Most people would agree that the mainstream media is very biased. Just ask Walter Johnson 55, owner of Settle Wilder Funeral Home: ”You can quote me on saying that the main stream media is very biased to the left.”
On the flip side of the coin, because the main streammedia is so biased, it has created a very strong demand for information sources that are biased in the other direction. No one is going to deny that many of the radio talk show hosts are biased in the conservative direction.
The main fact of life is that all information sources are biased in some way. It is a virtual impossibility to find an unbiased source except maybe in issues involving science. Even in science there is bias, although eventually the arguments are usually settled with facts.
So what is a person to do if he or she wants to find out the truth in a world with no unbiased sources?
The first step is to recognize that there are at least two sides to every argument. The second step is to listen to staunch proponents to the various important sides of an argument.
Evaluating the different arguments is the hard part. The strength of a particular argument lies in the logic and facts that are presented; not who said it or how many times it is repeated. It is necessary to say this because, sadly, most people are inclined to believe something false they hear many times rather than something true that they hear only a few times. In fact, most of the people will believe virtually anything if they hear only one side of the argument enough times.
As you look at an argument, you must become a skeptic and check out the facts and logic of the argument. Be sure each argument is consistent with what you know to be true. Then you must check for the missing facts. You discover points and facts by going to sources which are on all sides of the argument. You can also eliminate some sources by finding important inconsistencies and lack of facts and logic within their material.
Beware of “ad hominem” attacks. This is a personal attack on the person giving the argument rather than on the logic or facts. This is a favorite ploy of people when they can’t refute an argument.
Unfortunately, much of our modern education has deteriorated into politically correct indoctrination rather than critical thinking. Students are all too often given only one point of view. Expressing and supporting views that conflict with the instructor’s view can too often result in a lower grade rather than productive intelligent debate.
This is a sad state of affairs since one of the traditional roles of academia is to teach students to critically examine all sides of issues. Instead they are being taught that some ideas can’t even be brought up much less debated on campus.
Students are learning that you should ban ideas you think are bad rather than refute them with facts and logic and then replace them with better ideas.
The better the effort you make to understand all pertinent sides of an issue the more likely you are to make a good decision regarding the issue. Americans need to get in the habit of becoming skeptical and analytical about the important issues that come before them.