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bias and reliability for accuracy.
“ If you like CNN, watch Fox once in a while to see what Fox is doing. And if you like Fox, watch CNN once in a while to see what the other side is presenting,” he said.
And, Gustin said, don’ t rely on either of those two as your sole news source, because the channels actually present little news, and a lot of people talking about the news.
“ If people watch those talking heads giving their opinions about the news, and believe that is the straight, unfiltered news, then that becomes consumption of fake news,” Gustin said.
People also should pay attention to how often they see news outlets acknowledge that they’ ve made mistakes, he said. Human beings, even in the best news organizations, make mistakes, and they should acknowledge the mistakes they’ ve made and correct them.
“ When I was editor of The Republic, I put corrections on the front page. I thought they were important, and we put them in a prominent spot,” he said.“ I think that helps news media credibility, rather than hurts it.”
While false information has existed for as long as information has existed, Gustin said false information now travels much more quickly because of so-called social media, which amplify and spread primarily news that generates strong feelings, and usually negative ones.
It’ s a sad thought, he said, that many people get their news primarily from Facebook, which has few filters or“ truth patrols.”
“ When I was a kid, if I wanted to find the answer to a question, and it wasn’ t in my family’ s set of encyclopedias, I had to go to the library to find … the answer. And maybe that’ s why I love libraries. Now you can research things and find good credible
answers( online), but you can always also find all of these lies and misrepresentations. So it becomes harder, instead of easier to find the truth because there’ s so much information available so readily.”
Brown County resident Randy Jones, who attended Gustin’ s presentation at the library, called it informative and useful.
Jones said he has shared the media bias chart with friends and family, so that they’ re aware of the leanings and accuracy of the news source they consume.
“ I think it’ s a real concern that more people need to hear about.”
Jones, 69, was an environmental scientist with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management but moved to Brown County with his wife, Marcia, from the Newcastle area after retirement.
The self-professed bibliophile serves on the Friends of the Library board because he said
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28 Our Brown County Jan./ Feb. 2023