by Henry Oliner

Do all ideas deserve equal coverage? Should we spend as much time studying creationism as we do evolution? Should polygamy be granted as much public discourse as monogamy?

Does the theory of a flat earth require equal coverage of the heliocentric theory? Should we be forced to learn as much about communism and socialism as we do about capitalism? Do they require equal time?

Just because an idea is proposed does not mean that it deserves equal consideration. News coverage should consider the verifiability of news and opinions as well as its existence. Quality counts.

Yet when we do have a legitimate debate on such a topic as global warming, why is one side presumed right and one side is not? Why is such a putz as Al Gore able to declare, “The debate is over” when it is anything but over, without the media derision that encounters global warming skeptics. Why is the other side so hard to find in the main stream media?

Why is every administration critic who puts “Bush” and “lie” together able to get a media venue when first hand and detailed coverage of the decisions leading up to our decision to invade Iraq is rarely covered?

Why is so little attention brought to the 550 metric tons of yellow cake found in Iraq that was recently sold and shipped to Canada? Yellow cake is a fundamental ingredient used to make nuclear weapons.

With 24/7 news coverage it is not like there is not room to fit stories in that would paint a more accurate picture. Sometime there are just more negative stories that push harder than the truth does. But ultimately some one makes a decision what stories to cover, and far too often they decide what they expect to hear rather than what is actually said, and the public suffers.

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