Skip to content
I used to be a news junky. I would watch the local morning, six o’clock and eleven o’clock news every day and in between my television was always tuned to CNN, MSNBC, HLN, or C-Span. I was addicted to network news until one day, I noticed that all the news was basically the same. Sure some networks would put a different spin or lean on the story but they were all talking about the same story and most of the stories were not even newsworthy.
It all started in the summer of 2007 during the first US Social Forum. On the opening day of the weeklong event over 10,000 people marched right by the CNN headquarters in Atlanta. I had been tuned to CNN all morning, just knowing that the Social Forum happening right outside their door would be covered. Instead, I found live coverage of Paris Hilton being released from jail.
Thousands of people were right outside CNN’s door talking about real issues and CNN was talking about some bubble-headed blonde that was famous for being a rich kid who was released from jail. Had that been a young black woman from the hood she would have had the book thrown at her, but that is for another post.
Back to CNN, who did not have one news story on the first-ever US Social Forum. A weeklong event where people were talking about real issues, climate change, poverty, gender justice, mass incarceration, etc. I looked around and found that none of the network news covered the Social Forum, only a few articles in the local Atlanta paper talked about it at all.
That is when I realized that the news was no longer the source of information that I was raised on. The news had drastically changed and could no longer be trusted. They had their own agenda, all of them, and that agenda was controlled by the few media moguls who owned them. The network news was nothing more than a propaganda machine disguised as “news”.
Religion was no longer the opiate of the masses, network news was, and Rupert Murdock was the God.
In December 2010, the Tunisian Uprising would spark what became known as the “Arab Spring”. Twitter became the source of news as well as organizing. I joined millions in following the Twitter accounts of organizers that were on the ground in the middle east. First-hand news sources that were there in the middle of the uprisings and not controlled by any mainstream media.
The Fall of 2011 saw the rise of Occupy Wall Street and what became known as citizen journalists; live streamers broadcasting 24 hours a day on the internet. As Occupy Wall Street grew and spread to nearly every state, citizen journalists became the go-to source for news. At any time day or night, you could tune into a live streamer and see exactly what was happening in almost every state.
During this time, my primary news sources became Twitter and live streamers. I still watched some network news just to see what “the system” had to say about what was happening on the street. Often, I was disappointed by no coverage or very slanted stories generated by the Rupert Murdoch/Koch Brothers propaganda machine.
By the time 2014 rolled around and Michael Brown was murdered in the streets of Ferguson, MO and the people of Ferguson stood up and said no more. I knew that if I wanted to find out the truth, I would have to go to the internet and social media because right-wing, white, rich network news had begun spinning the story well before there was even a story to spin.
I knew that the truth about Tamir and Sandra and all the other black lives that have been taken would never be told on network news. I knew that in our country, which is steeped in systemic racism and defining people as “other” and “unworthy” the only way the truth would be heard was through Twitter, citizen journalists, blogs, and YouTube.
Social media has become my primary source of news and the news I watch on TV is on Comedy Central. It’s crazy that news on a comedy network is more informative than anything reported on network news.
Do you trust network news? What are your go-to sources for news?
Not only are you 100% right, but here’s the new danger: net neutrality is the tool that citizen journalists rely on. If the Internet becomes a toy in the hands of big $$$, that will end. Whenever you see anything in the news about this, pay attention (and tell us!) Best wishes.
Yes! net neutrality is an absolute. Here are a couple of sites for people who want to learn more and get involved in the fight to save the internet.
The Open Internet
The Internet Defense League
I no longer trust newspapers, network, local or other news sources (including public). Just too many agendas for the truth. I listen and read and then make up my own mind.
So true it seems that everywhere there is a hidden agenda. If I hear something I try to find out about it from several different sources and then I make up my mind about the truthfulness of it. What really concerns me are the people who blindly believe what they are told and then go out a vote.
I’m a much happier person since I quit watching newscasts. They’re all biased, whether their bias agrees or disagrees with you, and the network newscasts are only vehicles for commercials for denture adhesives, laxatives, and prescription drugs.
So true. Its often like on big infomercial
I take it all with a grain of salt. I like the new transparency, though sometimes people get so used to being outraged with 24 hour news that they forget to smell the roses.
I take pause at the phrase, ” right wing, white, rich network news” which is just as generalizing and broad as what we all accept as racist statements. It has to be clean and honest across the board, even from us.
I completely agree!
I’m not sure why it put my link to my last blog post on there but I didn’t do that…lol. Don’t want you to think I am trying to hijack your blog post!
I have a program called comment luv that automatically does that. It’s great because when someone reads theri comment they can also go and check out their blog is they want.
I don’t see news on TV as I haven’t had one for a while. I have google news set up so I see news topics from many sources. That is eye opening to see how much the coverage can differ. And some internet sites don’t have much fluff, some that is all they have. I try to keep a balanced approach to not always just see news slanted either liberal or conservative, etc., as I want to understand from all angles. Some sites are totally out there, though, for sure. I like to read magazines like The Economist, too, for international coverage in depth.
I don’t have a TV anymore either. I get most of my news from the internet now. I prefer international coverage because it seems less biased, but I take everything with a grain of salt.
I don’t trust it at all. They change positions on topics like we change underpants. I just watch democracy now and get updates from Twitter but even that content I take with a grain of salt.
It’s becoming harder and harder to know who to trust.
I commend you for speaking out about this. I realized a few years ago that the news is pretty much just there to give us that set narrative and feed fear into us for all the wrong reasons. There is now too much bias and the agenda has become apparent to me. I also deal with anxiety sometimes and it was too much for me.
I stopped watching the news decades ago. I used to work for Coca-Cola as an executive assistant for several VP and I often knew the real story about a lot of things despite what the public knew and I don’t mean just about our company.
I also did my internship for my criminal justice degree with a local police department in Atlanta & our crime commission. Having been behind the scenes in both roles was eye opening.
The public will never ever know the complete truth about most things.
I do not trust the news at all or government for that matter. I have learned more of what really goes on in the world watching alternative media on Youtube. Anything that they push on the news I will do the opposite such as flu shots..I have never gotten one and never will and I think this Corona stuff is man made not from animals. Same with Lyme Disease which I got in 2011 which came right from Plum Island research center. I saw this and had to rant..lol