Recently, the Daily News was accused of both liberal and conservative bias in the same day.
We consider that complimentary. But realistically, getting news from only one source will rarely get you the whole story.
On a national level, accusations of bias -- from both liberal and conservative sides -- toward major media outlets have left many people skeptical of what is really going on in Iraq.
Is the war going well, or is that what America's corporate media want their viewers to think?
Radical peace advocates are condemning CNN for sanitizing the news, showing a talking head and the Baghdad skyline and little else -- thus hiding the true horror of war.
They argue the centrality of corporate media to the war effort, citing embedded reporters who are "in bed" (complicit) with the system, along with media giant Clear Channel's organization of the pro-war movement.
Squeamish hawks and doves alike are condemning the Al-Jazeera network for showing graphic footage of American prisoners of war. Some have passed it off as Iraqi propaganda and discredited Al-Jazeera.
Radical peace advocates want to see the bodies. They want media giants to show "the whole truth" and see how America reacts.
Ken Schram of KOMO-TV Seattle says otherwise.
"Critics say by TV news choosing not to show the 'real' horrors of war, it makes war more palatable. War, necessary or not, is never 'palatable,'" Schram writes.
Right now, the best thing to do is rely on several news sources. Go outside the United States and visit mainstream Web sites from other countries. British papers and the BBC are a good place to start.
Don't automatically rule out our national media -- try some of each. And if you rely on independent news, try to verify and cross-reference all you can.
In the end, it comes down to the individual.
How much information do you need? Can you detect and wade through bias to find it?
How much "truth" can you take? What is your tolerance for horror?
Above all, how much are you willing to believe?
Objective truth is not obtained easily; it must be gleaned.
The only way to refute or confirm skepticism is to get more viewpoints and look at all of them critically.
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