“I would hesitate to say that there is a blatant liberal bias in the media, even though most reporters, on social policy, identify with Democratic principles, they have done an excellent job at reporting the news objectively and not twisting the facts.”

Former Bush Administration Press Secretary Ari Fleischer stated this in a recent radio interview I happened to catch on my way to NIU. It is true, there is no blatant liberal bias in the mainstream news networks, and this subtle bias Fleischer referred to was nothing more than word choice. As he put it, “if there is a pro-life rally they [news networks] will usually call it a political activist rally, while a pro-life rally is called a protest by right wing groups.”

The Internet has undoubtedly changed our lives and it has become ever more important to separate fact from fiction. Bloggers have surfaced and have passed themselves off as credible news agencies, and other so-called news agencies pass themselves off as news. The biggest example is the FOX News Channel. In this interview, Fleischer was asked about FOX News. He was caught off guard. “Yes, it’s conservative. They don’t hide the fact that they are Republican, and sadly they often twist the story to give credit to the party.” He continued to caution against trusting FOX News to deliver objective news.

I’m not saying to boycott FOX News. If you like Hannity and Colmes because they rip into the “liberals,” then by all means, watch it. Just remember what is being promoted is not an objective analysis of the facts. Now to be fair, CNN is FOX’s counter. Republicans call CNN the Clinton News Network. A title I find funny seeing how Bill Clinton was historically a moderate president.

The problem with the media boils down to two things. The first is the politicizing of the media, namely by FOX News in an effort to attract more viewers. Second is the death of the media as a public service. But since Watergate, another trend has developed. Each new reporter wants to get that Pulitzer Prize. They want to be the next Woodward and Bernstein. News outlets are competing against each other to be the first to break the story. That’s why the news will broadcast “unconfirmed reports.” Investigative journalism means severely questioning those they are investigating. Instead of, and this is merely hypothetical, hearing an accusation about Gov. Jeb Bush and solely calling Jeb. It means you call Jeb, ask him to confirm or deny the accusation and then investigate further to find out if he’s lying. That’s how journalists brought down President Nixon.

I worked in politics, and I can tell politicians and reporters play games with one another. The reporter wants the politician to slip or to catch him off guard so that he can break the story. The politician wants to control the story. Often times, reporters are fed spin. Our job as an informed citizenry is to look beyond the spin. If FOX News is reporting that a new bill proposed by House Democrats will destroy churches, find the bill and look to see if that’s what it actually states, because 10 times out of 10 it doesn’t.

Argiris is a senior political science and public law major.

Columns reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily that of the Northern Star staff.