Truth in Journalism

Upton Sinclair is one of the best and most vile examples of exposing truth to the public by writing the book “The Jungle.” He gave meat packing plants a good reason to clean up , because not only did he tell the nation what was going on behind closed doors with the meat they ate, but it brought in government intervention. Fortunately, today we have the FDA which applies regulations to what companies can and can’t do with what we consume. His journalistic side demanded the truth be told and he was obliged to it and that is the first principle of journalism (http://www.journalism.org/resources/principles).

Sinclair was one of many examples on how to reveal truth. He was a muckraker, or acted as a watchdog, that brought light to an area not yet known to the world (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muckraker). He was able to go in and investigate behind the scenes and later write about his experience. He had people to verify what he wrote, which made his words credible. That brings me to another point behind truth in journalism: verification. With journalism, your work has to be backed up by credible sources, because if not people find it hard to believe. That could be a reason why Wikipedia can’t always be trusted. Anyone can go in and edit an article, which makes it hard to trust it one hundred percent (http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techpolicy/2005-12-06-wikipedia-truth_x.htm). Luckily, we as seekers of truth demand facts, so Wikipedia editors have been more gracious by posting references on the articles they edit. But don’t settle on one website, check several and compare them to see if the information they provide all align with each other. Remember, we have a right to hear the truth, so stand up and be a voice for your community.

The Future of News

The way people have been getting news has evolved over the past couple of years so quickly many are questioning what the future of news will be like. Technology has played a leading role in not only the way we, the audience, receive the news, but also the way the media is transmitting it from the source to the consumers.

Everyday younger generations are surrounded by screens everywhere, whether they are tablets, TV’s, mobile telephones or computers. What this means for news is the channels by which people are receiving and sending information is online, so naturally the trend is to follow where everyone’s eyes are looking. The Internet is so vast and accessible it is where more and more people go to get their fix of sports, weather, top stories, and latest viral videos. Technology is constantly advancing and changing how and where we get news, but the Internet is the main hub where it is all available (http://tinyurl.com/cf2rbk). 

Although, all of this change makes life easier and supposedly saves time in the long run, it is not completely the most reliable source. The Internet can and does lie to us all the time. We have discovered, with these technological advances, how easy it is to manipulate information, pictures and videos on our very own computers at home and upload them to the Internet and cause mass confusion. Some examples include the 9/11 picture that was taken from the observation deck on one of the WTC towers with a plane in the background or a website dedicated completely to satire news (http://www.theonion.com/). I agree, some of it is funny, but other sites are simply misleading and fake with the sole purpose of getting the wrong kind of attention. That is why we have to be on constant guard, because the next email you get about some breaking news story could just be another hoax.

In this modern day, with all of the technology we sit behind, we are not only consumers anymore, but producers as well (http://tinyurl.com/4y9q865). Blogs, videos, stories on social media sites have allowed us to share our own stories and become journalists with a little “j.” We are now able to contribute to our communities and surrounding world the things we have lived through. We are the news, so why not be contributors.

Chapter One: Journalism Defined

Is it possible to imagine what our present day world would be like without journalism? If it would be possible to imagine it would not be anything like the world we live in today. We definitely would not share all of the freedoms we enjoy in the U.S. and other democratic countries. That is because journalism provides information to make a democracy run more smoothly and it inspires ordinary citizens to fight for freedom. In turn, those actions build strong communities that can be a lot more trustworthy. Here one could ask how trust is strengthened. Well, the reason for the added trust can be traced back to the purpose of journalism, which is to pass on information to others and report on events. In other words, journalism is a type of watchdog, where it governs itself through a type of checks and balances system. The other side to the news media's job is to report to the public all it needs and then for the public to sort out for itself the truth over time (The Elements of Journalism, p. 26). This means that as the public comes across several media sources, they can compare and contrast to check for themselves to see who is accurate. In the end, this allows them to find reliable sources for their information needs.

Although, the media has had to adapt to it's surrounding world over the past several hundred years, today is no different. In today's ever changing world, we see the media shifting its ways of reporting, because of challenges it is facing. Three challenges mentioned in the reading were: new technology, conglomeration and globalization (The Elements of Journalism, p. 29-31). These challenges allow journalism to find new channels of reporting information and they are even shifting journalism's role to ordinary citizens through the Internet and the many social media channels. With this change, the public also has to adjust and make sure what it finds is reliable by once again checking their sources. Surprisingly, not everything on the Internet, TV or radio is true. What this process of checking does to the public is permit it to be stronger researchers and according to John Dewey, help fulfill democracy's purpose of allowing people to develop to their fullest potential (The Elements of Journalism, p. 22).