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Nature Of News Media
00:03:06
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| How much influence does the media have with the narrative that is being put out there about COVID-19? | |
| Well, you have to think about the nature of news media today. | |
| They're in business to make a profit. | |
| So for years, I've been around the news media, and I had my mother's cousin won the Pulitzer Prize. | |
| I've been friends with extraordinary people who've been at the forefront of this. | |
| Peter Jennings at ABC had become a wonderful friend, and I could name drop a lot of people from whom I've been inspired, and they've been very generous to me in sharing opportunities to have a look behind the scenes. | |
| So keep in mind, very often, even the people that present the news don't have the ultimate editorial control over it. | |
| You might have a very sincere reporter or journalist who really wants to tell the truth about a story objectively in a balanced way that really is fair reporting. | |
| But by the time it gets to their editor or producer or the publishers or the owners of the media at the top, they have agendas. | |
| And they all have agendas. | |
| If you were to make a notation of every single media outlet, you would find that within those organizations are people that have a certain, shall we say, slant or bias or presupposition. | |
| Every human being has that. | |
| But if you don't know that going in, this is why I read widely. | |
| I read sources that I don't necessarily agree with their editorial position, but I want to know what they're saying. | |
| And I want to exercise critical discernment and judgment so that I can make decisions that are merited by my own perceptions. | |
| I don't simply want to react to something and then not hear the critics. | |
| I've had my mind change before. | |
| And it's essential that we be able to do that. | |
| One thing I'll give you here that's really helped me is something my father is in his 90s now gave me as a piece of advice, which is really extraordinary. | |
| He said, son, be careful about the opinions you hold, because soon those opinions will hold you. | |
| And the fact is, you don't realize it. | |
| Now, having wisdom in an opinion is not a bad thing, but being measured, there's wisdom in the counsel of many. | |
| And I think sometimes there's something in our sinful nature, our pride, our hubris, like, how dare you question me? | |
| And maybe you're presenting me with a fact that contradicts something I have believed in or been passionately or ardently, but we have to listen with discernment. | |
| Keep in mind, the devil's a whisperer and so's doubts. | |
| Hath God said. | |
| But we can also say with a measured sense of discernment, hath God said? | |
| Because we want to know what God said. | |
| We are people of the book. | |
| So we believe that there's a wisdom and transcendent understanding of life that comes from outside the sphere of mere cognitive intelligence. | |
| Human beings are obviously fallible, so we have to make account for that. | |
| But we have to make allowances for people's failings and still be able to learn from one another. | |