Can the Media be Trusted?

Brenda Stepp  

bs014317@ohio.edu

As a child raised during the 1970’s and 1980’s, I have witnessed a lot of major news stories as they happened.  These included Watergate, the Iran Hostage Crisis, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the Iran-Contra hearings.  

I believe my mistrust of the media began in the late 1980s with the Iran-Contra hearings.  At that point, I began to see the bias of the different journalists that covered these hearings.  I was not difficult to distinguish which side reporters were taking. 

This media bias has been blatant in the last few elections. This adhesion to one side or the other pits one side against the other.  Platforms are grossly misrepresented.  For someone that is naïve regarding politics, this can lead to votes being cast for policies not understood.  In many cases, the louder side wins.   

The lack of responsible reporting does not only affect the political arena.  Jenny McCarthymentioned that she blamed her son’s recent MMR (measles, mumps, rubella)vaccine for her son’s epilepsy and autism.  Suddenly, the Anti-Vax movement was born.  Was this movement based on facts?  No. It was based on one celebrity’s opinion.   

Every news organization, magazine, national radio program and newspaper ran with the story.  The majority of them placed McCarthy in a good light.  This Hollywood star must know what she is talking about!  Scientists tried to explain that the likelihood of this being the case was very slim.  Yet, most stories during that time championed McCarthy’s views.  

Parents chose not to vaccinate based on this media bias.  Now, the United States is in the mist of a measles outbreak that is rapidly spreading.  A disease once eradicated is now back with a vengeance and claiming lives once again.

A Pew research study in 2016 found that 62% of Americans claimed Facebook as their chosen way to get the news.  Posts on social media tend to be short.  Since the onset of social media, our collective attention spans have become miniscule.  

We simply do not take the time to read a large magazine or newspaper article.  We want to see the post and get to the heart of it in thirty seconds.  There is simply not enough time to explore both sides of the story. Facebook helps this along by “screening” what we see based on our “likes” in the past. 

Personally, just because my views lean one way, does not mean that I am not open to hearing the views from the other side.  Journalists become the “voice” for one side of an issue or another.  I believe this is what is causing such a mistrust in the media today.  It’s not about glory or popularity.  As journalists, we are to remain impartial.  Unfortunately, that can be hard to do in thirty seconds.