A response to Sam's thought provoking evaluation ........

                                Room For Dissent

         In a recent post by Sam Watkins on the room for dissent, he pointed out an faction of the element that I had not thought to connect. Everyone knows that as a species we typically fear being turned against. Nowadays, with so many news stories circulating the media, many of us feel such a strong pressure to prevent accusations of bias, that we fear providing dissent under the pretense that we "can't" because there a risk of being proved false. 

       

         "While it’s a supposed standard for journalists to both give room to criticize and criticize others - in this world of extreme partisanship, of facts and alternative facts, it still feels taboo to truly call someone or something wrong. In an effort to avoid bias, we’re often too afraid to admit when the other, or even our side has fouled. If that’s case… is there really any room for dissent at all? " he says. http://samshottakes.blogspot.com/

              

             The former statement is an immaculate one that I myself had no clue I was under the influence of. Have there not been times when I've questioned a story but hadn't risked calling it out until a braver individual completed the task? Imagine the amount of valuable input that may have been left unvoiced due to the fear of bias or inaccuracy.

             In answer of his question "is there really any room for dissent at all" my answer is yes or at least there should be. The fear of bias is just as the description implies ...... a fear. The fear of bias and inaccurate information has not removed the room for dissent. It's merely complicated it. Each and every one of us still has the unavoidable responsibility to make sure we're being provided with truthful, element abiding journalism. That mean we just have to work a little harder to verify it.

         This means, that to determine the reliability of a article, as citizens we must do the most we can and be sure to cross reference and check news for accurate facts without the fear of voicing  oubt. And as for the journalists out there, this only increases the need for active journalism digging deeper into every story rather than passively taking whatever information's coming at you.