‘News judgment’ is what has been sorely missing.

There used to be a wider gap between media publications that are derisively referred to as ‘supermarket rags’ and legitimate media.

The danger in the “he said, she said” formula of reporting is that lies get undeserved media attention. When a lie gets printed it takes on a sort of legitimacy that manipulators have learned to use to their advantage.

Journalists have a hefty responsibility to the general public to not allow lies to gain legitimacy and also to their profession to maintain a high ethical standard in presenting honest, truthful news.

Readers must share equally the responsibility of debunking lies. Critical, informed thinking is the only way this nation is going to move forward in debating issues that matter most to us.

Reality can sometimes be ugly and distasteful, but we need to see it with clarity if we are to turn it into something positive.

The problem is that entities like FoxNews (FauxNoise) have replaced News with Opinions; and dreadfully uninformed/misinformed Opinions, at that. Apparently "Fair and Balanced" doesn't allow for the inclusion of facts.