First, they have over-inflated relatively insignificant events at the cost of other important ones.

The Laci Peterson case is a perfect example of this. Of course it is tragic, and ought to be reported, but the overwhelming amount of coverage is absurd. The special emergency this-will-go-down-in-history announcement that Peterson’s body was found does not justify interrupting Everybody Loves Raymond.

Perhaps the worst offense the media has committed with this story is the treatment of Scott Peterson. I’m not going to defend him as innocent, but the cable news has done all but openly pronounce him as guilty. Even if Peterson is exonerated in a fair trial, his repuation has been permanently damaged. Meanwhile, few have heard about the CEO who may have sold top-secret rocket technology to China, which would be a treasonable offense, if convicted.

The journalists who are responsible for choosing sensationalism over important issues ought to be ashamed.

Secondly, news programs ought to end the façade of being “fair and balanced” or having no opinion. It simply is not true, because all humans are going to have a opinion. Not that news programs or newspapers make-up statistics or blatantly lie about what they report, but there are subtle, yet significant, biases. What is and is not reported, vocabulary used and how much attention certain issues receive can be completely different based on the political slant of the journalists and editors.

In the last issue of the Gazette, there was a photo of Iraqis angry at the U.S. and supporting Saddam. There were no photos, however, of Iraqis celebrating even though a whole book could be made with photos of that happening. The reader will form an opinion after only getting part of the story.

What media groups in the U.S. ought to do is state what their ideology is up front, which is what is done in Europe. The advantage is that people can get different sides of the political spectrum to understand what is really happening, instead of hearing one side and thinking they have all the facts.

Finally, the conglomeration of companies owning media sources is frightening. Three companies own all the cable news networks, including AOL Time Warner which owns much more than just cable news channels. Recently, there have even been proposals in Congress to change existing media laws that prevent further merging.

It may sound like a crazy conspiracy theory, but the fact is that the news people receive will become less and less diverse in perspective. And, since people make decisions from what they watch on television or read in the paper, the companies will have tremendous power.

To preserve a free and democratic society, a free and independent press must be maintained. It might not be too long before we lose this valuable asset.