Why multiple news sources are necessary

I've just read Associated Press' article "Maui To Get Help 'for as long as it takes'" regarding President Biden's visit to Hawaii (who was able to get a firsthand look at the devastation caused by the wildfires). Quoting from the article, he "spoke, as he often does when addressing communities impacted by tragedy, of understanding the personal weight of devastating loss."

That quote was followed by mentioning the terrible loss he sustained in 1972 regarding the death of his wife and 1-year-old daughter in a car accident. What the article failed to mention was another one of the president's tall tales about how he can relate to the Maui survivors because he knew "what it was like to lose a home to a fire."

Oddly enough, The Associated Press described this fire when it happened in 2004 as "a small fire contained to the kitchen," and it was reported as being under control in 20 minutes. Certainly, this is nowhere near the destruction and death those people of Maui are faced with. While I certainly understand trying to show sympathy to those who are facing this misfortune, stretching the truth to that extent is not helpful.

How many times can the public be fooled by politicians spinning narratives that are loosely based on facts? How many more times can we trust The Associated Press to report complete facts without omitting key components to the story and injecting information that can be considered as misleading? This once respectable news outlet has lost any centrist views they admit to having, if they ever existed in the first place.

A recent letter published in the Daily Herald stated to gather information from multiple news outlets, and then make decisions based on all information obtained. I second that notion.

Thomas Avallone

East Dundee