By Bruce Schlabaugh

In journalism one of the axioms is know the point of view of the writer. We are all worried about fake news these days. We are also concerned about Russian propaganda being slipped into our media as “news.”

Article writers all have points of view. If you are concerned about global warming, is it a hoax? You might be drawn to a story about “clean coal.” If the article was written by Don Blankenship, you should be aware of his bias. The former chief executive of a company that owned a West Virginia coal mine where 29 miners were killed in a 2010 explosion was sentenced Wednesday to a year in federal prison.

Don Blankenship, who had been chief executive of Massey Energy, was found guilty by a jury in December on a charge of conspiracy to willfully violate mine health and safety standards. He was sentenced one day after the sixth anniversary of the accident, which drew national attention and prompted congressional scrutiny.

If you run across another article up with the same title and the writer is Jay Inslee, the Governor of Washington, he has a definite point of view on climate change. I’m sure that the governor would argue that climate change is not a hoax. The longtime climate change crusader and former congressman pulled the plug on his White House bid on Wednesday night, noting it had “become clear” he didn’t have a shot at winning the primary.

If you watch CNN often on TV, you should also watch Fox from time to time to see their point of view and vice versa. That way you can get a real “fair and balanced” perspective on world and national news events.

Or maybe it would be better to just turn off the TV when you can’t take it anymore and pick up a current copy of Life After 50. Check out the stories as well as the Happenings pages. Find some fun things to do in Colorado Springs, and take a break from the barrage of political coverage in the news.

That being said, I hope you enjoy our September issue of Life After 50.