You know I have a great respect for the written word.

A lot of people are more interested in the Disney-fied version of the news, as delivered by their local nightly news program, but I am definitely not such a person. I must confess to a storied distrust for just about anything that is related to the news because of the news media’s selective coverage. I would go so far as to say that the mainstream media is even censored, although the culprit is big business, not government restriction.

 It seems that the main purpose of mainstream news media is to cover a pre-approved bunch of nonsense because all of the bigwigs in charge say to cover that nonsense. There doesn’t seem to be much real truth being exposed anymore.

This is definitely a problem, not necessarily for me but for the American people in general. I believe in truth and exposure. I believe that the news media’s job is to expose things, and expose them truthfully. Typically, the exposure of the news media has been controlled and subtly directed. That isn’t really a surprise.

As I’ve said, news has become big business, and the news just so happens to have a very large audience. It seems obvious that the men behind the proverbial throne are being very careful about the news coverage of their organizations. That seems to be a bit fishy.

Maybe this is more applicable to televised news, especially local news programs. I think that there are more important things to be reported on rather than the latest cutesy children’s game. I must admit that it’s been a long time since I’ve even picked up a newspaper, local or otherwise. But honestly, it’s because I’m terrified of what I might read on the front page. I’m afraid that I’ll find something menial and unimportant instead of coverage and exposure of issues that I personally believe to be worthy of coverage.

I absolutely hate the Avalanche-Journal, mostly because I think the A-J’s coverage is severely limited and I really just don’t care about anything going on locally. Let’s face it, I hate Lubbock. Why on earth would I want to read anything about Lubbock’s goings-on?

But the problem I’m really trying to address doesn’t really concern any local news establishments. I think the problem is a nationwide issue that should be addressed much, much more. It seems rather frightening that the mainstream news media is controlled by and for business. Now, that doesn’t necessarily mean that I think the news shouldn’t be able to make money, but when big business starts calling the shots instead of the ideals and integrity of the news organization, I can’t help but fear for the future of the news industry.

Admittedly, this is a subject on which I am relatively ignorant, but I still feel very passionate about it. I couldn’t name more than one of the major controlling media conglomerates if my life depended on it, and that’s my own fault.

But the mainstream industry isn’t really advertising its owners by any means. I believe that the big wigs in the industry know that their motive is money instead of truth and I don’t believe that the industry is going to go through a massive change in order to regain their integrity. Let’s face it: money is a very powerful motive.

I’d really rather not live in an America with a crooked news industry. The American people have been left in the dark for entirely too long, and I believe the press has an obligation to keep the people informed. After all, if they don’t do it, who will?