I couldn't agree more, Jorge. Trying to find those dependable sources is a central trust issue. At the end of the day, neither you nor I have the tools to uncover it by ourselves from a primary source.
Yeah, and that is the big problem. But the thing is, we shouldn't have to - instead, our sources *should* be reliable and independent. But they are not.
I realize I'm going all over the place with this, but this reminds me of what is happening now with Greece and the economic crisis. The Greeks are being labeled as 'lazy' and 'spoiled' when, in reality, the Greek people are no different from you and I, and are suffering tremendously with all these austerity measures.
It's the corruption in their government that created this situation, but some still blame the Greeks in general because they're the ones who voted for those in power. However, this argument fails to take into account that we do not live in a true Democracy: we can only vote for those the political parties put before us, but, by the time those 'leaders' get into a position where they can be elected, they're already owing favors left and right. The system is corrupt from the root, and our democracy system is generally no different than a dance of the chairs.
Tommy Douglas best describes this in his famous 'The story of Mouseland' speech, a speech everybody should listen to at least once. You can find a Youtube video of this speech HERE.
Tommy Douglas was elected into office, founded the Canadian national health care system, and became known as the greatest Canadian of all time.
So, we *should* be able to trust our governments to do the best for the people who elected them into power, as neither you nor I have the tools to audit what they are doing by ourselves. It's their job, it's what we are paying them for. But alas, once corruption is endemic, they can't be trusted and our choices are not real choices, just more of the same.
It's like our current Portuguese prime-minister, he brought the previous government down and was elected on the premise that the Portuguese people had no need for more austerity measures. And what is the first thing he does once he is in power? Yep, that's right, more austerity measures, more cruel than anything his predecessor came up with. These annihilate the middle class and destroy an economy based mostly on small and medium companies, putting even more people in the unemployment queues and pushing many others into real poverty, a vicious cycle that will be very hard to break away from. As for the 'established powers' (the other cats, in Tommy Douglas speech) - the true culprits of this situation - well, they are still there and thriving.
Because our system makes sure an elected government stays there for at least 4 years, we can no longer undo what we did even though this guy got elected based on a blatant lie. Even if we could, chances are the replacement government would do exactly the same thing. They're all cats, after all, so they all cover each others backs.
Going back to news sources, I don't buy a newspaper because I want to be lied to. I expect journalists to tell me the truth based on facts, or, at the very least, unbiased opinions. Again, this is not what happens, we get a mix of truths, half-truths, and downright lies, and, because of our inability to uncover the truth by ourselves, as you said, we will believe most of it - or none of it.
In the end, the only way out of this situation seems to be having some kind of independent 'bodies' to police both press and governments. And we get right back to the beginning, because who will then police the police?
Except WinStep. And my love of it, which is pure and unbiased. You gonna argue with that? Huh?
Nope, but only because you are a *primary* source.