but newspaper magnates Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst had been selling papers fanning the fires of war and published rumors of plots to sink the ship. When a U.S. naval investigation later stated that the explosion had come from a mine in the harbor, the proponents of yellow journalism seized upon it and called for war. By early May, the Spanish-American War had begun.
To use a football term, I’ve always thought of my job to be the 12th man. That is to attend the sporting events, government meetings and various other happenings of interest to readers and report on them from an observer’s standpoint. Like the fly on the wall. With our busy schedules and two-working couple households, there isn’t always time to get to everything you would like to. That’s why I enjoy journalism, to provide coverage to readers. This does allow me to write an opinion column like this one. Readers are always encouraged to write letters to the editor as well. There is a policy as to length and content, but it’s available.
Growing up, I was an avid reader and am glad of it now. More often, people don’t read as much as they used to. Like writing letters, it has been eclipsed by the sound bite and YouTube. In my experience, rural communities that still have a paper are fortunate. A lot of media anymore is tailored to fit. According to a recent Pew study, if you like the right point of view, you can watch Fox News. The only thing further right is Rush Limbaugh and the Drudge Report. The broadcast stations (NBC, CBS,  ABC) and online news sites like Yahoo and Google have a more middle-of-the-road audience and people who read BuzzFeed, Politico, The Washington Post and The New York Times all tend to be more liberal.
I watch them all and then think for myself.

Contact Steve Warner at news@smithvillereview.com.