Dennis Prager: Debunking Post Trump Hysteria

In this article, Dennis Prager aptly covers my latest thoughts regarding the hysteria surrounding U.S. relations with Russia. He makes a particularly poignant statement: "Today, the mainstream media are not the voices of caution. They are the creators of the hysteria." This begs the question: if MSNBC and CNN each covered the facts of the Helsinki conference, void of commentary, would the conference have generated such public duress?

I agree with Prager that twenty-first century "news" now has a new connotation. Rather than objectively detailing events, each major modern news outlet now uses its platform for commentary. The result, as Prager points out, is that mainstream media now has unbridled influence over public opinion.

I theorize that, at least among my demographic of millennials, many of us know the dishonesty of mainstream media and yet willfully ignore it. We continue to watch outlets like CNN daily without fact-checking its claims due to sheer laziness. Scrolling through twitter or watching biased recap of the news on TV instills in viewers a false sense of due diligence with little use of critical thought.

Consumers make a choice, daily, between the convenience of mainstream news outlets versus the work (and reward) of gaining a comprehensive understanding of governmental affairs. The hysteria generated from Helsinki truly reveals the laziness of modern citizens who would rather be spoon-fed their "news," daily. As Prager suggests, people no longer watch the news for information; rather, they watch to be told their opinions.