No. Seriously.

I understand where you’re coming from. Really, I do. The facts that guide your premise are indisputable: Indeed, news media is changing, and as such, you do need ratings.  It is also indisputable that people don’t like being told how to think.

HOWEVER, with that said, it is irresponsible for you to discard your fact-finding past in favor of this poorly considered approach to news reporting. When there are facts to be reported on – like a US President’s location of birth, or well-documented scientific views on the correlation between human events and global warming – then you report those damned facts, and present documentation to support it.

When there are opinions to be considered – like when a politician says they know “What real Americans want,” or when an authority plans to implement a law that will affect many people -

That’s when you let people “decide” what the truth of those opinions are.
That is when you present a news story, or a news column, which outlines your (presumably informed) opinion, and ask people to decide on how these events affect them.
That is when you present them with an outlet for expressing those opinions.
That is when public opinion – in the context of a news story – is relevant.

When you write a story with present, non-debatable facts – like a US President’s state of birth, or documented views on the correlation between human activity and global warming – it is incredibly irresponsible to ask people to “decide” on their factuality, because you imply that the supporting facts are open to public speculation. This diminishes a report’s credibility, the facts supporting it, and in turn, reduces your credibility (for reporting it). Why report something that isn’t… oh. Of course, you need the ratings.

To conclude, please stop with the “you decide” bollocks. If you must, restrict it to opinion news, and be sure to clearly distinguish between that and informative news, if such a thing still exists.

Yours in passionate neutrality,

A dude.