NE Iowa News

Luther College Lutheran Church issued the following announcement on Sept. 24.

While podcasts weren’t a thing in the 1990s, television shows and newspapers surely were (and still are) things. In my boyhood Rushford, Minnesota home, our television was often tuned to Rochester’s “KTTC Evening News” or “ABC’s World News Tonight” and our living room table was continually blanketed with an array of daily newspapers, including the Star Tribune, Post Bulletin, Winona Daily News, LaCrosse Tribune, and of course, Rushford’s weekly Tri-County Record.

On a Sunday morning? Well, if I woke up early enough, I could see my Dad step out of the car with a small fortune’s worth of newspapers under his arm. He bought ‘em all and I loved it. Maybe, just maybe this is why I always seek out a print version of a local newspaper when I travel. In Kansas City? I need a Kansas City Star. In Chicago? I need a Chicago Tribune. In Milwaukee? I need a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Clearly, print versions of newspapers are still readily available, but times are different as we undoubtedly live in a world where information about national and world events is delivered instantaneously via television and the Internet. In the past, and also now during this uniquely challenging moment in human history (to put it mildly), engaging with news sources and deciphering truth from lies are part of what it means to learn actively and live purposefully.

With such involvement in mind, it’s worth noting that occasionally I’ll hear folks say, “Oh, that can’t be true” in reaction to a news story. If the story comes from a fringe organization, it demands investigation as it could be true or untrue. But, if the story comes from The New York Times or The Wall Street Journal or “NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt” or “The CBS Evening News with Norah O’Donnell,” the story, whether it is about Covid-19, race relations, climate change, or any other pressing issue, is indeed true as it is a product of ethical journalism standards and fact-based reporting aimed at making us safety-oriented and justice-minded.

Ultimately, in assessing a news story, we must start by asking, ‘Who created the message and why are they sending it?’ In considering this question, we can often see if and when information is being presented objectively. When it is, we don’t blame news outlets such as “ABC’s World News Tonight” or the Star Tribune for telling us what we don’t want to hear, but instead see and recognize the value and significance of their roles in public service and at this moment, in public health.

Original source: https://www.luther.edu/ideas-creations-blog/?story_id=923988