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The media controls our lives more than we realize. Whether admitting it or not, it influences our actions and opinions every day, in what we buy, what we feel, and even what we fear. This is why it is always important to cross-check presented information with multiple news sources. It is also important that we all do our own research and find direct sources of information. It's always good to know the news; but also know those who present it to you.

The Big 3 Cable News Stations, and my impressions of them

CNN - possibly the most trusted and popular news station, CNN has some of the best reporting. I would also say it does a good job in keeping political bias down to a minimum. My main problem with CNN is its obsession with entertainment news. It spends too much time covering Hollywood awards shows, Britney Spears kissing Madonna, Michael Jackson, and other gossipy entertainment stories. This undoubtedly attracts a broader audience for them, but I'd still like to think that CNN is a news channel, and not E!

FOX News Channel - Their slogan is "Fair and Balanced", and I would say that, for the most part, their regular reporting is unbiased. In the evening, however, when The O'Reilly Factor and Hannity and Colmes come on, the station is overpowered by overwhelming conservative bias. I credit FNC with covering the best variety of news stories. Where its competitors will typically focus on 3 or 4 big stories and rotate them all day, FOX will at least mention smaller stories even if there isn't much to say about them.

MSNBC - In my opinion, this is the worst news channel on cable. It has the most apparent conservative bias, and the reporting is of poor quality. It has also fixated on stories like the Michael Jackson trial ad nauseum. The day that the Jackson story began, MSNBC spent no less than 3 hours straight covering it (It was probably even longer, but I can't stand watching that channel for very long). For the next two weeks, every time I switched over to MSNBC, it was still talking about Jackson, even when there was absolutely nothing new to say. These strange priorities and bias-filled, poor reporting have made MSNBC the least popular of the big 3 cable news stations.