Rhyann Green
rg156417@ohio.edu
Over the last few years, the term "fake news" has seen a resurgence in our vocabulary. The concern about spreading misinformation, however, has been present for centuries. In the late 19th and early 20th century, yellow journalism was a prominent issue in many newsrooms. A century later, journalists today are still struggling to navigate which value to prioritize: speed, entertainment, or accuracy.
A 2019 Pew Research Center study found half of Americans believe "made-up news and information is causing significant harm to the nation and needs to be stopped." In the same survey, only 36% of Americans said that journalists create a lot of made-up news, yet 53% of Americans believe journalists hold the most responsibility to correct inaccurate information.
In the age of the internet, information can spread across the globe in a matter of seconds. So can misinformation. As the presidential election nears, many of the Americans who will be going to the polls have been feeding into a popular conspiracy theory started online, known as QAnon. Those who follow the conspiracy theory believes President Trump is protecting the country from a child sex trafficking ring led by celebrities and politicians. None of the claims made in the QAnon theory have been verified.
Earlier this month, Time published an article about just some of the misinformation that is being touted by residents across Wisconsin suburbs. Reporter Charlotte Alter encountered conspiracy theories about both sides of the aisle: "Democrats were planning to bring in U.N. troops before the election to prevent a Trump win ... Trump created COVID-19 and will bring it back again in the fall ... Votes don’t matter, because 'the elites' will decide the outcome of the election anyway."
When facing such strong opinions from readers about who and what to believe, it can be tempting for journalists to give in— to give up on the pursuit of truth, or at least to prioritize other elements of a story. By focusing on speed, reporters may be able to gain readers by breaking a story first. By focusing on entertainment, reporters writing clickbait-worthy headlines could increase views and ad revenue. For some, when presented with these choices, prioritizing accuracy isn't necessarily the most appealing choice.
In 2014, Washington Post editor Marc Fisher wrote about a new approach to journalistic values that was happening in some newsrooms. Fisher writes that one journalist, working for Now This, does not want to report inaccurate information to readers but "wants to give them the closest version of the truth he can while still meeting them where they are, which is on their phone, right now."
It is not enough to expect the public to always correct misinformation and inaccuracies. In 2016, The Washington Post reported on a study that found a majority of links shared on social media are never clicked on. Many readers are missing crucial details only a click away; some may not even attempt to decipher if a story is legitimate beyond its headline. When journalists manage to succeed in grabbing their attention, we need to ensure that we are presenting factual, verified, and well-researched information.
Reporting the truth can be a long and difficult process. It can take days, weeks, or months to verify critical information in a story. Reporting the truth may not always be the most profitable move for the newsrooms we work in. Reporting the truth is often a thankless task, but it is not something we can sacrifice as journalists. Reporting the truth deserves first priority. If we want to regain the public's trust, it needs to be. No matter how the news continues to evolve, truth should always and forever be a core value of our work.
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