True or False?

She thought lies were the truth. Am I the same way?
http://www.slate.com/id/2122181/

After hearing the story of Judith Miller today in class, I asked myself a series of questions. To make a long story short, I came to a final question: "How do I know that what I hold to be the truth is actually true?" For Judith Miller, she trusted someone that was feeding her faulty information, which she honestly thought was based in fact. Miller's reality was manipulated, and she was ignorant to the outside forces controlling her like a marionette. If this woman could be so easily deceived, then how can I be sure of what is true and what is false? Am I just some puppet for a higher power to believe what s/he wants me to believe?

One thing I do know is that my knowledge of the world outside my own personal bubble is limited to the information the media provides me. And considering what I have learned about the propaganda model, that information has a very high potential of being either fragmented or altered to benefit the elite. Now every time I read a newspaper or watch the news, a little voice from my inner media studies scholar will ask, "are you sure that you can trust this source?"

I understand that the vast majority of media coverage provides me with accurate information, but the entire media as a source of news can be compared with Judith Miller and lose some credibility. I am sure that Miller wrote articles that were well researched and factual. However those faulty stories of hers, orchestrated by Scooter Libby, discredit her as a viable source for information and make it hard to trust her again. The same goes for the media. If I see several instances where journalists run inaccurate articles and are caught, how can I not go on to think that maybe this type of thing occurs more frequently than what can be seen on the surface? After all, the only way for me to know of faulty journalism is to rely on, you guessed it, the media.

The media and the many forces that manipulate the media are parts of such a tangled web, where the truth and lies can both be found. As an insignificant spectator to the powerful, invaluable component of our culture that is media, I feel as if nothing I do can ensure my consumption of the whole truth and nothing but the truth (so help me God).