Ok, we've all gone over this before but here it is again:

No, our news media is not reliable. The bottom line is that the news media is a business and a business exists to make money. The media mainly accomplishes this by selling advertising space. The problem is that the truth is boring and boring does not sell. So, the media has to make the news more exiting and sensationalistic.

Now don't get me wrong, the media does not come out with outright lies. They just take the truth and distort it. The will leave out large portions of the story and carefully choose their words in order to guide our opinions of the subject one way or another. Always with the ultimate goal of getting the public worked up so we will come back for more.

Of course this doesn't even take into account the fact that most news sources will have their own political leanings one way or the other. But even then the end goal is just to make money. By having a consistant political viewpoint they can guarantee a continued base of readers/viewers who will keep coming back for more.

Sadly the only way to really know the truth is to experience it yourself. Otherwise, research it from several different angles/viewpoints and put the parts together to form your own opinion.