Is the distrust in the media only for journalists to fix?

Rebekah Bostick

rb442218@ohio.edu

Everyday, journalists are told that they are untrustworthy, that they did not do their job correctly and that they are in a dying profession. Yet, here we are in school to learn how to become journalists or work in public relations.

Source: New York Times

It seems that lately there have been many claims against journalists from both sides of the political spectrum that any news produced is extremely biased. These claims, however, aren't new, and have only gotten worse since the beginning of the 19th century. Recently, certain political leaders were throwing around phrases like "fake news" that people seemed to pick up without knowing what they necessarily meant.

The public isn't at fault for not having as much trust in the media as they once did. It is harder to differentiate between real hard news and different editorial and opinion pieces. There are many different news outlets, some better than other and not everyone has the same access to reliable news sources. Like we spoke about in class, there are also entertainment centers that disguise themselves as news stations. 

There are a few things that journalists could do to try and get trust to flow back to them. I'm aware that this issue shouldn't be completely on the journalists to try and overcome however it seems like the general public needs a push to start trusting the media again.

Journalists can emphasize the difference between editorial pieces and news pieces. There is some confusion about what an editorial piece is and how it is opinion based. While there may be some fact in it, it is not a news piece, even if it is in a newspaper.

Journalists could explain what the ethics are that they follow, to show that they do intend to go out and write a story based on their emotional connection to it. Journalists go out to write stories based on facts and newsworthiness.

Is it only the job of those working in media to gain the trust back, or should those who are having a hard time trusting do some work themselves? I feel like there are always going to be people that are skeptical of the media no matter the presidency. Being skeptical of news is healthy, you shouldn't believe everything that you read. There is a difference between being skeptical of the news you read and not wanting to believe something because it does not align with your opinions.