Non-partisan political information is sometimes referred to as facts. They are not referred to in that way by the presenters of most news accounts or by the political persons most often quoted by those news stories. This would get in the way of what these individuals want to tell people about whatever they are working on, legislatively. The facts get in the way of a good emotional story about why the country should get behind something they do not want.
Making it even harder to find is part of the reason for the fourth estate. News coverage rarely, if ever now, present the facts that will put their selected politicians in a bad light. What the party says, the media repeats. There is no investigative desire anymore.
Websites and blogs exist that will tell you they are only interested in making sure you get all of the facts so you can make an informed choice. Some of these are set up by the political parties or political action groups associated with them. Some are independents and others will be off shouts from partisan hacks. A good test for each will be the tone of the pieces offered.
A very good way to determine whether any presentation is non partisan or not is to read or listen with an open mind. If the piece is an exercise in emotion, harsh rhetoric and or an appeal to do something, right now, it is not a recitation of factual data. Since nonpartisan information does not necessarily assist either side in an issue, each side should offer it.
In most of the debates about gun control issues, nonpartisan information is missing to a large degree. It is very hard to find politicians who will stand up for the second amendment and harder yet to find those willing to present anything other than there are too many guns out there. Everyone on this debate seems to have forgotten what the second amendment says about the right to keep and bear arms and not being infringed upon.
The facts that are rarely, if ever, published tend to show the difference between law abiding gun owners and what happens in the many shootings the media report on. Gun restriction laws do not curb crime as the harshest laws are in cities with the highest crime rates. Mental health issues are only marginally mentioned and nothing is proposed in the legislative items that purport to be fixes for this touchy problem.
The news media goes along with this very partisan presentation because they have their own agenda. They have invested so much in the political arena, on one side of the aisle, they must do this in order to keep the lines of communication open with their friends. They have given up on the idea of objectivity in favor of being invited to all of the best parties and sharing in whatever comes after their buddies win, again.
A place where non-partisan political information should be on display is in political debates. Not so fast, as the media is moderating the vast majority of them and everyone knows their bias. One side will actually be helped by the moderator and the other side will not know what hit them. The side out of favor with the media will not get balanced coverage. The other side will gain all of the headlines and nothing will be known, again, about what needed to be said.
Making it even harder to find is part of the reason for the fourth estate. News coverage rarely, if ever now, present the facts that will put their selected politicians in a bad light. What the party says, the media repeats. There is no investigative desire anymore.
Websites and blogs exist that will tell you they are only interested in making sure you get all of the facts so you can make an informed choice. Some of these are set up by the political parties or political action groups associated with them. Some are independents and others will be off shouts from partisan hacks. A good test for each will be the tone of the pieces offered.
A very good way to determine whether any presentation is non partisan or not is to read or listen with an open mind. If the piece is an exercise in emotion, harsh rhetoric and or an appeal to do something, right now, it is not a recitation of factual data. Since nonpartisan information does not necessarily assist either side in an issue, each side should offer it.
In most of the debates about gun control issues, nonpartisan information is missing to a large degree. It is very hard to find politicians who will stand up for the second amendment and harder yet to find those willing to present anything other than there are too many guns out there. Everyone on this debate seems to have forgotten what the second amendment says about the right to keep and bear arms and not being infringed upon.
The facts that are rarely, if ever, published tend to show the difference between law abiding gun owners and what happens in the many shootings the media report on. Gun restriction laws do not curb crime as the harshest laws are in cities with the highest crime rates. Mental health issues are only marginally mentioned and nothing is proposed in the legislative items that purport to be fixes for this touchy problem.
The news media goes along with this very partisan presentation because they have their own agenda. They have invested so much in the political arena, on one side of the aisle, they must do this in order to keep the lines of communication open with their friends. They have given up on the idea of objectivity in favor of being invited to all of the best parties and sharing in whatever comes after their buddies win, again.
A place where non-partisan political information should be on display is in political debates. Not so fast, as the media is moderating the vast majority of them and everyone knows their bias. One side will actually be helped by the moderator and the other side will not know what hit them. The side out of favor with the media will not get balanced coverage. The other side will gain all of the headlines and nothing will be known, again, about what needed to be said.
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