Citizens Power To Limit Fake News

Lorraine Stone

Ls304319@ohio.edu 

It is not so much fake news as it is an unwillingness to hold oneself accountable, and therefore, hold the American government accountable. Let me be clear, in today's age of information, a great deal of the information we come across does carry the potential of being unreliable or "fake". However, when the President labels any unflattering review of him as fake, even when the information provided in the article contains accurate facts, that is when this sort of dismissive nature has the potential to become hazardous to democracy and its citizens. 

This behavior towards the media has the capacity to destroy the integrity of the press because without the press, the capacity of the presidency will no longer be put into check. Ultimately, in order for citizens to remain informed, they require data with credibility; without it, democracy will cease to exist. Journalists' first obligation is to the truth, journalists' first loyalty is to the people, and journalists' primary purpose is to provide citizens with the information they need to be free and self-governing. 

The change in the relationship between the government and the press has certainly impacted the public view of the press and politics altogether. Partisanship greatly impacts trust, so when there is a divide, the end result tends to be people perceiving drastically alternative collections of facts as accurate. On top of that, most people go out of their way to select and trust articles that confirm their biases, regardless of accuracy, which certainly does not help the situation. 

In order for a change to be made in attempts to preserve some faith in the press, the ethics of journalism are going to be more important than ever. Additionally, citizens will need to take responsibility for their role as well. In a time of information overload, where anyone can post an opinion and call it "news", it is absolutely critical citizens verify the sources of the information they are receiving each and every time. There are far too many individuals under the belief that any data posted on social media platforms such as Facebook are accurate when nothing could be further from the truth. Just imagine the decline in "fake news" claims if citizens took responsibility to critically think about the data they are reading, verify their sources, consider whether or not the author or organization has their own agenda or political ties? Society will always have fake news among us, therefore, it is essential that citizens arm themselves with the knowledge required to differentiate between the fake and the real as our democracy may very well depend on it. 

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