As we begin 2025, I think it is of utmost importance that every single one of us as Americans demands more truth from our news sources and our media in general. An interesting poll was released last week that showed the overwhelming majority of Americans are more distrustful of our media today than ever in our national history. Only around 30% of our citizens view any source of American news available to them as trustworthy.

And if you step back and look at it objectively, it’s hard to see how anyone would feel differently.

As we have talked about several times over the years here on these pages, it is basically impossible to trust any American news source exclusively for anything resembling the truth. Because advertisers now influence what view and spin is put on any particular story based on their political views instead of the facts in play, what should be dependable information becomes anything but, with the American public being played as the sucker through the entire process.

We watch Cable News Network or Fox News, or whatever news source it may be, and based on the fact that it is called “news” we arbitrarily expect it to be just that – news. But the hard reality is that it is not.

Think about this: how many times in the last few years have legitimate news stories been reported, but then in the pure interest of political correctness and partisanship those stories somehow are blackballed out of being considered anything resembling “newsworthy.”

As an example, think back to the very beginning of the Covid pandemic. Sources reported that the virus had leaked from a lab near Wuhan China. Immediately the story was attacked as somehow being “racist”. After repeated brow-beatings about it being such, the story was basically canceled. Then, in the last year or so, more and more credible sources now believe that is in fact where the entire mess originated.

Now I ask you – how could it be even remotely racist to state that a virus previously unknown to mankind originated near a laboratory in a city where that particular virus was being studied? Is that an unreasonable line of thought?

That is anything but racist – in fact, it seems to make common sense. There are innumerable examples of such if you step back and look at it objectively.

Now, don’t get me wrong – I don’t believe this was some sort of internationally headline-worthy kind of story, but go back to the treatment of the Hunter Biden laptop story when it first emerged. It was immediately attacked as being nothing more than purely partisan, with no basis in reality outside of nefarious political purposes. Then, it plays out, and in fact, the story was very legitimate – not for political reasons, but because he was guilty.

Here is the danger in all of that: what is reported from these partisan sources to the American public has a direct influence on how the American public feels about or views those particular issues and stories. Eventually, those views and feelings influence not only our perception of what is truthful and not but also directly influences our politics and eventually our perception of our nation as a result.

In other words, the dishonesty found in the media affects the entirety of our perceptions of who and what we are as a nation, and also who and what we are not. That is an incredible amount of power to be misused and abused by the very people we all depend on for our information.

As a good friend of mine eloquently stated on a social media post last week regarding the subject, “Fool me once shame on you…fool me twice shame on me…fool me thrice and you can go to hell.“ That’s where we are.

And given the social media ‘I must report something first even though it may be inaccurate’ mindset in play above all of it, we also have to learn how to be more discriminating with our knee-jerk reactions. We must, or otherwise, misinformation will continue to rule our lives. If anyone posts fertilizer solely intended to foment panic they should be held accountable for it legally.

Somehow, somewhere, somebody has to step up to face this reality head-on and be brave enough to give Americans some sort of option that gives us the facts regarding whatever piece of news might be in play and takes all of the “spin“ out of the equation. News is supposed to be just that – it is information regarding something that has happened without politics or profit as a motivation, presented to the public to allow that public to evaluate and eventually determine how those things impact life on its merit, and what impact those things have on us as individuals and eventually collectively as a nation.

The problem? There may not be as much money to be made with such an arrangement as there is spoon-feeding people a particular viewpoint to fit a particular agenda, and we live in an age where what is right doesn’t seem to matter as much as what benefits somebody.

I don’t know about you, but truth once again just has to become much more valuable than any political party or profit margin.