How To Combat Fake News

A little while ago Gary Vaynerchuk made this statement...

"The Media Dictates How You Think."

That has been sitting in the back of mind since I heard him say that.

Is that true?

Does the media really control how we think today?

Or is that just something that Gary Vee made up to get some sound bites and get some social media traction around the internet?

While the later is quite possible, I think there is some truth to what Gary Vee had to say.

Let's take our current situation in the U.S. right now.

When is the last time you saw something positive being reported on the nightly news? or in the daily paper?

You might see something here and there but 95% of what you see or read is always about some tragedy going on somewhere.

Because let's be honest...

Positive stories and people helping other people just don't sell the news.

Why would we want to hear about anything positive? especially in this day and age?

Besides negative news, we also have to worry about "Fake News" now.

So with that being said is there really any value to news and news reporters anymore? or is news and news reporters something that is being phased out by social media?

To be completely honest with you I haven't watched the nightly news or read a newspaper is probably at least 5 years.

It's not because I don't like to read or I don't want to stay up on current events, it's because I think all the news that is reported has some kind of slant to it and no one in the game today is really concerned with "reporting" the news.

Good or bad we should be presented with both sides so that we can make our own conclusion as to how we view a topic.

But that just doesn't happen anymore.

Instead, they would rather just decide for us and only give us the information to back what they are telling you.

Kind of sounds like statistics...

I had a teacher who once told me, what do you want the answer to be and we can find studies to back that up.

At the time, I laughed and thought he was being funny.

Now, I can see the truth in what he said and how that can also apply to the news.

But with all of this being said my friends I do think we have a secret weapon that can help us...

And that is "Think For Ourselves".

I know, I know, that's hard and not very revolutionary but you know what... I think it works.

So you can either take the easy way, which is to believe everything the media tells you and live you life according to what they want you to do and think.

Or, you can think for yourself and make up your own mind and make your own decisions once you have looked at both sides of an issue. 

I know it's not easy, and I know it isn't always fun, but especially in this day and age, I think it's more now than ever very important to think for ourselves and come to our own conclusions about news and issues.

I tell you what...

Try it for a week and see what you think. If you don't like it or it's too hard you can always go back to just watching the news and believing all of it.

The choice is always yours my friends.

P.S. - Leave me a comment below and let me know how your week went.

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