Every time a major news story erupts, people inevitably criticize the media. Republicans blame the media for being too left wing, Democrats complain that the media misinterprets their intentions. In our current situation, the doves accuse the media of only covering the military angle. The war hawks pound their fists because the media is overcovering peace marches. Is the media too soft? Too intrusive? Too mainstream? Too radical? The truth is that when you consider the media as a whole, all of these things are true.

A mistake many people make when describing the media is that they are really just talking about nightly news on TV and the daily newspapers. The media actually includes thousands of sources. Without much difficulty, I have access to a few 24-hour news channels plus news on the networks several times a day. My town has two daily newspapers, of which I subscribe to the cheaper one. In addition, there are two free alternative weekly newspapers which offer more localized viewpoints, but mainly tell me what entertainment possibilities exist for the weekend. There's talk radio on AM and FM, National Public Radio, Democracy Now, and a slew of news mainstream and alternative radio programs to choose from. The public library carries newspapers and magazines offering a variety of viewpoints. And of course, there's the naked guy who holds up political signs on the street corner.

People say the media is biased. This is an entirely true statement. Each information source has personal, political, ethical, monetary or intellectual reasons for why the cover the news the way they do. News on television is motivated as much by ratings and advertising dollars as it is with their coverage. That's why it doesn't matter if you watch Jennings, Brokaw or Rather. They cover the news in the most general, broad-based, appealing way to the casual viewer. Dailies use huge headlines to attract people to drop two bits on their rag. A local weekly newspaper I write for recently ran a cover story on the addiction of gambling. It wasn't a coincidence that this story only ran after the casinos in the area decided to pull their advertising for the paper. There is no such thing as an unbiased media.

Why am I going on like this? I'm fed up with people blaming the media for not telling us the whole story. I know these accusations are directed mainly at television--where more Americans get their news than from any other source. Anyone who seeks their information solely from the boob tube deserves the manipulation and skewed messages it presents with its news stories. I've read that many intellectuals are stunned by the overwhelming patriotic, formulaic, keep-spending-that-money-to-help-out-the-economy messages fed to the public each night on the news. I'll tell you the reason why they do that right after this commercial break.

Yes, the television news disturbs me. Yes, the majority of the public doesn't put much effort in seeking out the information. Yes, we are sheep. That's why I say don't let the media guide you. Be your own media guide.

Don't expect all the pertinent information to be put on a Page 1 or the Top Story in the nightly news for easy digestion. If you really want to know the whole story, you must put in the effort. Finding out the truth requires research. It requires listening to all sides of an argument. It requires time and patience. The media offers all of this to the American people. Not in one source. Not in two sources. The information is scattered all over the place in no specific order of importance. Some of it you can get from watching the local news and some of it can only be found in the Utne Reader.

The question is how much do you care. How hard do you want to work for the truth? The information is out there. You have to go get it. The beautiful irony is that when you work hard enough to consider yourself enlightened on a subject, you then can not relate to all of the people waiting for Dan Rather to tell them the answer.

But it's not Dan's fault. He's just doing his angle on the events, and you can always explore other options.

Chris Jungle is not considered a reliable media source.