In an exclusive interview to People Magazine on August 16th, Jennifer Aniston said:

"I'm not engaged and I don't have a ring and I haven't been proposed to. Normally we don't even acknowledge these things because they're endless, at this point. The thing that got me was that… My dad calls and he says, 'Honey, it's on the CNN crawl,' and I'm going, 'Wait a second!' When it starts to travel over into the Today show and CNN and supposedly reliable and accurate news programs, then you just go, 'This is insane.' People are getting fed a lot of bull."

Although it is somewhat ironic that this statement was posted on a website which considers Tom Cruise's engagement and Britney Spear’s pregnancy news, that does not diminish the accuracy of Aniston’s statement. Although many may have thought it impossible, the media has reached an all-new low.

Usually, the criticism launched against news broadcasts is what type of stories they have featured. For example, while it is probably true that the fire/accident/arrest that I am assuming ABC, NBC or CBS aired on last night's evening broadcast occurred, that does not merit it the title ‘breaking news.’ In the scheme of what is occurring nationally and internationally on a daily basis, the aforementioned events are petty and insignificant.

Yet, viewers can now add another grievance to the list of things wrong with today’s media. They are not only relaying unimportant stories, they are now relaying false stories and passing them off as fact.

And while this is disturbing on so many levels, to me, one question overrides the rest. If CNN cannot report on something as simple as an engagement correctly, how can they be trusted to report more complex world events accurately? If what we consider credible news sources are shaping up to be no better than the tabloids, where is there left to go for important and truthful hard hitting news?