Kelsey Lauriel- kl343216@ohio.edu
While most of the world gets its information from news outlets whether it is news channels, social media, or print media, the information being published is not always the most accurate and honest. The ability to post information gets easier every year, as social media allows anyone to post whatever they want without fact-checking. Journalists need to be better and publish honest information so the public is getting information about what is actually happening.
Using Fear as Power
A MarketWatch article with the headline, "A neuroscientist explains how politicians and the media use fear to make us hate without thinking," gives examples of how politicians can influence the way the public thinks about certain things. Donald Trump uses twitter often and many times his tweets are found inappropriate and offensive.
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| Screenshot of Donald Trump's tweet regarding the riots from miami.cbslocal.com |
This past week, Trump retweeted a video that included a man yelling "white power!" Seeing the president retweet videos that were obviously biased in favor of white people, and anti-BLM, made a lot of people uncomfortable and associate Trump as being a white supremacist.
The Value of Authentic Journalism
A Piano West BluePrints article titled, Truth, Integrity and Honesty: The Value of Press and Journalism, serves as a reminder to journalists everywhere that it is their duty to and responsibility to report the whole truth to the public.
In the present, there is so much fake news that goes around, and most of the time journalists contribute to spreading it instead of trying to share facts and honest news. Sharing fake news is just as bad as starting fake news.
"Truth is an integral part of journalism and the first amendment allows journalists to share and develop the truth. The press is often described as the "watchdog" of the government because its function revolves around investigating the government so that the government can be held accountable for any illegal and unconstitutional activity."
What we can do
As journalism majors, we can contribute to the spread of honest news and understand the importance of not using fear as power through what is posted in the media. If you come across fake news or fear that is being spread, do not continue to spread it. It is important that the media understands the importance of getting real news to the public.
Hi Kelsey!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your post. I think that you hit some points that were very important, including honesty. Honesty in journalism is extremely important, especially right now. Much of the time, we don't see honesty within this field because of the time crunch. Journalists want to be the first one on a story. I think what really needs to be remembered and focused on is not the importance of the story itself, but the importance of the facts within the story. A story is worthless if most of it isn't true. In our book it also discussed the role change of journalism. Journalist's jobs have shifted from being the first ones on a story to being the first ones to properly explain a story. What do you think about this shift? Do you think it's been a struggle?