The Truth About Social Media

Bailey Hays

bh665415@ohio.edu

  

Okay, fine. I’ll admit it: I get a majority of my news from social media. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t rely on scrolling through Twitter every day to get my news. This is no surprise, though. According to Pew Research Center from September 2018, two-thirds of Americans get their news from social media… but 57% of them believe the news is inaccurate.

Why would people continue to get news from social media if they don’t believe it? When asked, 21% of people said it’s convenient. Think about it; it’s so easy to pull your phone out of your pocket and look at social media… which is what most people do all day anyways.

  

Now I ask, whose fault is this? Is it the media? Is it the readers? Probably a little bit of both.

Readers definitely need to fact check more if they want to be receiving the most accurate news possible. But let’s be honest: As journalists, it’s our job to provide this information for readers… they should not have to go digging for it.

I think one of the most important parts of being a journalist is having ethics. Morals. In chapter 10 of The Elements of Journalism, the topic of moral conscience is discussed. Writer John Katz is quoted saying “I think you have to have a moral context in the work you do for it really to have any meaning.” Most people that are watching the news truly believe in moral conscience – they think that all reporters will tell the truth because of this.

Unfortunately, this isn’t always the case. The book mentions Jayson Blair, a journalist who was fabricating and plagiarizing his work. This reminded me of the case of Stephen Glass. He was a journalist at The New Republic who made up his own quotes, event and sources in his articles.

In situations like this, it’s hard not to lose trust in journalists. Why would the people, who the public is supposed to get their news/information from, make up blatant lies? This is exactly why a journalist’s moral conscience is so incredibly important. Getting just any news isn’t enough anymore.

Like chapter 10 says, audience viewers are looking for honesty and authority. They want to believe that reporters and journalists are doing their job for the right reasons and to get the truth out there.

As journalists, it’s very important to make sure we are checking, double checking and triple checking everything we write. Especially when posting things on social media. Posts can be shared within seconds, and in those few seconds… We can be contributing to ‘fake news’ solely because we did not check our sources or facts.