Over the past 24 hours, the same things have run over and over on the vast majority of US news channels:

1. Sentencing for James Holmes in the Oklahoma Theater Shooting 3 years ago.  Guilty of murder in the first degree on all counts.
2. Arraignment and scheduling of trial for Dylann Roof, the shooter at the Charleston AME church massacre on June 17.  The event that sparked the removal of the Confederate flag from the Capitol in SC.
3. Floods in the midwest.
4. The Iran Nuclear agreement.
5. Autumn Veach’s attempt to save her grandparents and herself after crashing a small airplane.
6. Planned Parenthood selling fetuses for research.
7. Bill Cosby – quaaludes and rape.

I have to admit that I am so overwhelmed by so many negative things in the news that I had to Google 1, 2, and 5 to be sure of the relevant names in these stories.

I watch the first 20 minutes of CBS This Morning every day when I can.  It’s hard news – delivered fast and to the point.  But with a bias.  Every element of every event examined from just the right perspective to lay seeds of controversy, outrage, doubt, and drama.  No matter how good reporters are these days, I really believe that the news is about the ratings and the profits.  And the media drives public opinion and culture – rather than simply reporting it.