We are essentially at the mercy of what is "reported" for our information and entertainment.
A recent study by Purdue University highlights the vulnerability of the common person to biased or inaccurate reporting. The study states that 98% of Americans get most of their information on politics, the economy, finance national and local issues from TV and newspaper reporting. It further showed that virtually all of them believe this reported information when taken from what the individual considers "a trusted source." This description was found to cover a wide range of publications and broadcast media as well as trade organizations but demonstrated the vulnerability of the populace.
The study also examined the actual accuracy of these information sources and given the trust placed in them by the consumer the results were astounding - even frightening. Of 968 news reports sampled during the summer of 2006, 672 of the them were found to contain factual errors.
Of these, most were simple mistakes consisting of misspelled names or transposed numbers but some were found to be gross inaccuracies and a distressing number of "news" reports were found to contain more opinions of the writers than actual facts.
Co-author of the report, Jawoki Kwsiki stated that the potential for manipulation of the American public is so ripe he has come to question the true intent of everything he reads or sees on TV. "How far can we be from another Nixon willing to take advantage of this situation. How do we know if it may have already happened?" Kwsiki asked.
Whats the answer? Government intervention and the creation of a media accuracy bureau? Shall we rely on our news agencies to police their own? Either way the creation of an army of double-checkers is sure to drive the price of news higher. Will we be willing to pay $2.00 for the daily paper? Smaller agencies are sure to fail as a result of higher overhead resulting in the choices and sources growing even smaller - and as Kwsiki speculates, this will imperil the information industry even more.
These are the things that have inspired and fueled conspiracy theorists for years. While its known many people rely on questionable "reporting" typified by the old Archie Bunker line in defense of a National Enquirer headline, "... they wouldn't be allowed to print it if it wasn't true."
The truth is that nothing but the first and last sentence in this post is actually true, the rest being fabricated by the writer for entertainment and to get you to THINK a little about what you believe!