Let me tell you a true story. Operation Desert Storm began on January 17, 1991. It was a stunning, rapid war, and most people were glued to their radios and TVs (no internet then) to know what was going on. On January 30, 1991, General Norman Schwarzkopf, commander of U.S. Central Command and leader of all coalition forces in the Gulf War, gave a major press briefing that was aired on every channel. As a military historian I obviously planned to watch it. At the appropriate time, I stopped what I was doing and turned on the TV. (I must confess that I did do some multi-tasking, doing the ironing while glued to the TV.)

Known as the “Mother of all briefing,” the General was accurate, candid and frequently spoke off the cuff. By the time it was over, I had a very good understanding of the operation so far. Immediately after the briefing, they went back to the news anchors and commentators. I decided that since I only had three more shirts to iron, I’d watch the discussion while I finished them. Peter Jennings was on. He was a good anchor and I frequently watched him while I made dinner. About five minutes into his comments, I stopped dead (nearly burned the shirt, too). That was wrong, wasn’t it? He’d just said the exact opposite of what Schwarzkopf had said about a particular piece of information, hadn’t he? No—I must have heard him wrong. I turned off the TV, finished the shirts and went back to work.

For the rest of the day, I kept thinking about Jennings’ comment. On one level, oh well….what difference did one comment make? But I really wanted to know. It might not have bothered some people, but it was a big deal to me and what I do for a living. After the kids were in bed, I went downstairs and turned the news back on, but now it was only news clips and commentators, so I went to bed with what my children call my “mad face.” 😖

The next day, once the kids were at school, I headed out to find a newspaper that included the entire transcript—word for word. I took it home and started reading. There it was—about a quarter of the way through the transcript. I had been right!! And though on some level I’d always know it, that was my lightbulb moment. As good as journalists may be, they can make mistakes like everyone else. I started paying even closer attention, and found that, in fact, not only do they occasionally make mistakes, but there are time they provide opinions rather than facts—and it can happen to any journalist.

So what? Well, if you don’t care about something in particular, don’t worry about it. However, if it’s something you’re even mildly interested in, there are some very easy things to do. Fewer and fewer people read newspapers, but if you do, take a look at some different ones now and then. Get a different point of view. If radio works for you, listen to a couple of different stations. Same if you watch TV. Doesn’t work for you? There are all kinds of online news, podcasts and blogs where you can get information from opposite points of view. Take even a little time. Get a little more information. (Facts not opinions) Educate yourself just a bit and think for yourself. You’re as smart as anyone else, especially if you Don’t believe everything you hear.