Daily Herald columnist Jim Slusher: Online search yields lesson on media

I have been fascinated, in a not altogether comfortable way, by the candidacy of Herschel Walker for U.S. Senate from Georgia, so when earlier this week I caught the tail end of some reference to the race and "Saturday Night Live," my curiosity was piqued. To try to catch up, I did a Google search for "SNL Walker" and got a vivid lesson in - well, let's avoid the loaded term of "media bias" and call it media personalities.

The response screen to my search highlighted four headlines:

• The New York Times: S.N.L. Mocks Herschel Walker, and Host KeKe Palmer Reveals She's Pregnant

• CNN: 'Saturday Night Live' takes on Herschel Walker and the Georgia runoff

• USA Today: 'SNL' takes jabs at Herschel Walker in Georgia Senate runoff cold open

• Fox News: 'Saturday Night Live' jokes Biden has brain damage during 'Weekend Update' segment

I have since tried to reproduce the search and now, the Fox News item that comes up also refers to the Walker cold open. But when on Monday, I saw the three agencies who apparently thought their readers most wanted to see Herschel Walker satirized and the fourth highlighting a Biden lampoon, I found it hard to imagine a more explicit example of how individual media both shape their message and appeal to their audiences.

All saw the same program. One highlighted the mocking of one type of politician; three highlighted the mocking of another type.

Were the three "right" and the outlier "wrong"?

Were the three manipulative propagandists toeing the tired line of the cultural elite and the fourth a brave outsider challenging the status quo?

I suppose we will each answer those questions our own way. I was more impressed by the broader lesson - a vivid example of why it's important to use a variety of sources for your news - and, I guess, in this situation, your entertainment.

I haven't been a fan of SNL for some time, and, not to my surprise, didn't find either the cold open or the Weekend Update item more than passably amusing. But the broader message was inescapable: If you limit your attention to one source of information, you won't get the full picture of what is happening in the world - or even what happened in a single 90-minute television comedy show.

That's not to say all reporting or commentary deserve attention equally. Some - Alex Jones comes immediately to mind - don't deserve any attention at all. But if you're limiting your information to the sources that most comfortably reflect your politics or your social outlook, you may be missing something important - or, in another context, something passably amusing.

• Jim Slusher, jslusher@dailyherald.com, is deputy managing editor for opinion at the Daily Herald. Follow him on Facebook at www.facebook.com/jim.slusher1 and on Twitter at @JimSlusher.