Trust in Media

Kaitlyn Lyons
kl310115@ohio.edu

In today's society, journalists have a hard time gaining trust from the public. There are several news outlets that twist stories and create false assumptions. Releasing inaccurate information occurs extremely often and it leads to negative reputations of the companies as well as the journalists. Once a company or even a solo journalist is known for false information, it is hard for them to get back the image of being a trustworthy source.

Living in a Media Focused World
People are able to get their news and information quickly and conveniently. Like many things, there are pros as well as cons that come with this. There is almost always something to write about, but you need to be aware what is going on at all times. If you miss one current event, it has the ability to set you back and hard to keep up.

Journalists often face time crunches because they want to be the first one to release a story. This can cause incorrect information and leave the readers angry and distraught. Once something is on the internet, it is very hard if not impossible to get it off. The public has the ability to share articles on their profiles and screenshot them to send to friends and family which makes the word travel around about something fast.

Fake News
The term "fake news" has become a common phrase in the media. It can be hard to spot fake news versus real news because most articles and stories are made very believable. It is sad how much this is used because nowadays you never know what you are reading is true or false. People feel as if they need to fact check everything after they read it. It is also important for the journalist to get an interview so they can get information first hand.

                                                         Photo courtesy of youthradio.org

Ethical Codes
Being the face of a company, it is important to set ethical rules to all of the journalists to make sure everyone is on the same page. Creating an ethical environment is key, especially in today's day and age. People need to have standards they need to follow so the reputation is not lost. If they do not follow these rules, or standards they are not being true to themselves, nor the public.

It can be hard for journalists to stay true to themselves and their ethical codes by not giving into the peer pressure of what the public is saying or telling them to do. If the readers have a bad reaction to an article, the only thing there really is to do is ignore the backlash and stay focused.