Prior to the introduction of cable and the internet, most Americans only had four to six channels available on their television. If you wanted to keep up with current events, ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC provided local news at six, followed by world news at 6:30pm. Names such as Walter Cronkite, Dan Rather, Bob Schieffer, Mike Wallace and Barbara Walters were the people in the media that my parents trusted.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding, Proverbs 3:5.
If my father left for a business trip, he took the local newspaper delivered to our home daily. Whenever my dad went away for a conference, national papers like the New York Times, Wall Street Journal or some other financial magazine were reliable sources for news. However, when CNN introduced the concept of a twenty four hour cable news network in 1980, the trust factor began to fade as news started to become more and more sensational to attract new viewers.
Knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit, 2 Peter 1:20-21.
Today, as new competitors have entered the arena of cable news, the quality of reporting has declined. Channels that share common worldviews use talking points to communicate a unified message. As you switch networks, it seems like several anchors and reporters are reading from the same teleprompter. Meanwhile, assumptions are regularly made about mainstream Americans which ignore most of the heartland in this country. As this trend continues, I am offended weekly by members of the media. Thus, I have reached a point in my life where the less news I hear, the better I feel about life. This may explain why a growing number of Americans have lost faith in the media.
by Jay Mankus
ExpressYourself4Him 