The importance of differentiating between fact and opinion

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Today's media audience has had the most robust selection of news media to a consumer than ever before. However, this audience also has difficulty navigating through it and deciphering facts and opinions. Many news outlets do not directly differentiate between a news article and an opinion column or analysis of an event. Working for The Post, each of our social media posts for our opinion content starts with "Opinion:" to show what the reader is viewing clearly. Our regular content is not labeled, but our viewers can then notice the difference between the two. 

In addition to online content, broadcast news does not differentiate either. One example is Fox News. While their website distinguishes, their on-air content hardly lets the viewers know that what the reporters are saying is their own opinion. Instead, they either do not label the content or use the word commentary. However, it does not mean much for those who do not take the time to know the difference. 

Some media do not have the same mentality, leaving readers to wonder what to believe. 

According to a Pew Research study, only 26% of American adults could identify five factual statements, and only 35% could identify five opinion statements. A majority were able to determine three out of five statements for each category, but it is still upsetting to see that many still do not know the difference between them. 

These statistics show how media illiterate our society is and contribute to high distrust in the media. 

An additional study found that only 7% of American adults had great trust in the media, while only 29% had a fair amount of trust. That means that most Americans do not trust the media when it could be fixed simply by adding a label. 

Most readers will probably not take the time to learn how to navigate news content online and determine what is true and what is not. That means, we as journalists, need to adjust our content so that the average reader can decipher. Of course, it is not ideal, but we might gain some lost trust and confidence that our audience has this way. 

Both general news articles and opinion columns are essential parts of news content. But, to keep them, we must do one small thing and make a label stick.