Sharpening Our Thinking and Improving our Writing

For the last few weeks, we turn to the news on TV or view it on our phone, or log into Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, and we see talk of President Trump denying that Biden has won the 44th Presidency. Some Republicans say that the election should not be decided until all of Trump's lawsuits are resolved in a court of Justice. A smaller number agree with Trump that Biden is trying to steal the Whitehouse. Many others say that Trump's attempt "to steal" the next Presidency is a disgrace and the greatest threat to democracy. In the last few years, Americans have been able to choose the news they want to hear by selecting the channel or source they will watch or read. What I would like us to focus on is this new media that serves up the news that its audience wants to hear. So if you want to hear that Trump is doing the right thing, you can turn on Newsmax. If not, most of the otherchannels take the opposing point of view. In other words, you can choose the news that will tell you what you want to hear. Is this a good thing? Is it news, or is it entertainment? Is the new media, including social media, freedom of speech at its best, or do you think it's something else? Let's all do a free write for about 10 minutes about what role media plays in our society today. Remember, there is no right or wrong answer. There are only answers that are supported or unsupported. After the free writes and a brief discussion, I would like us to turn to the definitions list on the left side of the page. Then we will move onto the article "7 Words Guaranteed to Make You a Better Writer." If we have time, we will return to our writing and edit it using the "7 Words Guaranteed to Make you a Better Writer" as a resource.