The Positive and the (freedom writers) Bad of Receiving Information Online

March 13th, 2010 admin Posted in news |

By editor notthetimes

A news editorial written by Doug Gross on March first 2010 and published by CNN, reported that as many as 75% of the inhabitants in the United States get their news and information from on-line resources as opposed to television or newspapers. Why would so many turn to this new resource for news and information?

1. No matter what of your political persuasion you are undoubtedly aware that what passes for news from the chief news outlets is usually rubbish. Too often they provide up super-sized helpings of worthless but dramatic reports, while neglecting to bring out news that is vitally significant to you, your family and acquaintances. About a year ago every major news outlet was publishing stories about two collage aged adults video tapeing horrible events at ACORN offices. It was a sensational story that ran for days. Did you find out the later story when the FBI studied the tapes and determined that the young man’s voice was dubbed in afterward so the ACORN person was not answering the question you thought you heard? While few taxpayers would understand it if our tax dollars really were being used to sustain what the video pretended to demonstrate, there is a bigger concern here. Why wasn’t the main stream media, both television news and newspapers trying to figure out where 700 BILLION dollars disappeared to?

By contrast, beneficial information is actually what the internet is for. While it sometimes calls for some time, surfing for news often results in finding those key news stories.

2. We recognized the reality in the old proverb “Whoever pays the piper, gets to call the tune.” Commercial news outlets have an economic interest in not offending companies or industries who purchase publicity from them. Too often and often too late the public is advised of a serious news event that wasn’t published until the problem was settled. Months later we are told of the information withheld by the main publishers to protect their advertisers.

The world has lots of people who are actively occupied in significant events going on in and around their lives and for any one of a long list of factors, they often want to get information to the public. To those citizens the web is the great medium to tell people. There are no corporate obligations to inhibit the information from being disseminated rather just people determined to get the information to people who might benefit from it.

3. But there is a menace of news from the net as well. Too often well intended to malicious people make up hysterical threats that simply don’t exist. One new case in point of this was the “boxcar and shackles” story. The account was that boxcars were being designed and fitted with shackles to haul citizens off to concentration camps located across the US. After researching this it was apparent that the freight cars in question have been in use for about 20 years for transporting automobiles. The shackles? They are the equipment used to hold the autos in place throughout transport.

Sadly this account got some “traction” and scared people who believed it. So the challenge of using the internet for gathering up news is little different from handling a gun. Handle it cautiously, know without question the source, explore and look into over again. Information that seems radical should be researched until all reservation about the accurateness is definite.

Internet news is generally exceptional in its’ breadth and scope. Using it you will turn up information that affects your daily life and future. But do be thorough when you read, hear or see information that is extreme. It might be truthful, but it is your duty to explore the information. Or, simply gather your news from reliable sources and save the time.

Not The Times is a new source of important but not hysterical news on a variety of topics you can use every day. Pete Orthmann, Editor

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