Do you believe your eyes?

Gregg Easterbrook, of the Brookings Institution, in a recent article in the Wall Street Journal compares the media perception of America with the perception of individual Americans. His article is titled, ‘Life is good, so why do we feel so bad?’

‘The relentlessly negative impressions of American life presented by the media, including the entertainment media, explain something otherwise puzzling that shows up in psychological data. When asked about the country’s economy, schools, health care or community spirit, American’s tell pollsters the situation is dreadful. But when asked about their own jobs, schools, doctors, and communities, people tell pollsters the situation is good. Our impressions of ourselves, and our neighbors come from personal experience. Our impressions of the nation as a whole come from the media and from political blather, which both exaggerate the negative.’

‘The latter has never been thicker. Democrats insist Republicans are ruining domestic policy. Republicans insist Democrats are ruining foreign policy. Neither claim is true, but both reflect what we’ve been conditioned to believe: that America is in much worse circumstances than it actually is.’

Being able to extrapolate the truth by obtaining information from multiple trustworthy sources is important. It takes time to identify and develop those sources.

Although freedom of the press is guaranteed there is no requirement for fairness, accuracy or objectivity.