With the approaching United States presidential elections at hand and my personal involvement with the media, I thought it would be appropriate if I addressed my beliefs regarding the role of media in relation to government. Let me state for the record, though, that I am neither a government major nor a very politically-minded person.

We Americans embrace our democracy and the freedoms it affords us. However, I find the idea of a representative democracy to be an oxymoron. On a local level, it makes sense, though few people use their persuasive voice in the local government. When was the last time you wrote your representative? Do you even know who your local representative is? This is a tool too often left in the drawer. People opt for reform on a larger scale, where it seems unfeasible that one voice could realistically represent millions of people.

Accurate representation occurs when we elect a representative whose stances we know. It often seems that people are confused when it comes to picking a candidate. Recently, a Chicago radio station had a call-in for voters who thought they knew their preffered candidate. The callers went to www.selectsmart.com to enter their opinions on political issues and find what candidate fit their beliefs. All of the callers found that the candidate who they had intended to vote for was not the candidate that supported their beliefs.

This brings me to my next grudge with our so-called democracy. It is based on a huge fallacy: It assumes an educated public and then goes out of its way to deceive said public. The most common medium through which we receive information is the media, namely television and print. However, media is notorious for providing a sensationalized, biased representation of the facts (often persuaded by funding received from political groups).

Example: I am a member of the National Rifle Association and receive its magazine monthly. One of the main features is a section entitled "The Armed Citizen." Here, one can read about the law-abiding citizens who have used their guns to protect themselves from robbery, rape and murder. Surprised that you don't hear these stories as the evening news headlines? Well, I am. You are far more likely to hear of the armed person attempting the crime rather than the armed citizen defending himself or herself.

Here's a little known fact: There are 65 million gun owners in the U.S., yet less than 0.2 percent of the guns owned are used in crimes. According to a survey conducted by criminologist Gary Kleck, there are 2.5 million protective uses of firearms annually. This means that guns are used for protection five times more often than for the committal of crimes. But you won't get to hear about the good guys.

This is just one example of the media's attempts at censoring the facts. Take advantage of the resources you have for unbiased information to create an informed opinion. And next time you turn on the news, allow yourself to be skeptical. Our constitutional freedoms that we so readily embrace will only be protected when we exercise our voice and arm ourselves with the facts.

• Arm yourself with the facts