· Newspapers covered the news—local, national, world etc.
· Television had the nightly news—5:00 and 11:00 news.
· Radio had news stations as well.
· Encyclopedias came out yearly and gave the latest updates and discoveries in all sorts of categories.
· Magazines had interesting information from various places or people groups.
· Word of mouth "news" came through letters, telephone calls, or travelers to give firsthand reports of reliable information as to what was going on in other places.
· Newspapers and television news had editorials. These were the opinions of the editors or sometimes newscasters/reporters. It was always made clear that these were the personal opinions and not strictly factual reports.
· Newspapers also had “Letters to the editor” which were letters published in the newspaper from those who disagreed with the newspaper’s reporting on something. This type of feedback and publication showed the agency’s intent to stay factual and truthful, not propagandizing. It kept them honest.
· Newspapers had columns of various people who were knowledgeable in a variety of topics—science, health, education, politics, sports, and so on.
· “Dear Abby” was a column that dealt in personal problems. People would write to Abigail Van Buren for advice and some of these were published in the papers. Abby’s responses offered compassionate help, but she would sometimes get in people’s case—telling them to grow up and be responsible, if necessary, much to the cheers of her readers. This was the “social media” of the day.
Back in the day, there wasn’t the extent of propaganda in today’s news. Biases, of course, are always present to some degree, but checks were in place which allowed for differences of opinion to be respected while expressed and discussed. There was a standard of integrity and respectability that was woven through society.
When the Bible is the standard for living, and recognized as the foundation of truth that it is, then a society will have this kind of integrity and keep itself in check like described above. Its news, government, education, even editorials and advice columns will function much more responsibly, maintaining the freedom our republic was designed to keep.