Should the media fault the public for being skeptics?

 Emma Dollenmayer 

ed569918@ohio.edu 

Photo provided by Pew Research Center 

Working in a transparent, collaborative, and communicative environment is critical in any industry; journalism is no exception. However, with the demand to produce news stories, and a lot of them, articles and the content within them often go neglected as, without a personal code of ethics, there is no one truly to monitor the evidence and facts other than the journalist and the public. 

In Bill Kovach's Elements of Journalism, many instances are detailed where questions are raised by other news outlets and the public due to the editor of the respective publication not raising them themself. 

Take, for example, the difference between New York Times reporter Jayson Blair and WMAQ reporter Carol Marin. Simply put, one had a code of ethics, and one did not. As a result, Blair, who did not have the public's best interest or the Times in mind when reporting, ended up self-sabotaging himself by fabricating material, when initially he felt as if he was advancing his career. 

However, the question is, without a code of ethics and without believing, other reporters and the media wouldn't raise questions and become skeptical following his ongoing suspicious accusations. Did he genuinely think he would get away with his antics and rise to fame and face praise while doing so? Well, the answer is yes, simply because many have done so before him. 

For this exact reason, the media should be grateful the public is skeptical, or else articles would continue to be published by "journalists" for their gain. 

More journalists should adhere to the internal and unseen laws journalist Carol Marin adhered to, as in the wake of a moral dilemma, she left WMAQ and took her talents elsewhere. To her surprise, her following left with her, further proving though the public eats up juicy stories that seem too obscure to be accurate, ultimately, they are seeking the truth and will be loyal to the outlets that provide them that. Therefore, justifying that skepticism of the news is good for society, further proven by Pew Research Center, which disclosed 61% of Americans felt this way. 

To be a journalist doesn't mean having work published. According to Carol Marin, it means being "someone who believes in something that they would be willing to quit over," which is what she did, increasing her credibility as a reliable source. If more journalists took on ethical dilemmas, internalized their moral compass, and defied management, the media should build trust so that the public wouldn't have to be so skeptical. 

In the context that "fake news" is used so casually and the media is viewed as an entity to distrust, we need to build up public trust and be stick to journalism credibility further to advance the prevalence of accurate and valuable journalism.