Your very own agenda

… Any qualified journalist, in print or televised media, believes in what he or she is doing. Anyone who believes in what he or she is doing has values, opinions, and purpose. Anyone who has purpose has an agenda. Anyone who has an agenda would like that agenda put forth.

Journalists have their own agenda. Their personal views are reflected in how a story is written and reported.

We, the people, have to be our own court of reason. As surely as journalists question our various institutions and beliefs, we have to question the accuracy and validity of journalistic license. As surely as the First Amendment protects a skeptical free press, we have to be skeptical of that same free press.

When you are watching a news program or reading a news story, don’t be passive. Interact with the reporter. Read and watch actively. Question statements and reports. Get your news from more than one source and draw your own conclusions. Behave like the same dynamic individual reporting to you. Have your own sense of purpose and beliefs. In short, recognize that you too have an agenda. Ralph Young Bangor