The other night, during a heated game of Dominoes, a friend mentioned something he had heard on Bill O'Reilly's TV show. I said I had never watched it. He looked appalled, and stated that I didn't know what was going on in the world. I may not understand what's going on in the world, but I try to stay informed. I don't watch Oprah, either, so it's not a personal aversion to O'Reilly. More of an aversion to TV, since we grew up without it and I never got the habit.
Our daughter, June, pointed out that most people don't know the difference in news and opinion. Sometimes it's hard to tell, but we need to make an effort. Our local paper is liberal, as is the New York Times. Duh. Notice what goes above the fold on the front page. Notice what gets buried at the bottom of page four. Notice what opinions it prints. Lots of clues here, so I read papers and magazines with a grain or two of salt. CJ reads a lot of history books, while I read mostly novels. Neither genre has a lock on the truth. Why write a book if you don't have an opinion?
We do watch baseball, because it's so slow we can read at the same time. I'm always asking C. J. if that play was live or a replay. I think they should run a banner for replay. Maybe TV should run a banner for "opinion." But then we might not spot the opinions that pass for news.
1 comment:
Your friend who watches O'Rielly or anything on Fox is in for a surprise. It's almost all opinion and despite their tag line, it aint fair and it aint balanced.
Mike V
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