I've been working on this post for a few hours. I had some profound thoughts about journalism, current events, and the search for accurate information. After a few cups of coffee, a cat nap, and watching late night television, I realized how hard the truth may be to find.
Did you know there's an Alaskan Triangle? I heard about it in the past, but now I've been educated about the constant visits by aliens, the prehistoric critters than roam freely, and a mountain that is filled with government officials, working with aliens on unknown tasks. In a way, it seems to me I might not want to visit there. While some events might be fascinating to observe, having to deal with some large prehistoric beast turning over the trash can doesn't seem exciting. I have enough problems with possums; and while they're somewhat prehistoric, they're small, and act like they're dead when really harassed.
There are shows of strange events that have "experts" that analyze the footage to give their opinion. One event that really caught my attention was an "object" that moved across the sky with what was surmised to be purpose. It was interesting, but my expert opinion said it was a large cluster of balloons, which were probably released at a wedding. I had to change the channel, so I wouldn't wake my wife by shouting at the screen. That led to haunted places.
While some of the haunted places shows are impressive, they all can be faked. I know this might sound harsh, but you can't make money with things that you can't record, and fabricating supernatural events is easy money; especially if you have some good video skills, with the software to boot. The fear looks real, but in a really creepy place, with a group of people, the sound of a building creaking due to thermal changes can leave all of them running for an exit screaming like little girls. They do have gadgets that record electromagnet events. They go off to warn of these events, which are supposed to be spirits arriving. It looks impressive, but wouldn't a call on a cell phone do the same? After all, unless spirits have their own FCC band of frequencies, such gadgets would have to register a broad band of frequencies, and face it, we're constantly bombarded with electromagnetic radiation. Even our car fobs are creating electromagnetic radiation.
I watched part of an infomercial for a small space heater that costs over forty dollars, is worth about twenty dollars, and can fit in a large purse. Fit in a large purse? Is that a hint for how to obtain one without money at Walmart? Doesn't that defeat the purpose of the infomercial?
The worst thing was the news. That's where pundits, and other supposed experts, expound personal opinions as though they're facts. Meanwhile, the actual facts are crushed into indecipherable statistics created by corrupt data, and compiled by nefarious individuals without names. To make things worse, it all is dumped into the cesspool of social media, where it's corrupted to the point even an imbecile should be suspicious. Unfortunately, this isn't the situation, and apparently, imbeciles are one step above the normal viewer of many news channels.
So, my profundity was corrupted by too much coffee, time, and television. I did keep my title, and first chapter. Here it is:
The best of journalists demand accuracy, their good ability to present their investigation into clear script, and unimpeachable information. We still have some good journalists, but it's getting tougher to decide who they are. The truth, however, is out there.
