Jim Bakker Show - The Power of Media - Gordon Pennington
Aired: 2020-05-26
Duration: 03:06


=== Nature Of News Media (03:06) ===

[00:00:00]  How much influence does the media have with the narrative that is being put out there about COVID-19?
[00:00:08]  Well, you have to think about the nature of news media today.
[00:00:13]  They're in business to make a profit.
[00:00:15]  So for years, I've been around the news media, and I had my mother's cousin won the Pulitzer Prize.
[00:00:22]  I've been friends with extraordinary people who've been at the forefront of this.
[00:00:25]  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.
[00:00:39]  So keep in mind, very often, even the people that present the news don't have the ultimate editorial control over it.
[00:00:46]  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.
[00:00:57]  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.
[00:01:06]  And they all have agendas.
[00:01:08]  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.
[00:01:18]  Every human being has that.
[00:01:20]  But if you don't know that going in, this is why I read widely.
[00:01:23]  I read sources that I don't necessarily agree with their editorial position, but I want to know what they're saying.
[00:01:29]  And I want to exercise critical discernment and judgment so that I can make decisions that are merited by my own perceptions.
[00:01:38]  I don't simply want to react to something and then not hear the critics.
[00:01:42]  I've had my mind change before.
[00:01:45]  And it's essential that we be able to do that.
[00:01:48]  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.
[00:01:57]  He said, son, be careful about the opinions you hold, because soon those opinions will hold you.
[00:02:07]  And the fact is, you don't realize it.
[00:02:09]  Now, having wisdom in an opinion is not a bad thing, but being measured, there's wisdom in the counsel of many.
[00:02:16]  And I think sometimes there's something in our sinful nature, our pride, our hubris, like, how dare you question me?
[00:02:22]  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.
[00:02:32]  Keep in mind, the devil's a whisperer and so's doubts.
[00:02:36]  Hath God said.
[00:02:37]  But we can also say with a measured sense of discernment, hath God said?
[00:02:44]  Because we want to know what God said.
[00:02:45]  We are people of the book.
[00:02:47]  So we believe that there's a wisdom and transcendent understanding of life that comes from outside the sphere of mere cognitive intelligence.
[00:02:56]  Human beings are obviously fallible, so we have to make account for that.
[00:03:02]  But we have to make allowances for people's failings and still be able to learn from one another.