John LeBoutillier
Monday, July 2, 2001

I specifically recall – at age 7 – waking up very early in November 1960 and hearing that JFK had defeated Richard Nixon on an all-news radio station here in New York. I woke up my parents to 'tell' them the news.

But here is the key question: how to get your news in a way that culls out or reduces the biases that litter the news-reporting industry?

Here is my system:

1) I wake up around 5:30 a.m. and immediately put on a news radio station here in New York.

2) With the radio telling me the news, I begin to read over the Net: first NewsMax to see what new stuff we've come up with, then the New York Times.

3) I also have the early morning local version of the "Today" show on the TV.

4) Talk about 'multitasking'! Radio, TV and reading – all at the same time!

5) Then I read the New York Post and the New York Daily News – radio and TV still on as background.

6) It is now about 8:00 a.m. – and I can start to get a feel for various stories. For example, if one particular angle appears in several different publications you can deduce it is leaked on purpose. The story two days ago about "cadaver-sniffing dogs" being brought into the Chandra Levy case is a perfect example. The D.C. police – stung by criticism that they aren't getting anywhere – threw that new angle out to buy some time for their investigation.

7) As the day goes on I always have the radio or TV (FNC mostly) on somewhere as background. My ears seem able to 'pick up' breaking news stories as they come on the air.

8) I also sleep with the radio on with low volume. I began that habit my first year at boarding school when I was so homesick that I'd sneak my portable radio under the pillow and listen to New York stations that could be heard up in North Andover, Mass., at night.

9) During the last week of school that year I awoke at 4:00 a.m. with a start: I 'heard' in my sleep the announcement that Bobby Kennedy had just been shot in the kitchen of the Ambassador Hotel after winning the California Democratic primary.

10) Ever since then I have slept with the radio on – just to be ahead of the curve if new news comes across the air.

11) Out of all this I – and anyone else – can put together a picture of the news. By reading and hearing different spins to a particular story you can get a pretty good idea of what is really happening. But you have to make your own decisions about the news. You can’t allow any one news entity to "tell" you the news. They all have biases and spins. Your task is to get beyond them to arrive at the truth.

12) Why do this? Because as citizens of this wonderful country and citizens of this world, we should want to know what is happening. Living with our heads in the sand may be temporarily comforting, but it is irresponsible and selfish. What happens to our fellow citizens and to our planet is of paramount importance to us all – even if you think it has nothing to do with you.

13) Plus, it’s fun to know what is going on.