The Cronkite Test: Separating News from Noise

Written By Shawn Collins

Walter Cronkite

Do you trust the news today? It’s a loaded question, isn’t it? Once upon a time, staying informed was as simple as flipping open a crisp newspaper or letting Walter Cronkite’s steady baritone wash over you like a warm blanket.  That era feels like a distant memory now. Instead, we’re bombarded with tweets buzzing like flies, podcasts chattering in our ears, and Instagram feeds flashing tailored snippets (along with funny reels).  It’s less a newsstand and more a carnival, with every barker promising the real scoop.  So, where’s our Cronkite, our Joe Friday from Dragnet demanding “just the facts, ma’am”?  Spoiler: they’re dead.

Today’s media landscape is a fractured frontier, overflowing with choice yet shadowed by skepticism. Trust in news has cratered - Gallup’s 2024 poll clocked it at a measly 31%.  We’re not just consuming headlines; we’re wrestling with them.  I’m not writing this to mourn the past but to map the present: the perils of bias, the rise of rogue media, the fall of cable, and most importantly, how we can wrangle some truth out of the chaos.  

The Echo Chamber Trap: Cozy, but Claustrophobic

Ever notice how sticking to one news source feels like slipping into your favorite pair of sweatpants?  Comfortable, predictable, safe.  Pew’s 2024 data backs this up - 45% of us dip into social media for news, often picking outlets that nod along with our biases.  But here’s the kicker: That comfort is a trap.  It’s an echo chamber, a cushy cell where our opinions bounce back louder and prouder, unchallenged.  Ever wonder why your Twitter feed looks like a mirror? Blame confirmation bias (and algorithms).  It’s human nature on autoplay.

“We’re not just segmented; we’re tribal.  And tribes don’t share truths, they hoard them.”

This isn’t just a quirky habit; it’s a seismic shift.  A 2022 Oxford study tied these silos to a 15% spike in partisan voting over a decade.  The algorithms don’t help.  The result?  We’re not just segmented; we’re tribal.  And tribes don’t share truths, they hoard them.  Imagine running a business blind to half the market because of where you source your news.  Or worse, picture a society where every clique has its own facts.  That’s not discourse.

Breaking out takes guts.  Hunt down sources that rub you the wrong way. Morning Joe fan?  Try Fox and Friends.  Love TikTok?  Check AP.  It’s like eating kale after a sugar binge—bitter, but you’ll thank yourself later.  Try air frying it, even.  They makes decent chips.

The New News: Fast, Fresh, and a Little Feral

I grew up hunting for comics in the “Local” section of our paper after my parents were through with it, blissfully unaware of the editors shaping my world.  That gatekeeper gig is literal history now.  Social media, podcasts, and blogs have kicked the doors wide open, especially for us millennials and younger generations.  Pew says 65% of 18-29-year-olds get news from social platforms, with TikTok snagging 17% of adults.  Podcasts? Riverside.fm (Note: I use Riverside to produce THC Group’s podcasts) predicts 619 million listeners by 2026.  Blogs? Over 600 million, per DemandSage, and I’d wager most of us have scrolled one today.

It’s intense, too.  A TikTok clip can break a story while the ink’s still wet, a podcast can unpack it like a chatty friend, and a blog can slice it up with flair.  But speed’s a slippery slope.  Cronkite had a newsroom army; today’s viral post might have a lone keyboard warrior.  A 2024 Buzzsprout poll found 60% of news podcasts favor stories over hard data.  It’s like trusting a barstool philosopher—charming, sure, but where’s the proof?  They have their entertainment value, though!

We’re the sheriffs now.  That X post lighting up your feed?  Click the link.  That podcast telling stories?  Cross-check it. Ask: Who’s spinning this, and why?  The new news is a thrill ride—enjoy it, but keep your eyes peeled.

Streaming’s Rise: Farewell, Cable—and Local News

Cable’s on its last legs, and I’m honestly not shedding tears.  Pew charts its nosedive: 76% of households had it in 2015, down to 40% in 2023.  Cable is Barnes & Noble.  Streaming is Amazon.  Cheap, flexible, and oh-so-addictive.  Why shell out hundreds when YouTube TV’s $10 gets you the gist?  But here’s what you may have missed: Local news is collateral damage.  Streaming chases big fish—national scandals, global drama—while small-town beats get abandoned.  A 2022 USC study linked fading local coverage to a 10% drop in voter turnout.  That’s not just inconvenient; it’s a gut punch to democracy.

It’s like swapping your local diner for a drive-thru.  Sure, it’s fast, but you miss the gossip over coffee.  Ironically, I used to read the newspaper with my own father at his favorite diner.  Now we scrounge for local scoops on social media, where rumors outpace facts.  Convenience has a price.

Verification: Your Toolkit for Taming the Beast

No Cronkite? No problem. We’ve got tools to tame this mess:

  • Source It: Stick to outlets with a reputation or history of reliability - Reuters, AP, the heavy hitters.  Wild claim? Cross-check it.

  • Track It: Who’s behind this?  No byline?  Beware.  On X, hit pause - speed’s a liar’s wingman.

  • Facts, Not Fluff: Evidence over opinion.  Headlines hook; stories tell.  Balance your diet with contrarian takes.

  • Tech to the Rescue: TinEye and Google reverse-image search can catch photo fakes. Snopes and Fact Check Explorer cut through scams.  Deepfakes?  Sensity’s a pretty good tool.

It’s detective work, plain and simple.  My law professor used to bark, “In your opinion, Mr. Collins?”—a reminder to root out facts, not feelings.  Same rule applies here.  Tedious? Sometimes.  Worth it?  Every time.

Conclusion: Demand the Proof

So, do you trust the news in 2025?  I don’t.  Not blindly - and that’s the beauty of it.  There’s no Cronkite to spoon-feed us, but we’re not lost.  Maybe instead of asking for just the facts like they did in Dragnet, nowadays we can simply demand “prove it” when confronting something.

Sources, Resources, and Suggested Reading:

Additional Resources

Shawn Collins

Shawn Collins is one of the country’s foremost experts in cannabis policy. He is sought after to opine and consult on not just policy creation and development, but program implementation as well. He is widely recognized for his creative mind as well as his thoughtful and successful leadership of both startup and bureaucratic organizations. In addition to cannabis, he has a well-documented expertise in health care and complex financial matters as well.

Shawn was unanimously appointed as the inaugural Executive Director of the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission in 2017. In that role, he helped establish Massachusetts as a model for the implementation of safe, effective, and equitable cannabis policy, while simultaneously building out and overseeing the operations of the East Coast’s first adult-use marijuana regulatory agency.

Under Shawn’s leadership, Massachusetts’ adult-use Marijuana Retailers successfully opened in 2018 with a fully regulated supply chain unparalleled by their peers, complete with quality control testing and seed-to-sale tracking. Since then, the legal marketplace has grown at a rapid pace and generated more than $5 billion in revenue across more than 300 retail stores, including $1.56 billion in 2023 alone. He also oversaw the successful migration and integration of the Medical Use of Marijuana Program from the stewardship of the Department of Public Health to the Cannabis Control Commission in 2018. The program has since more than doubled in size and continues to support nearly 100,000 patients due to thoughtful programmatic and regulatory enhancements.

Shawn is an original founder of the Cannabis Regulators Association and also helped formalize networks that provide policymakers with unbiased information from the front lines of cannabis legalization, even as federal prohibition persists. At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Collins was recognized by Boston Magazine as one of Boston’s 100 most influential people for his work to shape the emerging cannabis industry in Massachusetts.

Before joining the Commission, Shawn served as Assistant Treasurer and Director of Policy and Legislative Affairs to Treasurer Deborah B. Goldberg and Chief of Staff and General Counsel to former Sen. Richard T. Moore (D-Uxbridge). He currently lives in Webster, Massachusetts with his growing family. Shawn is a graduate of Suffolk University and Suffolk University Law School, and is admitted to practice law in Massachusetts.

Shawn has since founded THC Group in order to leverage his experience on behalf of clients, and to do so with a personalized approach.

https://homegrown-group.com
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