Hunger for Truth

Amber Dossenback 

ad413517@ohio.edu

 

 

As comprehensive human beings we have a desire to understand what is happening in the world around us. Though there are multiple sides to every story, I personally must subject myself to all sides before taking a stance. Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel wrote The Elements of Journalism to help readers grasp more accurate expectations for media and news flow. 

Hunger for what?

It is hard to distinguish the truth from the lies nowadays. Kovach and Rosenstiel explain what it means to have a hunger for awareness on page 1 of the textbook. They write, "Being aware of events we cannot see for ourselves engenders a sense of security, control, and confidence."  To me however, truth is what gives us a sense of security, control, and confidence. 

The unobtainable truth 

Since journalists started publishing news a lot has changed. The spectrum in which news is accessible is far wider than ever before, consisting of apps, blogs, journals, etc. The Guardian published an article that dives into philosophies as to why we can't agree on what is true anymore, arguing this may be the reason.

"Contrary to initial hype surrounding big data, the explosion of information available to us is making it harder, not easier, to achieve consensus on truth. As the quantity of information increases, the need to pick out bite-size pieces of content rises accordingly."

 

 

Picture source: CARTOONSTOCK

The importance in publishing stories has been adjusted over time by journalists. Our ever-changing media sources make it nearly impossible to come upon an unbiased, truthful story.

Current state of trust in media

Gallup news conducted multiple surveys over a wide range of citizens to grasp a better understanding of Americans' trust in news sources today. Author Megan Brenan gathered many statistics based on her findings. These stats report a major distrust in the transfer of news from the source to the people.

A desperate call for change

The people deserve truth now more than ever. In a country divided by a two-party system, we must be given all of the facts in order to make informed decisions on where to stand. Journalism today has stalled our democracy by failing to remain unbiased, and I can only hope that future journalists will work to provide this change.