The Credibility Crisis and Media Mishaps

Megan Carnahan
mc054910@ohio.edu

The Credibility Crisis and Media Mishaps

With the growth of technology in today's society, we as journalists are able to get our stories out more widely and more efficiently than ever. News is now directly at our fingertips! As soon as something major and newsworthy happens, you can pick up your phone and there are already tons of tweets, posts, blogs and articles about it. However, it wasn't until I read "Moral Reasoning for Journalists" by Steve Knowlton and Bill Reader that I began to realize that there are many downsides to this technological expansion. Although the technological world keeps making advances, journalists' credibility and the public's confidence in their news sources are shrinking. Here's how: 

Social Media 

Be careful in believing everything you find on the Internet! There are many fake profiles, fake stories and fake websites all over the Internet. In fact, here is a list of five, out of many, false news stories that the media reported were true. The problem is that social media sites like Twitter, Facebook and many others allow for just about anyone to share news, leading to errors in judgement, plagiarism and fabrication, once again, decreasing journalists' credibility. The key is to not fall victim! This makes me think of the show Catfish on MTV where Nev Schulman and Max Joseph do some serious profile investigating on the Internet!

http://www.mtv.com/shows/catfish/series.jhtml

Bias

Bias in the media comes from the idea that journalists are unable to report the whole story and all of its facts. Bias happens because stories are sometimes selected to please a certain audience, or they are reported just because everyone else is reporting them, straying away from stories that might offend anyone. Double standards, stereotypes, unclear sources, assumptions and one-sided points of view are things that viewers and readers look for, leading to their distrust in some news outlets.

Tabloid Journalism and Sensationalism

I, personally, fall victim to being a fan of this one. What this topic means exactly, is that the media tends to dwell on and play up sensational stories, like murders, car crashes and gossip columns about celebrities and sports stars. My examples of this are the highly anticipated reunion of the boyband, *N SYNC at the VMAs or how the media is constantly lingering over ex-New England Patriot, Aaron Hernandez's imprisonment and indictment for a murder and other instances of violence. While the media is spending so much time ranting on these topics, they are avoiding important issues like education, foreign aid and the environment. This tendency leads directly into my next point.

http://tvline.com/2013/08/25/nsync-reunion-mtv-vma-2013-video/

http://elitedaily.com/sports/patriots-aaron-hernandez-is-being-questioned-in-murder-case/

Money Matters!

Daily Source mentions a study by the American Society of Newspaper Editors that states that eighty percent of the American public said they believe "journalists chase sensational stories because they think it will sell papers, not because they think it is important news." Money can lead news sources to sacrifice good journalism for good ratings. Money is definitely an influencing factor in people's decisions.

So...

From this research, it is clear that media ethics is becoming more and more troubling. Though I didn't see it before, I now realize that this is clearly an issue. The vast number of news sources there are today, the changing population and the youth's dissatisfaction with traditional news outlets have all been a part of the decreasing confidence and trust in the media.

 A website titled Nieman Reports claims that "in 1985, Americans overwhelmingly viewed the press as “moral” rather than “immoral” (by 54 percent - 13 percent). By 2003, the percentage who called the press immoral had nearly tripled (to 32 percent), though a plurality (45 percent) still viewed it as moral. Not surprisingly, credibility ratings declined sharply during the same period."

Journalists need to regain their credibility and the public's trust, fast! We college students, as the future of the media, need to focus on reasoning, facts and truths rather than expectations, assumptions and emotions. After all, we relish the constitutional security of the First Amendment, but we must be careful not to abuse that capability.