Read, Research, and Find Truth

Spenser Brown
sb655514@ohio.edu

The "French model" in this 2012 State Farm advertisement reminded us the internet is not always right/ photo via LinkedIn

Journalism students, professors, guest speakers and peers are always preaching the practice of morals and ethics in any work that is produced. Every journalism student hears these voices, but not every journalist is in fact producing true, moral work. Anyone can be a journalist, whether it be from their couch or in a New York skyscraper. A good journalist has moral and ethical standards they follow, whereas a poor journalist will do anything to get page views on a story they half-heartedly wrote.

Since the Trump campaign began, there has been clamoring over President Trump's endless declarations of "fake news." While many people mock this statement, President Trump makes a good point. Every person in the world today can be their own media outlet. The good journalists separate themselves by producing factual stories they researched heavily. Not every story read from Twitter, Facebook, or a Google search is going to be true. The importance of finding moral, sound reporting is growing every single day. Even some of the most trusted media outlets are now being found to have been cutting corners in their stories.

Not everything people read will be true, but that should not keep them from reading news. Some people discover falsely reported news stories just by browsing through. Jayson Blair was hired by the New York Times to report on a string of murders in the suburb D.C. area, and launched his career to new heights by reporting wonderful stories. As the dateline on his stories began to expand across the nation, people became skeptical of his reporting. After a reporter in Texas read one of the stories Blair wrote, he realized it was written similarly to a report written by a Texas writer. His secret was no longer hidden, Blair was not reporting from the sites his datelines had suggested. Through reading, readers can discover "fake news."

Throughout the world, there are journalists. College and high school students, newspaper writers, website contributors, news anchors, sideline reporters and many more. While each of these jobs requires different skills and knowledge, each position should be controlled by moral and ethical boundaries. The Society of Professional Journalists has a code of ethics that each member pledges to follow. The code states that journalists should seek truth, minimize harm, act independently and be dependable. While not every journalist follows these guidelines, the code is something useful for young journalists to read.

Finding trustworthy news can be difficult, but there are still journalists committed to ethical news reporting. The millions of news outlets all over the world, good and bad, are useful to read. Even if the information is not right, a reader might be able to stop a reporter from further false news reports. Modern technology has greatly expanded journalism, but that does not mean everything is true. Fake news may be a joke used to poke fun at Trump, but the President might ultimately be right. Read, research, find what is true and what is not, and use the media as a learning tool.