I grew up in central Ohio, when Columbus still had two politically opposite-leaning newspapers, and my father subscribed to both. He believed it was important to listen to both sides of an issue, because the truth usually resides somewhere in the middle.
Broadcast news departments back then were not operated as profit centers for the networks; hence they were much more impartial in their reporting, and Walter Cronkite was the most trusted voice in America.
When I moved to Alaska, Anchorage still had two politically opposite-leaning newspapers, and I read both whenever possible. But then 24/7 cable news divisions debuted, which were operated for profit, and the network news divisions followed suit. Later, internet and social media news outlets proliferated. All these news sources are competing for the same advertising dollars, and everything now is about ratings, viewership, stock prices, market share, likes, followers, thumbs-up, etc.
Thus media outlets are fearful of alienating their base audience, so good luck finding an impartial source of news anymore. During this hyper- partisan election season, I encourage everyone to step outside of your comfort zone.
Change the channel occasionally; try a different internet or social media news outlet.
Listen to opinions that differ from yours. After all, to quote Buffalo Springfield, “Nobody’s right if everybody’s wrong.”
— W. David Kocher
Eagle River
Have something on your mind? Send to letters@adn.com or click here to submit via any web browser. Letters under 200 words have the best chance of being published. Writers should disclose any personal or professional connections with the subjects of their letters. Letters are edited for accuracy, clarity and length.