Is your news really news?

Do you assume your news sources present unbiased facts and information? Do you trustfully consume this news without ever questioning where it came from and who decided what to include and what to leave out?

If so, you’re probably being manipulated.

According to Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR), a non-profit organization challenging media bias and censorship since 1986: “But mainstream media are increasingly cozy with the economic and political powers they should be watchdogging. Mergers in the news industry have accelerated, further limiting the spectrum of viewpoints that have access to mass media. With U.S. media outlets overwhelmingly owned by for-profit conglomerates and supported by corporate advertisers, independent journalism is compromised.”

But I don’t just take FAIR’s word for it. I’m speaking from my experience as a public relations practitioner. I help shape news by sending out news releases and contacting media to use them as news stories. And at the end of April I saw the poster-child for how the public relations industry shapes broadcast news.

One of my favorite Omaha news programs ran a story complete with video footage and interviews of a UNL coed who’d been robbed. She and friends had been enjoying a few beers, Pabst Blue Ribbon to be specific, when they were threatened by a thief with what they thought was a knife. After swiping the beer, he ran off only to be apprehended later. The news coverage continued with a PBR representative swooping in to save the day by delivering a new supply of their product to the student – all on camera. The PR person in me says, “Kudos to this PR guy for taking advantage of the situation and leveraging it into a free commercial.”

But the news consumer in me was screaming at the TV – “You call that news? Where is the coverage of the Unicameral, Omaha City Council or, God forbid, our Congress? Where is the editorial judgment?”

This two-minute story summed up for me the current state of our mainstream media. Instead of reporting from our centers of government and researching legislation affecting our common life, they pulled the easy-to-cover press release from the fax machine or e-mail. If you’re going to drive to Lincoln to do a story, why not cover the Unicameral?

It’s been so long since we’ve seen relevant, transparent reporting, based on research, facts and interviews, from our mainstream sources, most of us don’t recognize it anymore. We simply regurgitate whatever is presented, no questions asked. How can people vote responsibly when they don’t know who their representatives are and what legislation they passed?

And I’m serious. When people ask me which party controls each house of Congress, as happened recently, I get worried. I wonder how many people know their state level representatives. Without real information, voters will continue to make choices via fact-free campaign advertising and stump speeches – emotional reactions that will likely do nothing to actually help their situation.

So demand better. Tell media to report on relevant issues like government policies; ask for interviews, research and facts, including sources. And probably not for the last time, I’m telling you – quit reading and forwarding those chain e-mails. My PR colleagues have been creating those for clients, too.