Opinion
Opinion or News?
We, as a nation, don’t understand the difference between news and editorials.

Over the past few weeks something has become apparent. Â We, as a nation, don’t understand the difference between news and editorials.
News reports are just that. Â They communicate to you the event that has occurred. Â A good news report will present the facts and only add information to put the event in context. Â For example, ‘Jane Crossed the Street’ is the headline and it describes the event. Â From the headline, you’ve got a pretty good feel for what happened. Â If you read the story it may include background information on Jane, which street she crossed and perhaps even the context of why that was a newsworthy event.
An editorial is someone’s opinion of the event. Â Those who write editorials are usually people uniquely qualified to comment on that type of event. Â But our free press means anyone can present an editorial on any topic. Â “Richard’s Point of View on Jane’s Street Crossing” would be an appropriate title for an editorial written by Richard about Jane crossing the street.
Since the advent of 24-hour cable news in 1980, there became a need to fill 24 hours a day, 7 days a week of TV with content. Â Thus the birth of ‘opinion shows’ that offered their opinions on the days events. Â They started innocently enough with panelists qualified on the topic offering their knowledgeable take on the event. Â ‘Jane Crossed the Street’ with the guy who built the street and the gal who decided to put a crosswalk there. Â These type of shows became far more popular because they were more interesting than repeating Jane’s street crossing endlessly.
Almost 40 years down the road we now have a culture of people watching ‘opinion shows’ that offer the opinion of the host or network and believing they are watching the news. Â ‘Did Jane Jaywalk While Crossing the Street?’
There are many ways to identify if you are getting the news or someone’s opinion on the news. Â The first and easiest is the name of the show. Â If the show is a person’s name then that show is that person’s opinion of the news. Â Another way is the emotional level of the presenter. Â If they are angry and using angry words to communicate a story to you, then you are watching an opinion show, not the news. Â Written news reports are easier to identify because editorials say clearly ‘Opinion or Editorial’ at the top of the story. Â Some written reports are from dubious sources. Â The easiest way to check them is to look at the history of the stories they report. Â If they are all about how Jane is a Jaywalker who crosses the street to take your money then you should know you are on a dubious site.
If you strongly disagree with someone’s opinion of the news you should create your own editorial to counter their point of view. Â Or you can even do what adults do when they disagree. Â Which is to politely turn the page to the next story and move on with your life.
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