UNITED STATES—I would say to a degree I’m a bit of a news junkie, but for reasons that suits a purpose in everyday life: I need to know what’s happening around me. I know so many people who seem to blow a casket about the mere idea of watching the news on the tube, the internet or in print. There really is no excuse why one can’t obtain updates in the news arena with the advancement of technology.

My biggest concern is the amount of ‘news’ that is put out there that isn’t really news. I get the idea of attempting to run a business, but at what price? I’m not a fan of salacious gossip. If you are going to publish something as news, it should be 100 percent accurate; don’t put something out there that is inaccurate? Why it has a direct impact on those who consume the information.

Nothing is worse than reading something and taking the impression that what you have read to be truthful, but in actuality it’s a complete ruse. By the time you realize the information is false, you’ve probably spread it to a ton of people. See the problem? It creates a domino effect.

People need to understand that we live in a world where people like to push news that furthers a particular agenda they might have. Rather it’s a particular cause, the notion of creating a bias or some other factor, this is not RIGHT!

News is not supposed to be bias; it’s supposed to report the truth solely and nothing else, when we waver from that, we’re setting up a cycle to repeat this idea that news is to be slanted, there is to be a bias, there is to be an agenda. Hey, it’s not. News should be news and nothing else. Allow your readers to make their own decision based on the FACTS; yes I said that the FACTS, not what someone wants the world to think, but what is actually true.

We live in this bubble where everyone wants to just branch off from what others have reported and not do the leg work themselves. Any good reporter/journalist takes the initiative to make a story their own. Hey, that doesn’t mean interjecting your thoughts or feelings, it means doing the investigative work to find out precisely what has transpired in a particular story. Perhaps this requires filling in the gaps or answering those questions that the readers might not yet have, but are eager to discover.

As a reporter, that is something that should deliver an amazing amount of adrenaline; getting the scoop on something that NO ONE else has? Wouldn’t that place a gleeful smile on your face? I know it would on mine. I hate going to a site that is to be of NEWS content and they’re reporting something that has no significant importance to the American public. Ok, I get it if you’re a salacious gossip site, but you’re big time names like CNN, FOX news and other countless news outlets, reporting gossip that may not be truthful is slightly shameful in my opinion.

I’d love to turn on the tube and have a recap of the day’s biggest news stories without feeling that I’m being feed something because everyone else is reporting it. We live in this world were videos posted on Instagram, Facebook YouTube and countless other social media sites are bigger sells than someone who has been murdered, robbed, raped, etc.

No matter how uncomfortable news can be at times, you have to be willing to realize if you’re not informed about things it places you at a disadvantage. A dangerous criminal could be lurking in your vicinity and because of your lack of interest in ‘news’ you fail to recognize this individual.

It’s all of our duties as Americans to report the daily goings in and around our areas. Remember a silent voice is a disservice not only to yourself, but so many others as well.