This is really just... A reminder, of something we should all already know: the media is not your friend, and it cannot be trusted, no matter the source, and no matter the time.

Even and including the so-called "conservative" media, or what you may consider at the time to be "based". Don't trust it. Don't trust Fox News. Don't trust Sky. Don't even trust The Spectator, or The Times (British one), or The Telegraph, or The NY Post. Sure, a broken clock may be right twice, but they cannot be trusted, and they will ALL play you for the mug they think you are, for as long as they can, for all that it is worth.

I know this is fairly obvious, but I guess I just wanted to reiterate it, because I found myself recently being lulled into a false sense of security, thinking that at least Sky and the Spectator have views I can mostly support, but then I... Watched and read a little bit more, and realised that a) Sky just says whatever the Government (in Australia, in this case) wants it to, and is very likely controlled opposition, and The Spectator is... Full of some truly whack opinions, that would be out of place in the very weirdest of posts on this forum...

I was also thinking about this because I have... Former friends, working in local journalism, and because I have studied media ethics. So I know a thing or two about it. The people I know? They're all brainwashed numpties, at this point, and not a single one of them would ever dare (anymore) say something "out of line", that might upset the moguls who effectively own them. They can't be trusted. I know that. And that is... A part of why, I have distanced them, and effectively... Said goodbye, to my friendships with a lot of them, some time ago...

So yeah, that's just a reminder, I guess. Turn off the news and build a garden (~ Lukas Nelson), or at least go outside. Learn some new skills. Live in the real world. If you really must get the news, try to either... Focus on the local, read a local, less biased, ideally independent paper, or, on the opposite end of the spectrum, find a blogger or Youtuber you like, and try to... Filter the bullshit through them. Personally, I like Sydney Watson, but then, she's not so much news as... Opinion on the clown world we now live in, with occasional crossover on the current events you might see covered, from a very opposing angle, on the mainstream news.

So yeah, that's just... My take. Be careful. Trust no one. And never, ever trust the shit that comes out of a journalist's mouth, unless you can verify it yourself in some way/crosscheck your sources.

Side note: While I recommend not trusting them as far as you can throw them, I will say that journalists do tend to at least be a good lay, so... Use 'em, tell 'em nothing, and then get out (without being "Me-Too'd", naturally), lol.