In a time when atrocities against humanity plague not only the country we call home but the world we share with our brothers and sisters, uniting against a common evil seems to be the least desirable solution.

Instead, most of the individuals’ that make up society are determined to scream independence and tear themselves away from a united effort. On top of that, they are smitten with the idea that their own ignorance is not their fault but rather the media’s.

We have become so determined to pass the blame on to the media for our own incompetence when it comes to seeking valid and reliable information; we neglect to open our palettes to reputable news sources.

Honestly, I find this phenomenon more along the lines of the evolution of laziness. It seems like we constantly rely on everyone else to spoon feed us information and hold our hands through life as we make every single decision.

It has become a dominating disease, which has intensified in the last ten years and seems to grow stronger with every share and tweet about some meaningless fad that truly distracts the youth from real world issues.

And I mean the issues that result in a child not living up to their full potential because some worthless scum halted their life a few years early.   Those are real world issues but I digress.

We’ve become content in our own little worlds that we’ve cultivated based on false news outlets and as a result, this generation has evolved into a submissive weakling that rolls over to the first person who is deemed as powerful and intimidating.

Americans, particularly college students (considering they are the ones who crowd social media like a cockroach infestation and never leave) are the first to point a grimy broke finger at media outlets and blame them for not covering true, pressing, and valuable news.

However, the problem doesn’t lie in this alleged account of the media not covering important news rather, the problem lies in the individual’s inability to seek out the news that has already been covered simply because they limit themselves to one dominant, overseeing “news” source. And yes, I do mean Facebook or twitter or, dare I say, Instagram because apparently selfies are news worthy.

Yes, it’s the media’s job and responsibility to cover pressing news as it happens and as best they can in order to inform the general population. But it’s not their responsibility to drag the audience to the trough of unfiltered, pure news and make them drink from it.

Each media outlet covers as much as they can the best they can and with the resources they have. If one source doesn’t have the information then another will.

Indeed, most of the media paid attention to the horrors that brought France to its knees and our hearts weep for those who lost their lives but as far as I’m concerned the media has without a doubt covered other events that shook the world.

I read a CNN article dated Thursday Nov. 12 that covered the atrocity in Beruit, Lebanon that stole 43 innocent lives from this world.

I listened to countless NPR podcasts that detailed the racial tensions in Missouri that weren’t censored or hindered by the lack of common sense of fellow peers.

These are just a few examples that people claim are not covered by the media. What humors me the most, however, is that the media even covers this idiotic belief that so many people share regarding the lack of coverage the media has. So don’t tell me that the media covers only certain things.

A word of advice for my fellow peers that I’ve heard long ago, do something! I’ve said this time and time again and I feel I’m turning blue in the face.

We are our own reporters, our own gatekeepers of news. We find the stories, we filter in what’s important and filter out what isn’t relevant, and ultimately we determine what’s newsworthy and what’s not.

Therefore, we should do as much research for our information as the reporters do for their stories.

If you rely on Facebook for news you might as well bolt your doors shut and learn how to pee in a bottle because all you’re doing to yourself is sheltering your life.

For Pete’s sake do not adopt the endless garbage that is bred by Facebook and Twitter as your only source of information. These “outlets” do not cover everything.

It’s based on a system of likes and more likes. In other words, the more popular a post is the more likely it will show up in your newsfeed and odds are they are not reputable news outlets.

Try this for a change (if it isn’t so damaging to your sheltered way of life). Read USA Today or The Chicago Tribune. If you’re feeling really brave read what The BBC has to offer or NPR.

The news is out there, waiting to be read and heard and all you have to do is log out of Facebook and look it up. Then maybe you’ll stop complaining and won’t sound so illiterate.

Analicia Haynes is a freshman journalism major. She can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].