The recent wildfires in Spokane, displacing 60,000 residents, are a national tragedy, yet the media’s response is eerily predictable. If you turn on CNN, you might get an emotional montage of the destruction, but let’s not kid ourselves: they’re more interested in stirring the pot than bringing you real news. They’ll sprinkle in climate change rhetoric without offering solutions or context. It’s the same water-treading where they preach doom while offering no actionable insights. Reinforcing that fear-mongering narrative is their jam.

Over at Fox News, the framing shifts to highlight the failures of local governments, creating the illusion that, if it weren’t for some bureaucratic mishap, these people would be living in sunshine and rainbows. It’s glaringly transparent, as though they think painting a villain will secure their audience more than offering a nuanced discussion. Look, evacuations are serious—they’re chaotic and traumatic—but sensationalizing it does little to help those directly affected.

Both outlets miss the forest for the trees, glossing over the infrastructure challenges, the need for better emergency management, and the community resilience that’s emerging amid the chaos. It’s the everyday Americans stepping up, not the establishment journalists drumming up hysteria. They love to drum up panic or scapegoat local leaders instead of tackling the systemic issues at play. Enough with the fear; let’s talk solutions and focus on human stories, not corporate media narratives. The average citizen deserves to hear the truth, not be fed fear for clicks.