No Longer 'And that's the way it is.'

Growing up on the tail end of the Baby Boomer generation, I have witnessed firsthand the total transformation of the news industry from simply reporting facts for the masses to manipulating those facts to elicit the desired viewer response.

Actually, we only had two available television channels in my rural Mississippi childhood home, CBS and NBC. Neither of those channels dominated our family’s time, though. In fact, the TV was only turned on a couple of times each day, for viewing specific shows, including the nightly news on CBS.

Watching the news was a family event each night, a time when we all gathered in our living room, Dad in his chair, Mom in hers, and my sister and I sprawled out on the floor waiting to hear the events of the day in America and around the world.

For me, it was the beginning of a love for information and communication of that info, and it gave me a knowledge of historical facts that very few of my modern coworkers possess.

Whenever I think back to those long-ago nights together as a family, I vividly recall Walter Cronkite always ending each edition of CBS Evening News with his famous words, “And that’s the way it is.”

And that’s the way it was for Cronkite and other news broadcasters of my childhood – just the facts of the daily news and nothing more or less.

But that’s not the way it is now. Oh, no. Instead of a nightly session of factual news reporting, our children are inundated with an ongoing barrage of information thrown at them all day long, through a wide variety of sources that are streaming continually online and on the television screen.

On top of the immediate and unending flow of information assaulting our kids, most modern news anchors seem to have an agenda that they fully intend to impose on viewers, kids and adults alike – whether those viewers ever really recognize it or want it. In great part, those agendas are sleekly hidden underneath evocative phrasing designed to illicit specific emotional responses, resulting in unfounded and unrealistic corresponding beliefs – and, at times, actions.

It’s called controlling the narrative, and no matter the spin or twist of the facts, this slippery, downward slide of mainstream media bias is dangerous – and delusional.

In early December 2024, the nonpartisan fact tank of Pew Research Center polled people on the topic of bias in news media. The research revealed that 77% of those polled believe that media organizations are biased in their reporting.

And a more recent Pew study from June 2025 showed that the political gap in Americans who do or do not trust media remains steadfast, changing relatively little since a 2019 look at the same topic.

This latest poll asked participants for their opinions on 30 of the country’s major news sources. For the most part, Republicans were distrustful of most news sources, with local media receiving a little greater trust. But more than 80% of Democrats said they were likely to trust information garnered from these news sources across the board.

In comparison to the Pew study, the subjects of the world’s most comprehensive yearly research on news consumption, the 2025 Digital News Report (DNR) from Reuters Institute, also focused quite a lot on media bias in the United States.

The DNR’s polling points included both traditional news sources as well as online information sites, but the results were similar to those of Pew, with only 30% of people trusting in all news sources.

So, if our distrust of media is so prevalent, what’s the point? Or better yet, what’s the solution to our nation’s current state of biased media?

How do we find our way through what we perceive as the media’s deceptive and manipulative agendas? How do we navigate the media entities trying so hard to control the narrative of our news and information?

First of all, we need to recognize that there really is no such thing as “controlling the narrative.”

We serve the God of the universe, and He alone controls the end from the beginning. This is His story, and our part in this narrative is the part He allows us to play.

The Bible is clear on this fact in Isaiah 46:8-10:

Remember this, and be assured;
Recall it to mind, you wrongdoers.
Remember the former things long past,
For I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is no one like Me,
Declaring the end from the beginning,
And from ancient times things which have not been done,
Saying, ‘My plan will be established,
And I will accomplish all My good pleasure…’

So, try as he might, no media mogul anywhere on earth truly can or will control the overall narrative. Without a doubt, we know that God is “the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end” (Revelation 22:13).

But we also know that He has warned us about times such as these: “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be as wary as serpents, and as innocent as doves” (Matthew 10:16).

And sadly, one day, the world will accept the controlled narrative of the Antichrist.

Matthew 24:24 describes the dangers of those last days with this warning, “For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will provide great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect.”

So, yes, as Christians living in this dark time of deception, we must do our homework when it comes to choosing a news provider.

We must check the facts we are presented, even when they come from our favorite, most trusted news source. And real research takes time and effort on an ongoing, repetitive basis. Also, we need to recognize and root out all buzzwords that might be used to illicit an emotional (and possibly erroneous) response from us when we hear newscasts.

Most of all, we need to “pray without ceasing,” because the Holy Spirit living within us will teach us all things. But 2 Timothy 1:7 also reminds us that “God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.”

Finally, we must never forget that we serve the One who ultimately controls the narrative, and as such, we can declare, “Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:57).

“And that’s the way it is,” as Walter Cronkite so wisely stated.

(Editor's Note: Click HERE to view American Family News for an unbiased source for what's happening in the world.)