Anti war blog

 

People march through the streets to protest U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War.

A big reason strong antiwar voices can feel harder to find is that mainstream news organizations usally focus on higherups in the government and military as well as elections and current conflicts or events. 

We don't always hear from people who strongly disagree because of what the news organizations usally care about. But websites like Anti War and The American Conservative give these opinions more attention. For example, LINK says that one of its main goals is to support a U.S. foreign policy that avoids unnecessary involvement in conflicts in other countries. The website also focuses on the costs and the repercussions of the war that not many people know about and that don't get alot of attention from larger news channels.

I also think large news companies focus on stories that will get the most views or readers attention. Antiwar opinions don't always fit with the stories they usally want to cover. This can make people frustradeted because to read on this topic they have to search harder to find a credable source. 

I also think people sometimes trust major news compaines simple because they revognize their names. I know that I never question what I am hearing on a major news source but when I see something on a smaller one I tend to question it. Smaller websites obviosuly can have good information on them, but people may never find them unless they go out of their way to look and search for the information. This shows mow much the news we choose to watch or read can affect what our opinion is or what information we are exposed to.

I havent really heard anything about these websites before learning about them in class, which shows how easy it is to only see information from major news sources like CNN, New York Times, and Fox News. 

Social media can make this even more noticeable because people often see stories based on what they have alreadt clicked on or watched or engadged with. This can cause people to keep seeing similar opinions instead of being introduced to completely different ones to ether gain new knowledge or even change their opinion.

I think it is so important to look at different sources to hear and read different opinions especially as young adults because our opinions and knowledge is changing and growing everyday. At the same time we still have to check the facts and remember that every news source has its own little or big bias and point of view. 

Just because a source is smaller or different from mainstream news it doesn't automatically mean that its right or wrong, same with large news sources. We shold always be comparing information from different places and think about who is writing it or saying it, what evidence they have the back what is being read, and what personal point of view they have on the topic. Doing this can help us understand issues like war and U.S. foreign policys from more than one side instead of believing the first thing we hear or read.