THE RANT: Dear media consumers

Dear media consumers,

I don’t care whether it’s reading The Volante, watching Coyote News, listening to Coyote Radio or consuming one of the countless other news sources in print, television or radio, learn the difference between opinion and news.

In print, like The Volante, it’s really not that hard to distinguish news from opinion. You see those big letters at the top of this page that spell out “Opinion,” that means it’s an opinion section. It’s not news, it’s commentary. It is supposed to have opinion in it and is supposed to try to change people’s perceptions. That’s the point.

When I see comments online or elsewhere of people complaining about opinion in an opinion column, I shake my head at the complete lack of media literacy. It’s supposed to take a standpoint and argue a position. That’s not to say a opinion piece doesn’t have facts in it. All opinion columns should have sources, but they then take a position on those facts or use them to back up their points. It’s not news.

News is unbiased, truthful and fair. It’s something The Volante prides itself on. The News, Verve and Sports sections contain news briefs, in-depth stories and features. The Opinion section, the reviews in Verve and the columns in Sports have opinion. That’s how it works.

Being informed on the differences between news and commentary is necessary in today’s media world. The Opinion section of The Volante isn’t news. So stop getting upset about columns containing opinion — that’s what they’re supposed to do.

Sincerely,

Chris Jessen, an opinion writer