Truth in Journalism

Kate Farr
kf222414@ohio.edu

Fake News

The main purpose of journalism is to provide readers with information beneficial for their own knowledge. Journalism is an obligation of power and ideally will deliver the truth to its readers. 

Unfortunately, journalism today does not always portray the factual truth in the best of ways. In the past year especially we have come to be familiar with the term “fake news”. Social media has made fake news stories a very widespread problem for journalism and journalists are slowly losing their credibility. 

Millennials nowadays do not get their information from watching the news in the evening or reading the newspaper in the morning. The majority of their news and information comes from a link that Josh from Sigma Theta Phi retweeted. 

We touched base on the topic of headlines in class ad I found this to be extremely interesting. Headlines can make or break a news story. We all claim to not “judge a book by its cover”, but that never seems to be the case when reading he headline of a story. 

Here’s an example: I am scrolling through twitter and I see a headline that reads ‘POLICEMAN SHOOTS ANOTHER BLACK MAN AT TRAFFIC STOP’, I am going to make a rash decision about policeman and maybe not even read the article. The article very well could have contained information about this black man resisting arrest and coming at the policeman trying to attack him. The policeman could just have been defending himself. 

A huge problem in the media is these rash decisions we make based off of other people and our peers’ opinions. I will admit, first hand, I do not think I would be a liberal and opinionated as I am if it weren’t for social media. I believe that social media has done more negative for journalism than it has positive. Journalists are fighting to gain back their credibility.

News: From then to Now

Looking back 50 to 60 years ago, the ways readers got their news and information is vastly different from the way we get our information as of now. Journalism was solely articles in the Sunday paper, broadcasts on the evening news, and radio statements you listened to while sitting in on a rainy day. 

News stations were less biased and angry about politics. They just did their job: deliver the news. There were so many less one-sided comments and they didn’t have the hindrance of the internet and social media to blow their news story out of proportion.

Radio broadcasts were of utmost important when it came to people receiving their information about what is happening in the world. Children and families would wait all day until their favorite radio show came on. Election results, breaking news, radio shows, and different political and non-political statements were anticipated by radio listeners every single day.

Now of course, there is no escape from Fake News for it has always been present, but I think the decline of radio and printed news has definitely increased fake news in the widespread media.

It is a shame to see our news world so divided. Some journalists are seen so untrustworthy solely because of their political opinion. We write off some news articles just because we know they are a “crazy liberal” company or they’re “racist and bigots” for being a republican news station. 

We make so many rash decisions based off of the simplest things without giving the article or broadcast a real chance. I truly believe this is from our social media accounts. Hopefully the future of news, media, and broadcast will become less divided and more credible than what it is now.