Balance is needed to inform the public

I came into the office this morning, like so many others, and started my daily reading of newspapers and web sites to catch up on the overnight happenings.

Thus is my morning routine.

One of the first headlines that captured my attention was the “revelation” that the President’s disapproval rating was at an all-time high.

Given the daily drumbeat of opposition to this administration from the national media, I was not surprised.

But lo and behold, another headline in another publication trumpeted the President’s highest approval rating since taking office.

What?

If you sit back and think about it, both of these headlines are potentially accurate. If people who were previously undecided on the accomplishments of this administration finally took a position, perhaps it’s possible for both of the stories to be factually correct.

But that’s not the point.

How are we — the American public — to understand or accept as fact when we see or hear such dramatically different analyses?

I don’t want to mount a continual ongoing beat down of the national media but it’s hard not to take that approach.

We all depend on an honest and factual accounting of the events of the day and to understand those events, we depend on the national media to provide that information.

Today’s dueling example is a perfect illustration.

Both conservative and liberal outlets are accurate in their reporting of the Trump approval and disapproval numbers.

And as confusing as this may be, it’s still accurate and factual.

The difference, of course, is the presentation.

Liberal outlets lead with the disapproval numbers to push their position and the same applies to the conservative outlets.

But let’s make the assumption — and it’s an accurate one — that millions of voters accept as fact what they see, hear or read.

And if that news source constantly reports only the negative, then that’s all we hear. And that’s what we believe.

The problem with our current news culture is not accuracy as much as it is balance.

Facts are facts but you can paint widely differing positions based on the balance you provide.

Truthfully this massive lack of balance is nothing necessarily new. But in our current environment, balance is missing like never before.

Indeed, we have philosophical differences in our country today. We differ not only on the direction of this nation but on the process to get to that destination.

What’s different today is the striking lack of balance in informing the American public.

Given this, it’s no wonder we are such a divided nation.