The demise of mainstream media—and its replacement with social media, YouTube videos, and endless podcasts—is in large part a self-inflicted demise.

Facts must be faced, and one fact is that the “mainstream” or “legacy” media were and are blatantly biased.

They present facts, yes; but do so with a spin that is almost always liberal (and often unchristian or anti-Christian).

In recent years such bias has been called “fake news.”

It isn’t actually “fake” news but rather, as stated, biased news. Let’s be accurate. (And often twisted.)

Unfortunately and ironically, the channels of information that have so largely replaced mainstream media are often filled with actual false facts and, yes, fake reports. Fake news has too often replaced biased news. Neither is good.

Algorithms often prioritize content that drives engagement rather than accuracy, allowing sensational or polarizing posts to overshadow factual information.

Moreover, the evolution of media into now thousands of vehicles, many of them spewing unproven or directly inaccurate facts, including fabrications, has caused major segments of society, especially among us conservatives, to be now isolated in bubbles of misinformation. What was once private chatter and rumor or theory is now put out there as fact—in some cases by podcasters and amateur journalists with millions of “followers.”

If one is going to indulge in the news, one should look at it from various sources, not a single chatroom.

Take the Jeffrey Epstein case: his story was told in such an incomplete fashion by the new “media” that many did not know his interactions went beyond just liberals and Democrats.

Now, there is shock and outrage at what has come to the surface.

One major podcaster has lost more than $1.3 billion in lawsuits lodged by the parents of children killed at Sandy Hook, Connecticut, after saying this tragedy was a “hoax.” He similar has been sued by parents of those killed at the school in Parkland, Florida.

Recently a young person complained, “My parents will confidently share ‘facts’ they heard some random podcast or read in a Facebook post, then get genuinely upset when I question the information. I’ve watched my dad repeat conspiracy theories he saw on YouTube as if they were confirmed by multiple journalists. My mom will share articles from websites I’ve never heard of, insisting they’re more trustworthy than ‘mainstream media.'”

One simple thing for all sides to always remember: the Bible says “the truth will set you free,” not “the truth is what you want the truth to be.”