Do You Trust the Media?

Rebecca Marion
rm812416@ohio.edu


After reading chapter 10 of The Elements of Media, it is no stretch of the imagination to wonder why people distrust the media to tell them the truth. At its core, a news organization should be designed to be trustworthy with its writers following suit by abiding to a strict code of ethics set forth to adhere to the organization’s mission statement.

Writers like Jayson Blair, whose story is covered in The Elements Of Media, can bring down the reputation of an entire paper with one fell swoop, leaving readers to wonder how many other articles are based on mere speculation and not truth. Even though some reporters fail to observe the code of ethics tasked to them, I find that they are generally the exception and not the rule. 

According to The Elements of Media, “journalism is an act of character.” This makes the words and actions of each reporter a representation of his/her own code of ethics and not simple a news source’s reliability. 

With that said, individuals like President Donald Trump seem keen on the idea of using fake news to propel the narrative that fake news is the most prevalent kind of news available to the masses. Journalism may be writing in a hurry, but that doesn’t mean that all reports use that as an excuse to fudge the details. 

https://www.cnbc.com/video/2017/01/11/trump-to-cnn-reporter-you-are-fake-news.html

According to a poll released by the Knight Foundation and Gallup, a majority of people have lost trust in the media. The poll also found that the respondents of the poll who paid least attention to the media were those who distrusted the media the most. 

With reports like Jayson Blair and the President of the United States referring to the press as the enemy of the people, it is no surprise that people have heavy and lingering doubts about the media. Trump's administration has gone so far as to revoke CNN reporter Jim Acosta’s press pass after refusing to give back a microphone which he used to ask President Trump about his immigration policy. 

When tasked with writing the truth the way to achieve such a goal is relatively simple: work hard and work honestly, so that you can say your stories fall in line with a firm code of ethics. Honesty is never a luxury when it comes to journalism, but an ethic in itself that is never to be ignored by writers or readers.