Diversity Coverage; How can we be better?

Julia Cogliano
jc493114@ohio.edu

The Issue with Bias
In the article 'Lone wolf' or 'terrorist'? How bias can shape news coverage, the author makes a great point of recognizing how addressing a certain person or situation can completely change the reader's outlook on the situation. As people, it is very easy to create your own opinion on any situation. In fact, it is natural. However, as journalists, we owe it to our viewers to keep our own bias out of our reports. We need to stay as neutral as possible when reporting any news to keep our information reliable and real. In some instances, bias is acceptable. Some people will read an article to get information from someone who has the same opinion as them, to help them feel reassured about their opinion. That is okay, as long as it is in a setting where that is understood. As journalists, however, we should never be in that setting. We report real, fast growing, straight-forward news. If we give our input or personal opinion, it may come across as us claiming that our bias is one hundred percent the answer. Bias can affect how others view a situation, and we do not want to influence anyone to think a particular way. As journalists, we solely want to report the real truth, without our opinions involved in it. The issue with bias, is that bias can affect what viewers think about the situation.

Doubts with the Media
According to Blacks, Hispanics Doubt Media Accuracy, the majority of Blacks and Hispanics do not trust what the media posts about their communities. We need to ask ourselves, where did we go wrong as journalists? Clearly, we went wrong in our policy or way or reporting situations, if the majority of two races can not trust the media. As journalists, we owe it to all of our readers to be transparent and reliable. If we can not be trusted, then it seems as if we are not being either. So, how exactly can we clear up the doubts with the media? It will take time. We will need to gain our viewers trust back. That is our responsibility to make sure that all bias is kept out of the reports, help our fellow Journalists keep bias out of their reports, and to only report the transparent truth.

We Have The Power
It is amazing the amount of power that we have as journalists. Our words have the way to influence viewers to think one way or the other. However, we do not want to influence people to think one way or the other. Our only job is to report information without any bias. Although we have the power to report information to the public, we need to make sure that we are using our power to the public's advantage. We need to make sure that we keep our opinions to ourselves and out of our work. Just because we have the power to influence others with our opinion, does not mean that we should. In fact, we should not influence others with our opinions. With our power of reporting information, we have the responsibility to only report transparent information without any bias.



Picture courtesy of: Unimed Living