Thank you for your insights. Just to be clear, I’m a student of philosophy, so I’m already very well-versed in researching all sides of an argument. When I post sources to back up or dispute claims, I post them from both biases as well as the middle when they are available. If I only find reports coming from one side or bias of things, I dismiss them as propaganda. So, I’ve watched CNN and Fox as well as many other news sources from various biases, and am very aware of how they present things. I keep my pound of salt handy as I read (it takes more than a few grains lately).
How are we defining “unfiltered” news? Do you mean Fox, Conservative Post, Political Insider, Citizens United and so on? Those are anything but unfiltered. They are very filtered, through a strong right-leaning bias, just as news from Daily Kos, MSNBC, American News X are filtered through a strong left-leaning bias. For a neutral “filter”, try Reuters or USA Today, and for barely left try BBC News, ABC News (not the one that ends .co but the one that ends with .com) or any of the sources from this list (mediabiasfactcheck dot com slash left-center), and for barely right, try any from this list (same URL, slash right-center). (Note: Breitbart does not count as news. It’s white supremacist propaganda.)
I feel the questions I initially asked still haven’t been sufficiently answered. This is not about how the media portrayed things or whether I’m reading the “right” sources. What I’m looking for is actual evidence of things. I’m not looking for someone to confirm “Oh, yes, Obama was really the worst”. If that’s the case, give concrete examples of actions taken, with sources from all biases.
Instead, I’ve received advice about how to feel about it (relax, breathe, trust that what you see isn’t what it really is, which sets off all of my Kellyanne Conway/narcissistic personality disorder alt-facts red flags). I’ve also received advice on where to source my news and that I’m probably reading the “wrong” ones, and the confirmation that there were some sleepless nights.
What I haven’t heard are concrete factual reasons as to WHY there were sleepless nights. What actions, specifically, caused this? What did your “unfiltered” news sources (and please state them) tell you was happening? At the time, were other sources also being consulted to confirm or dispute the reports? What did those sources say to confirm or dispute the beliefs forming about the situations? If they changed your opinion of things, in what way? What did you really believe in your heart-of-hearts was going to be the outcome of the Obama tenure? What were the things you most feared he would do and how did you imagine that affecting you? Did you ever seriously consider moving to a different country because you were that afraid of what Obama might do to your life?