Both sides of the story ..

We are inundated by news from all directions; most of us form opinions, thoughts, based on what we watch on the news bulletin. But we do not realize how easily we can fall prey to media excesses. Because some time ago we got hot-wired in believing that what they tell in the news, it ought to be true.

Media outlets today are big business and like any business they want to get the highest ROI (Return on Investment), for that they need advertisers, to get advertisers, they need viewers (all of us). And to keep us hooked on to the news broadcasts, news media uses the human psychology to their advantage by sensationalizing everything. This strategy of sensationalism over substance seems to be bearing fruit for the news media outlets in generating record viewership.

But fortunately today for someone discerning, popular news media is but one option … so many alternate sources of information have proliferated that with limited effort, we can see both sides of the story and make our own opinion.

And I want to challenge you to an actual case in point - read these articles below on the current crises in Honduras from CNN and BBC

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/americas/07/06/honduras.political.turmoil/index.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8135622.stm


Now read this article I found on a offbeat news site www.csm.com

http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0702/p09s03-coop.html

And think how your opinion has dramatically altered because instead of just consuming whatever is served by the news media giants you decided to make your own informed mock-tail