As a result, there is a strong onus on the media to be responsible and objective in its reporting. While there must be room for comment and opinion in newspapers, there was a time when it was identifiable as such, but this is not always so now. Much straightforward reporting is laced with a degree of bias as it reflects the opinion of the writer. Given the influence such reporting has on society generally, that aspect should be examined. There is no difficulty with reading opinion or advice columns as long as they are clearly identifiable as such. Where such opinion occurs more subtly as part of reporting, however, it can have an undue influence on people.