Kelly Lambers
kl807917@ohio.edu
People deserve the full truth. This fact has been apparent since the beginning of time. Journalistic work is their main source of receiving information. Somehow, people have not always received the full truth. As communication professionals, what do we do about that? For starters, we need to look at history and realize how we got there.
The Columbia Journalism review states, “...for nearly two decades, a culture war has divided journalists. The gap seemed mostly generational, but it always boiled down to a battle over the very purpose of what we do.” Journalists are not all on the same page about what is central to good journalism, and that needs to change.
A $320,000 grant was just given by the Knight Foundation to support software development that can tell if a video is real or fake. This is a threat to journalistic work and all journalists should make note of that. Even businesses are less trusting of the media. While this false information may not be our doing, and someone makes a false video, it is our mission as journalists to tell people where the video came from and make sure the public is aware that it is false information.
Specific businesses are in the hot seat for marketing that is not honest. Bob Garfield from AdAge, states that “KFC ... is fully aware of our nation's struggle with obesity, yet has cynically attempted to exploit a massive health problem through deceptive advertising.” This is a problem because KFC is profiting off something that causes people to be unhealthy. They continuously promote unhealthy products by creating a title and using words that seem more beneficial health-wise to their customers. This act is manipulative, which is not what good communication professionals should be striving for.
In that same way, journalists need to not sugar-coat the news they are sharing. Everything is what it is. Attempting to receive more gain is inherently the opposite of what we must strive to do as journalists. The words we use must be honest in all senses.
According to the New Yorker, “Even veterans of august and still thriving papers are worried, especially about the fake news that’s risen from the ashes of the dead news.” Journalism is under attack and will continue to be this way until ethical principles such as using proper word choice and honesty when telling stories.
Researchers at the Columbia Journalism Review have added some insight. They reiterate the importance of honesty. They also add that unbiased views are central as journalists. This is something that many professional journalists need to be reminded of in our current state of the field.
Let’s look at this way. The public is entrusted to us as their source of news. We tell them what is going on in the world and what to be aware of and they deserve to know about it all, good and bad. When the public is being lied to, communication professionals are failing. We must hold one another accountable to create relationships with consumers, whether that be the public, clients or consumers.
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