If there is one thing that all Americans can agree on, it is the fact that technology and media have become woven into the fabric of our society.

America is a country housing millions of people, each with their own beliefs, values, and experiences. At first glance, having such a diversified culture may seem like the perfect outline for society, but a new problem has been born out of this diversity.

American citizens can no longer turn on the television or open up a newspaper to receive authentic information on current events. Instead, each and every citizen can have the news tailored to their own personal or political beliefs.

Of course, hearing issues discussed by others with different points of view is not at all a bad thing. In fact, refusing to listen to others’ opinions stunts our own maturity as responsible citizens.

However, the real problem here is that our opinions on current events are effectively decided before they even reach our eyes and ears. 

Biased media plays to both the pride and the ignorance of American citizens. Either the citizen sees his or her political or personal views as the only correct opinion, or he or she watches news infused with an opinion and believes it to be the plain truth.

Although they may not be striking a chord with every citizen’s opinion, large media corporations are able to manipulate a person’s pride by presenting news in the shape of a popular opinion, boosting the sense of gratification in those who share it.

On the other hand, citizens who may not have a strong position on a subject can be swayed by a biased news source if they think that the news they are receiving is the basic fact of the matter.

Either way, this creates a great divide in our country that effectively eradicates our ability to further our society through collaboration.

Considering the vast amount of partisan media produced in America today, it may seem unlikely that we could ever become a nation that presents the unbiased truth to its citizens. However, there are solutions that can be enacted.

The solution to this issue lies in the hands of the people, not in any change that could be made by the prominent news sources viewed in America today. Big-name media is much too focused on monetary growth to risk upsetting their viewers. 

Thus, it’s in the hands of the viewers themselves to do their research.

To take the first step in creating a society in which each citizen is kept up-to-date with raw information, people must begin to seek out news on their own. By looking into independent news sources, citizens can begin to receive only the facts instead of bits of truth and opinion fused together to fit a narrative.

Forming opinions around facts instead of the other way around would have ripple effects throughout the current media industry. 

When people begin to seek out their own information, large corporate media platforms will subsequently experience a large drop in views, showing said platforms that American citizens are no longer interested in fact-opinion mashups.

 Such a realization could lead to more unmitigated and unbiased reporting coming from America’s top news sources, which will begin to purify the stream of news reaching our country’s citizens.

Following the creation of a movement of citizens working together to be informed instead of indoctrinated, people will be able to share and discuss the news that they find. Once citizens are given the real facts of a current event, they’ll be able to form opinions that have credible foundations.

This solution would obviously take several years of hard work to get right. It would require a change of heart on the side of many American citizens and a collective revelation that our favorite news sources may instead be the cause of our societal demise.

However, when the people put their hearts into fixing an issue, we are able to see where the power in America truly lies. It’s time for us to stop our habits of cognitive dissonance towards this growing problem and make a real effort to fix it.

Ignorance will only allow this problem to become larger and larger until it is no longer able to be fixed, but we have yet to reach the point of no return. The real news is out there, but we must be the ones to seek it out.