Most of you have heard the expression, “The squeaky wheel gets the oil.” This is generally used as a rationalization for complaining. This is also the operating principal behind most commercial news operations, particularly in regards to “pundits”. (You might rephrase it, “The squeaky wheel gets the attention.”)

Any mechanic will tell you that if the wheel squeaks more than 50% of the time, it is time for the squeaky entity to be repaired or replaced. If not, the consequences could be dire if the wheel falls off. 

Our news media is full of squeaky wheels. The amount of people pointing out what is wrong, vastly out number the amount of people pointing out what is right. The news has always been this way. The problem is that there is now so much news media that the squeaking has become intolerable. It used to be much easier to avoid.

Commercial talk radio is particularly guilty of this. For the most part, regardless of political viewpoint, it is relentlessly dreary, disparaging, fault finding, and totally devoid of any aid or comfort. There is callous disregard for accuracy and basic fairness. Journalistic ethics are unpracticed by many talk entertainers. (Many of these people refer to themselves as “entertainers”. This allows them to avoid journalistic responsibility for what they say. Many have become quite reckless.)

There are many who listen to a particular person because they share their political beliefs. What they don’t seem to realize is that constant fault finding does nothing to solve problems or reach goals. There can be no improvement by listening to them.

There is a simple formula for determining if something will be helpful to you or not. Pay attention to the amount of time paid to pointing out what is right and good. If there is a vision, talk of solutions, and celebrating what is right for more than 50 percent of the time, than you can benefit. If the majority of the time is spent in negativity, than you can be sure that you are being dragged down.

I realize that there are very few media people meeting this requirement at the moment, but the squeaky wheels are already beginning to “fall off.”  Be patient.  In the meantime, search for replacement parts that won’t squeak.