It is no question that news sources are bound to talk about things that would draw in the viewers in social media rather than things that have actually happened. Now, as a journalist for the school paper, the fourth wall is broken. Obviously, this paper does not write or talk about a lot of things going on in the world, but the Guardian is an honest source. However, what about a big news source?

The first question a person should have is how are negative things portrayed in media versus positive things? There is no doubt that negative stories get spoken of more than positive stories, which is not a good thing. It makes this country seem much more cruel and divided than it really is.

“Perhaps if we’d shared more positive stories we would be on the way of being more united and such,” social science teacher Dan Saken said.

The media can sway information or sample it to make it bias. For example, the vocabulary and tone of voice that media uses can cause people to choose one side of a topic over the other. Graphs or infographics can often alter the “x” or “y” axis to portray something more dramatic than it actually is. Percentages can also be used in the wrong context or a negative connotation.

“Whenever reading something in the media, make sure the source has all the information, where they got it from, and who the information is talking about,”math teacher Rachel Barry said.

Not only do news sources use negative stories for their benefit, but it is how and what information they choose to share. Instead of showing what the people should know, they choose whatever is in the public’s best interest. They try to pick whatever will get their newspapers and magazines to sell, what will get people to change their channel and to get their blogs read.

There have been plenty of conspiracies about the government. One of the theories that is most likely true is the government is keeping information from us. It is quite obvious that they can not say everything, whether  they are talking about missions or terrorist operations.

Media can be very altered based off different things. For example, web browsers can pull media based off previous web searches. The information that is portrayed to media doesn’t usually provide both sides of the story. Take terrorism for an example, The Huffington Post, an online media source, wrote an article on Muslims being stereotyped as terrorists. “Every time an act of terror or shooting occurs, Muslims closely watch the news with extreme trepidation praying that the suspect is not Muslim. This is not because these terrorists are likely to be Muslim but rather because in the instances where they happen to be, we see amplified mass media coverage and extreme unjustified hatred towards Muslims.”

The limited information provided often can’t point to a conclusion.