If you're a crime reporter for long enough, you start seeing theworld through a distorted lens. Everything is evil. People arealways manipulating you. The world is a terrible place. Peoplearen't trustworthy and you have a true lack of faith.

I'd always argue, using my cynical brain, against the words thatpeople said, because I lived inside the police reports that thegeneral public wasn't reading. The murders and brutal crimesagainst women and children. The autopsies and crime scene photos.It was a brutal world to swim around in. It made sense why so manypolice detectives drank and smoked. Criminals and even the generalpublic tend to lie or play some angle to benefit their own lives orto just stay out of trouble, or even jail.

It took time to climb out of my cynical way of thinking; atleast, the deeper, darker side of cynicism started to fade after Ileft that beat. But then, as a political reporter, it all cameback. No murders. But so much distrust. Political self-interestsbegan to bury the ledes of the stories and that turned into ouraudiences not gaining any factual information to help their lives.It was verging on TMZ territory.

All of that experience that began 25 years ago (chasing downleads about scandalous behavior by politicians, backdoor deals toget judges confirmed, and secret meetings at a dive bar where localand state officials bought their cocaine) didn't help the lives ofour audiences – but man was it juicy stuff.

Somewhere along the line, “ah-ha” or “got-you” journalism lostits impact. News consumers don't appear to care about the factsbeing entirely correct, but more so they seem to care about the endgame of the story. Because everyone lies, and we seem resigned toor even cynical about that so-called fact.

The LA Times posted its “fact checking” story aboutHouse Speaker Paul Ryan's recent town hall meeting andreporters counted the number of lies he told. So what? TheHuffington Post is even reporting how “TheTruth Isn't Trending Well” in politics. And?

Facts exist. But are they worth chasing to prove someone wrong?To make one side feel better over the other? Or should we take thefacts to chase the story of personal impact? Meaning, how do thosefacts, right or wrong, positively or negatively impact people?Because we're all working on the assumption that everyone is lying.In the political sense, this type of lying is called paltering,which roughly means misleading by telling the truth. Politiciansand lawyers use this tactic very well.

Rumors and false claims have become news, and social media isn'thelping change that. As a journalist, you think about who's sayingit, or in today's world, tweeting it – NAFCU, CUNA, the NCUA, MerylStreep, Donald Trump. They all have something to say. Right orwrong. They have the right to be heard. So, how does a journalistjudge whose statements to quote and facts to fact check anymore?Not everything can be news. Not everything can be top priority.Even if it's your top priority. But, news can be found inside thestatements of fact, fiction, lies and even cynicism.

As a news consumer, you think about impact and outrageconcerning a newsworthy issue in your life and career.

It's time to rethink the approach of news. Because informationis slamming all of us on all sides all day. Press releases, quoteson an issue, images of large checks. We're all doing our jobs asbest as we can with the time we have in a day.

And Trump has redefined news coverage to the extreme. PresidentTrump is like the internet. Meaning, if you try to follow everyword, every tweet of truth or lies, it turns into a rabbit holewhere you start off fact checking and then end up watching “FunnyOr Die” videos four hours later. By the time you've figured outthat you've entered a gigantic time suck, the administration andstory itself has moved on or changed. It's impossible to keep up.

Our elected officials have started to figure out this reality TVapproach to facts. For an example, look back on the promos of MTV's“Jersey Shore” and you'll begin to understand what journalists areup against. Repetitive and scandalous-sounding quotes aren't fullytrue – but they make great TV (a.k.a. The Situation appears to beangry at Snooki. Then you watch the full episode and The Situationis mad, but not at Snooki. He's ticked that dogs in the housepooped in his room). So, by the time journalists have figured outthey've been following a story that just leads to poop in a room,it's too late and the public becomes less or misinformed on thefacts that could impact their lives.

Go ahead and yell at me, the publication and our staff. Threatenus if you'd like. I don't enjoy it, but it's your right as areader. Just like the national news journalists' lives have beenflipped by the new administration, as far as how this new worldshould be covered, the game has also changed in our small industry.Not everything is news anymore. But if it's news for credit unions,you'll read about it. And I promise, I'm keeping my cynicism out ofit. It's just not healthy.

Michael Ogden is executive editor for CU Times. He can bereached at [email protected].