News to Me

Being naive can only carry you so far. So, you watch the news, read the headlines, and trust the news magazines to give you up-to-date, succinct information on what's important and true. At least that's what I've been doing.

Until now.

Let me preface what I'm going to say by admitting that I am not a political junkie. I am dismayed by what I see happening in government, but I rarely think the choices of candidates that come up will offer any real solutions or do anything to change the status quo. I can't even get my family to change the way we do things. The idea of changing an entire nation is daunting, bordering on impossible.

My husband, on the other hand, is a die-hard Ron Paul fan, has been for years. Before any of the rest of us even knew the Federal Reserve is neither federal nor a reserve, Dr. Paul was calling for an audit. Before we felt the shakiness of our dollar, he was pushing for a return to the gold standard. When my husband would talk about these issues and more, it sounded like "Mwah-wah-wah-wah," like the mother on the Charlie Brown cartoons.

Apparently that's what it sounds like to the media. Over the past months, I've been astounded by the way the mainstream media has handled Ron Paul. Or, to be more precise, the way they have avoided handling him. In a primary where Dr. Paul took 3rd place, the news mentioned those in 1st, 2nd and 4th, and didn't even say his name. In poll after poll and debate after debate, his name is conspicuously missing from follow-up reports.

This week, for example, Chris Matthews spent 8 minutes talking about the results of a favorables/unfavorables poll of the GOP candidates. Not once in the report did he mention Ron Paul, who actually WON the poll!

If this was an isolated incident, I might not even notice, but it's been going on for months. The press feeds us information about Romney, Gingrich, Santorum, and all those other guys who surged and then fell out of the race, but says very little about Paul who is the most consistent in his policies and who refuses to change his tune based on what he thinks voters want to hear.

What else is the press not telling us? Are they covering up information or are they merely catering to a population who wants its information pre-chewed?

Consider Time Magazine and the way it waters down the news for its American audience. While the rest of the world sees cover images of the new president of Italy, the uprising in Syria, the rising star of China, American covers are graced with fluff about dogs who love each other, the uselessness of marriage and...Glenn Beck.

Really?

So, much as I hate to dig into what's really going on in the world, I've reached the conclusion that I can no longer trust the news sources I've always turned to. I find myself flipping radio stations between Rush Limbaugh and NPR, hoping that by averaging the voices, I can somehow find truth somewhere in the middle.