This is the part of the day where I have to speak up on something. Actually, no. A lot of things. This article is only the start of it. Massive thread incoming. https://twitter.com/npr/status/1253438763424010241

Whenever there is a “study” that comes about for a news article, the sample size has to be at least 100 people, plus X for added variables. That being said, these results could be twisted in so many different ways. What region did they pull from? What is the general demographic?

Surveys in the interest of opinion and feeling are oftentimes inaccurate due to sampling, yes, but at the same time, these findings should bring about a little comfort as to *why* people are being as careful as they are. We DO NOT want to have to go through all of this again.

But then, you have videos of people insisting on “protesting” the stay-at-home orders, thinking it’s against our rights as Americans, and it’s usually accompanied by the regurgitated adage of “more people die from [insert other cause] every year.”

Just because we have our freedoms and our rights as Americans, *that does not mean they have to be exercised 24/7/365.*
There is literally a time and a place for everything, and in a situation like this, when it has to do with a fear of the unknown, one of two things will happen:

People are either going to put up and shut up, or they’re going to *flail their rights* at it, saying that it’s their life, their rules, and this is taking away their freedom in some way.

“It’S nOt FAir!”

I’ll use this small story as an example:
You have a nice plant that you keep outside to show off, but then winter comes. Would you bring it inside, or would you rather keep the plant outside in protest of the cold because the cold is taking away your rights to show off the plant?

When you have no idea how this virus can affect anyone—and trust me, we’ve heard of enough testimonials that while there’s a common trend of the contagion, we’re still learning more—and you’re seeing how many people really don’t know what’s going on, that’s equally as disturbing.

You can blame the mass media all you want, but it also comes down to how one consumes it. This was NEVER meant to be a game, but 24-hour networks like FOX News are literally writing the book on fearmongering and showing how one can easily rewrite a Wikipedia-like narrative.

This isn’t to say that CNN or ABC News or MSNBC are any better. Every major network has their agenda, and they will take it to their graves.

The big nail in the coffin for all of this is the fact that it’s spun as ENTERTAINMENT, not edutainment, as delivering the news should be.

It’s part of the reason why I’m sticking to my guns on how the news is going to evolve once we’ve stepped out on the other side of this. The death of 24-hour news is upon us, and it’s going to be a fiery death.

When I was in college, it was when social media gave birth to citizen journalism. Those who have been able to keep honest have been able to flourish alongside their larger news brethren, but because CJ doesn’t always have a specific agenda *but to inform,* you’ll see a shift.

When I want to be informed of what’s going on in the world, I’d rather have simplicity. Instead, we have overproduced news versions of WWE, because that’ll apparently attract more viewers. Nine times out of ten, it attracts those who don’t have a clear understanding of reality.

This exposes a concept of the human condition where a target audience isn’t fully informed of the world around them, and they need their hands held by the informed Big Brother. However, those BBs end up becoming the siblings that abuse the mind into a Stockholm Syndrome void.

You trust it, they “tell it to you like it is,” they’re “fair and balanced,” and it’s horribly attempted to be molded into a “one size fits all,” and if you don’t believe in that mold, you’re not an American.

Sorry, folks, but it never works out like that.

Does that information teach you to fairly balance a counterargument? If you TRULY BELIEVED in something, you’d never have to defend it due to your research/experiences. But by all means, be loud and proud, because allegedly being louder means you’re more correct about something.

We’re learning now more than ever to be more tuned into the world around us. We’re relying more on the information from our state governments—which, by the way, a sizeable chunk of them are knocking it out of the park—and our local news are much more informative than the majors.

This is what the big machine fears. They attempt to accentuate any sightings of their agenda (the PA protests and the woman arrested in Idaho come to mind here) because they’ve lost control of the collective. The economy is the higher power; we’re only the lemmings who serve it.

When that idea is tested, of course the pushback is going to be more forceful, and every presidential press conference is going to look more like a MAGA re-election rally, filled with insults, a complete lack of facts and figures, and regurgitated “zingers” from FOX News.

It took a pandemic—one that we SHOULD HAVE BEEN PREPARED FOR, since we’re supposedly the greatest country in the world—to punch holes into literally everything that has corrupted this country, and you know what? The recovery may be long, but we’re going to evolve from this.

We’re going to learn to see the other side and REASON with it, not fight with it or resist it, because what has that done for us lately? Absolutely nothing. Those who continue to fight it will ultimately be left behind when the threshold is met.

I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again: I graduated college in 2012 with a degree in Public Relations. This is the most I’ve ever used it. Walking away from the mass media slaughterhouse was the best decision I made. However, I’m grateful for what I learned. It made me wiser.

I conclude with this: I know that I’ll be OK, but I can only hope the same for others.

Let’s learn to swim.

Dear Twitter:

Why does this thread still show up segmented? Ugh.

You know what? I don’t care anymore.