Media

Many brilliant and creative people have worked over the last few decades to develop digital technology. As with many inventions, the conception and the consequences were years apart, and what was imagined as the possible uses of technology was probably very different from the reality.

So, now we have this amazing variety of tools at our disposal. Nearly every house has a computer, and there seems to be a smartphone in every hand. I have more technology in my purse than NASA had to get men on the moon.

As with anything, there are extremes of attitude about technology. Some take it for granted and don’t think it is important to consider whether or not tech has a positive or negative impact; it’s part of our lives, no big deal. Others are suspicious and fearful, prophesying The End of Civilization As We Know It with every iteration.

From Dispensational Publishing House; used by permission.

What is your view of the news media? If you are like most people, your answer does not exude confidence.

According to Gallup:

Four in 10 Americans say they have “a great deal” or “a fair amount” of trust and confidence in the mass media to report the news fully, accurately and fairly. This ties the historical lows on this measure set in 2014 and 2012. Prior to 2004, slight majorities of Americans said they trusted the mass media, such as newspapers, TV and radio. (Rebecca Riffkin, “Americans’ Trust in Media Remains at Historical Low”)

I spent 14 years working for a major news organization in the state of Wisconsin as a newspaper reporter and editor. I appreciate so many things that I gained from that experience, apart from which I would be lacking in a number of valuable areas. I do not claim to have seen it all—or really to have any secrets to share that you have not already figured out if you, like me, are a connoisseur of media (or, to put it in the vernacular, a news junkie). I do, however, have a few observations about the current state of the news media—and, especially, how we as Bible-believing Christians should consume media—that I think are worth sharing. Here they are, in no particular order: