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At the age of 85 I’ve been around the block a few times! I have been a news junkie my entire life!

My first exposure to current events began when I was 2. I spent many Sunday evenings sitting on my father’s lap listening to FDR’s Fireside Chats. We never missed a broadcast. No, I did not understand the content, but I’ll never forgot FDR’s soothing voice. Hearing his taped voice will instantly bring back memories of Sunday nights with my family gathered around the radio.

The first newscaster that I understood was Gabriel Heatter, His delivery was a machine like gun staccato.

During WWII I listened as Edward R. Murrow broadcast live from the battlefields.

Later, Lowell Thomas, allowed me to envision the wonders of the world through my radio.

Walter Winchell, Walter Cronkite and Eric Sevareid kept me informed through the ’50s and ’60s. Paul Harvey informed me through the ’50s, ’60s, ’70s and into the ’80s. I consider Paul to be one of the most unbiased journalists of all time.

Most newscasters in this period were quality journalists — while they may have slanted the news at times, they did their homework and you could usually believe what they reported.

Moving into the modern era the news grew more biased by the decade. There were some who tried to remain true to their profession. I rate the following as better than average, Ted Koppel, Diane Sawyer, Dan Rather, Greta Van Susteren and perhaps Bill O’Riley.

My mistrust of newscasters began in the ’90s as the major networks began slanting everything left. Currently NBC, CBS and ABC are nothing more than the propaganda machines for the Democratic Party.

When FOX was founded, I was onboard. Then FOX began yielding to internal, corporate sponsors and government pressures. Greta Van Susteren, Bill O’Riley and now Tucker Carlson are gone. FOX is yielding to the woke philosophy.

I consider Paul Harvey, Greta Van Susteren and Tucker Carlson to be three of the greatest journalists of the past 70 years. They do their homework and do not flinch when the subject is controversial.

Journalism is a dying profession. What we have today is mostly bobble heads reading edited, corporate-approved, biased drivel off teleprompters.

I’ve lived the golden years of radio, watched as television took root. I am now watching the slow death of televised news. Our young people get the news via their cell phone.

There’s a new breed of journalists who write blogs and produce Podcasts posting to the internet. Perhaps I fit in this category as I have been writing editorials for 40 years and posting them for the past 10, but what you get is personal opinions, not factual news!

Currently you can watch a speech or interview live, then watch the news commentary of the speech — everything is broken down to sound bites totally altering the message.

How does one ascertain what is true, what is embellished and what a total lie?

Don Sorensen
Albert Lea