mw731914@ohio.edu
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There has never been a bigger time for journalists to prove themselves than the present. Recently, journalists have been negatively looked at as fans of drama and over-fabricated stories. Most citizens are starting to not trust the media at all and our generation needs to be the people to fix that. We can start the revolution by speaking the truth always, even if it's controversial or boring.
Reporters do not only need to straighten up their content, but advertising agencies as well. Recently, Kentucky Fried Chicken posed as a healthy chicken company when they are anything but that. A lot of people were disappointed that KFC would put people's health at risk just to make more profit. Federal Trade Commissioner Pamela Jones Harbour stated, "KFC is fully aware of our nation's struggle with obesity, yet has cynically attempted to exploit a massive health problem through deceptive advertising. Companies should not be allowed to benefit monetarily from this kind of deception, especially where the health and safety of consumers are promised". The article went on to say that it was unnecessary for KFC to even lie about their nutritional value because customers would come get the comfort food no matter what health risks are involved. Things like this cause citizens everywhere to be deceptive of everything they see in advertisements and news sources everywhere.
On another hand, journalists are trying to stick with their ethics code and report whatever disservice they discover. Recently, The New York Times published multiple articles about the brutal work environment of white-collar Amazon workers. Amazon reportedly overworks their employees by depleting their confidence and forcing them to respond to work emails late at night. Since The New York Times did it's job on being a watchdog, the article about Amazon is #1 on the most shared and most viewed lists on The New York Times' list. Since this story has had such a large following, people think that The New York Times is out to get Amazon, which is completely false. The New York Times just saw a window to create real news and went for it.
If the media is going to continue to gain trust back from citizens, it needs to do multiple things. First of all, we need to apologize for our mistakes. Next, we must make sure we are accurate when conveying information, and if we are not, we must apologize and give the best information we have. Journalists must also make sure they don't follow a story just because its a part of their political views. It's always good to present multiple positions within a story as well. Last but not least, we need to remain calm. If something catches us off guard during an interview or if something pops up on social media. Remain calm and everybody around you will calm down as well.
Again, it is important now more than every to generate genuine, non fabricated news. Society is about done with journalists and I personally do not want journalists to go away. We must show the public that we are all good people who just want to convey the truth of the world.
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