The last time I bought a house it took a while. 44 days to be exact. This was strange because it was a house in my neighborhood that I had been in many times before. I knew the schools, I knew the neighbors, and I knew about the light not working in the bathroom if you used the outlet outside. And it still took 44 days. In that 44 days the bank that was loaning me the money had to be sure. Sure that I was good at repaying my loans. Sure that the house wouldn’t fall down. And to be sure that someone else would not be able to claim it as theirs after they just gave $250,000 to the previous owner to give up their claim. Transfer of ownership requires this due diligence. We should apply this same aspect to our news and opinion. In our rush to be informed we subscribe to many different outlets bombarding us constantly. Cable news channels on the big screens at lunch. Talk radio during the car ride to and from work. And X to update us immediately with a headline to grab our attention. But missing from that anymore is the newspapers. Why is it still Freedom of the Press if a press is no longer used. Reading the newspaper was time consuming. You could not eat spaghetti while reading the latest thoughts from Thomas Sowell. It demanded your time and attention so you could understand all aspects of the story. Now we sip our iced coffee to 140 characters or less. Journalism today has resorted to being a sprint race. If you are not first you must be at least a close second. Reporters are rewarded not by the fairness but by the quantity. They are not paid by the salary of the paper anymore but on piecework. If it’s not published they are not paid. Reporters have to type fast and frequently and hope that someone will print what they wrote so they can pay rent this month. This leads them to take shortcuts to save time. Report what you are given without verifying the facts. They can’t afford to dig deeper. They can’t allow the clock to be wasted while they look for an informed alternate perspective. They must send it off now before someone else gets the scoop. This leads to wasted time on both the reader looking for truth and the subjects of the story having spent time clearing their name. I implore you dear reader to remain skeptical and invest your time searching for the truth. Reward the news outlets that go in depth to present all arguments of merit to you and don’t be bullied to rush to a conclusion. Mull it over while dining and deliver your opinion instead of parroting another’s. And you will become the one people will enjoy losing track of time with. I’ve devoted as much of my time here today and now my attention is called elsewhere. I have to unplug the weed eater so that I can shave in the morning or I’ll be late for work.

Riley Williams is a professional amateur with a skeptical mind who is proud to call Omaha home.

Opinions expressed by columnists in The Daily Record are not necessarily those of its management or staff, and do not constitute an endorsement or recommendation. Any errors or omissions should be called to our attention so that they may be corrected. Contact us at news@omahadailyrecord.com.