Thoughts of a Relative Centrist
It’s hard for me to watch the news nowadays: whether it’s fake news or sensationalism, it feels like it’s almost impossible to find news that isn’t biased in some way. Cable news is literally the antithesis of everything Edward Murrow and Walter Cronkite stood for. It’s about ratings: nothing more, nothing less. Sure, they’ll tell you their reporters are the ones who tell the truth, but any news network will sensationalize anything so they can sell ad dollars. I honestly feel like the only way to have any idea of what’s truly going on is to read both sides and then figure its somewhere in the middle.
Print and digital media is an even worse culprit of this sensationalism. Everyone has a blog (I understand the irony in this statement) and if you go on Twitter now, literally anyone with the words, “writer, editor, freelance, etc…” is verified with that obnoxious blue checkmark. We’ve reached a point now in media where there are people who use a website that got famous by promoting click bait lists as a legitimate news source, where talking heads who spew hot takes are the ones keeping their jobs and where people get in full on arguments over an article they didn’t read, but saw the headline of when going down their newsfeed.
There’s nothing that gets the media harder than finding a few crazies and writing articles that make it seem like they’re the new normal. CNN, Fox News and MSNBC make a living off this idea. Whatever your feelings on Trump are, there’s not a chance the guy becomes President if he didn’t understand how much ratings drive the media at this point. If you need proof of this I refer you to Trump’s mortal enemy CNN, who he should really be thanking, as they were a huge (not entire) component of him becoming President.
With this very brief synopsis on the current media climate, I have decided it’s time the people need a new alternative: a “news source” (I won’t be breaking any news, I will simply commentate on it) that sifts through all the bullshit and basically puts it into layman’s terms from a realists’ perspective. Am I qualified to be the leader of this alternative way? Probably not. I’m a mid-to-late 20’s former political science major whose political views will get people calling me a “lib-tard” and a “conservative cuck” depending on the issue. I’m a millennial and realize that my generation has an entitlement problem. I have no interest in America becoming more like Europe, but I also think we need to get away from this Puritanical social structure where ideas like abortion and gay marriage are frowned upon because of what a book says. I’m a capitalist, but think we need to help out the people who actually need it.
But really, I’m like you: the other 33%, the 33% who tend to vote by the issue. The 33% who don’t believe everything they’re told and aren’t a slave to ideology. The 33% who take each issue as it comes and makes a decision on how they feel about that issue after reading and talking about it with their peers, whether we agree with one another not. I’m not afraid of debate and I don’t believe in safe spaces. I’m not here to appease conservatives or liberals. I’m here to appease the middle. The type of people who if they were elected to office would actually get something done because they would understand the concept of compromise, but due to this basic fact would never get elected because of how polarized society has become.
So I’ll leave you with this: I may not have perfect grammar. I may not be the smartest person you’ve ever read, but I will be rational and my content won’t ever be ratings driven. I’ll commentate on issues as I see them, but will keep the takes at a lukewarm temperature. My goal is to be the guy in the bar you can have a rational conversation with about any issue. I don’t know how often I’ll post, but if you ever want to contact me, please email therelativecentrist@gmail.com.
Thanks and we’ll talk again soon.
-S.K. Matthews