Lizzo is right, the "Truth Hurts"

Alyssa Gormley | ag461517@ohio.edu

Though her song doesn’t directly correlate to ethical responsibility, Lizzo’s overall message that the “Truth Hurts” is definitely accurate. Especially, truth within the media. And when the truth hurts the public, well… the public doesn’t like that. 

Journalists have always been tasked with one goal: interconnecting the public with the outside world. In doing so, the information provided to accomplish such a goal is meant to be trustworthy and honest. However, because the news is to be published in a timely matter, the accuracy in truth isn’t always… accurate. More digging can be done, just as more details can arrive. The New York Times believes that, "News reporters and editors are human, and make mistakes."

But mistakes, even minor mistakes by journalists can quickly be drawn out by the public. Which, in turn, leads to criticism. Yet, criticism is essential in a journalism society. Citizens are responsible for voicing their disagreements and critiques in news, and in return, the journalist is responsible for accepting and (if needed) fixing their stories. 

However, the problem begins when the public disagrees with not details, but information. Journalists do spread truthful news, yet when the public disagrees and dislikes, the news is not rumoured as truthful. Rather than using a band-aid to cure the hurtings, the band-aid is essentially ripped off. Citizens who do not personally agree with the news turn their backs from the journalists, and rumour these disagreed news as “fake”. The public will indeed feel better, but only for a little bit of time. As this method of ‘verifying’ will, in time, only cause more significant problems. Actions like so cause news to be argued with by the public, and in return decreases the trust of our media, society, and democracy. 

Particularly, in more recent years, the public’s faith in the media has comprehensively declined. The Knight Foundation and Gallup Polls surveyed Americans on their trust in the media, finding that “69% of U.S. adults… lost trust in the news media over the past decade…”  Nonetheless, the percentage stated above claimed that it is possible for the media to rebuild their trust. This then makes me wonder… how can the media begin to and continuously build trust with the public, since it is now more than ever, declining. 

Eleri Harris, editor at The Nib
I believe it starts with the value of trust. Penn Libraries, at the University of Pennsylvania sums up the value of trust as, “The perceived legitimacy of all government and civic institutions in democracies depend on some level of public trust, but for the media trust is even more central: a well-trusted media has the power to set national dialogue, shape public perceptions, and hold governments and public figures accountable.” Trust holds great value and is critical for journalists to gain support, hold ethics, and connect the public. Without trust, there would be no journalist or media. Therefore, both journalists and the public must understand the idea of having faith in the media. Journalists can begin to restore their honesty by publishing their codes of ethics, citing more reliable sources, and establishing a common ground with their audience. Citizens can start by assuming less, critiquing work reasonably, and accepting that the “truth hurts”.