Has anyone else noticed how easily distracted we are by rhetoric that scapegoats false villains and creates straw men who are easy to hate yet bypasses the actual issue? For example, there is still residual racism around us that needs to be purged, yet those who blame every case of misfortune on racism (and call it “systemic”) unwittingly diminish the need to eliminate the real racism that’s still out there. Another example is the use of class envy to claim the wealthy don’t pay their fair share of taxes when as a group, they pay far more than any other demographic. If we weren’t so easily distracted by those who divide us in order to further their agenda, perhaps we could agree to eliminate some of the tax credits and deductions that favor certain special interests who on each side point elsewhere to distract us. Let’s keep our eye on the ball and work together to discuss issues in a civil manner and drill down to solutions that would benefit the vast majority of us, if only we weren’t so easily distracted.
So what's the antidote? Use diverse information sources ranging from left to right, and where possible consult primary sources like a transcript or video of a speech instead of a reporter's account. Some believe they have reliably unbiased sources "in the middle" that they can trust, yet I've found those often leave out important aspects of the story, and everyone has a different opinion of where “the middle” is.
Media Bias and Incomplete Reporting
Maybe it's our own fault that we're often misled, because we’re all so busy (and perhaps most of us have relatively short attention spans). Yet in many cases, comparing versions of an issue from the left and from the right makes it easier to see a more accurate picture. The above media bias chart from Sharyl Attkisson is a useful guide. The images below have been passed around on social media for years and remind us how easy it is to be misled.
Besides images, words can be very deceiving too. Here's a story that's been passed around the Internet since at least 2009 that illustrates how a headline or story can be technically correct yet flagrantly dishonest.
In all these examples comparing a view from orthogonal angles (or if not that, one from the left and one from the right) reveals a more accurate story. Choose diversity in your information sources!