ap012215@ohio.edu
The news world is in a tailspin.
In the previous year and the first half of 2017, the news cycle has been on sharper watch by the American public arguably more than ever in recent history. And while a heightened importance has been placed on news readers to double-check the truth of what they digest, a strong argument can be made that an alarming number of major media outlets fumbled the coverage of the biggest news topic of the year — the 2016 presidential election.
From varying degrees of misreporting on whether or not Russia hacked the election in favor of Donald Trump, to a plethora of eventual nonsense on Hillary Clinton's campaign and email investigations, both political parties and their respective favored news outlets have all added to the confusion circling fake news.
As a result, trust in any and all news sources appears to be shrinking, and now news outlets need to earn the trust back.
(picture via journalism.org)
Luckily for the news industry, today's current news cycle is ripe with ongoing and potential news stories that continue to magnify the importance of honest reporting on a national scale. If the major news outlets who lost a portion of trust from their audience or the national population as a whole seize the opportunity to thoroughly report on the ongoing/future big stories, like the events between the U.S and North Korea and the aftermath situations of this summer's hurricane frenzy, some of the trust should be restored.
North Korea continues to threaten the U.S with its alleged nuclear and hydrogen bombs, and it's obviously imperative that news outlets are transparent in reporting the nature of the threats and how the country and its allies respond.
But to fit the main cause of why some trust in news outlets was lost in the first place, news outlets should place emphasis on its reporting of the actions of President Trump and Congress in response to North Korea's actions, which may (or may not, based on the country's past history) escalate to a war-like scenario in the future. In a time where American and allied lives are at stake, it would be incredulous for news outlets to use their favorability — and for some, it's lack thereof — of Trump to paint the picture of the actions he will inevitably have to take to combat the threats.
If the president and Congress truly do take upmost caution toward North Korean actions, news outlets across the spectrum should report the importance of their actions equally. If the president and Congress commit a misstep of some sort in response to North Korea, news outlets should report the degree of severity of the mistake equally.
The same can be said for the recent damages of Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma, which will have effects on millions of American lives for years to come. The government will inevitably be faced with conflict on how to help those affected, and the president and Congress will again have to choose what actions are taken in assisting recovery efforts.
So, similar to North Korea, news outlets should not only be transparent in their coverage of the recovery efforts, but should place emphasis to avoid letting the political biases of their audience interfere in how they cover the actions of those in power who will be tasked with responding to the damages.
If news outlets are truthful in the degree of their coverage and avoid looking for stories that aren't there, it is reasonable to believe that some portion of trust lost in media following the major news events of the past year will be restored.
It almost certainly won't amount to full trust, but the news world needs always needs as much trust as it can get.
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