by Norman Halls, contributor
For most Americans, keeping up with the news throughout the day can be mind boggling. What news do you listen to or read first? During World War II, Americans got their news from the radio, film newsreels before the movies started and printed media—magazines and newspapers. Newspapers were available throughout every American community. In 1940’s there were Morning, Evening and Sunday papers. There are not many Evening papers today like the Westfield Newspaper. Television and mobile devices can now access any news anytime. Then came cable and the Internet, and the news business still continues to evolve. More and more consumers are now getting their news from Facebook and other social media sites. Which media do you primarily get your news from? Local television, cable news, newspapers, social media or word on the street? Gallup poll released a report in September 12, 2018 won’t come as a huge surprise to most journalists: “Trust in the media is down.”
“After decades of declining trust in the press, coupled with relentless rhetorical attacks on the media by the President, there’s finally some good news: Trust in media is up since last year, and the great majority of Americans trust their local news sources. The new Poynter Media Trust Survey found 76 percent of Americans across the political spectrum have “a great deal” or ‘a fair amount’ of trust in their local television news, and 73 percent have confidence in local newspapers. That contrasts with 55 percent trust in national network news, 59 percent in national newspapers and 47 percent in online-only news outlets.” Reported A. R. Lakshmanan
The following is the text of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”
Gene Policinski wrote; “News organizations of all kinds have long maintained they are more accurate and less biased than critics charge. What better time than now for the public, with more access to more information than any time in history, to test those criticisms? Thus far, thanks to staunch First Amendment defenders and an independent judiciary inclined to agree with them, we have retained a vibrant First Amendment for news media despite steep financial losses by news companies, downsized newsrooms and well-meaning but ill-advised ideas about how government can “help” sustain an independent, diverse press. Now is the perfect time for a free, independent press to demonstrate its value to all of us — through a commitment to fair, accurate and complete reporting, across an unparalleled range of media, to an audience that seems ever more willing to accept.”
Fake news has been one of the most hotly-debated political topics of recent years. As a result, people in the United States became wary of the information that they read online, with over a quarter stating that they rarely trusted the news that they read on social media. Research on the impact of fact-checking is relatively recent but the existing research suggests that fact-checking does indeed correct misperceptions among citizens, as well as discourage politicians from spreading misinformation. Fact-checking is the act of checking factual assertions in non-fictional text in order to determine the veracity and correctness of the factual statements in the text.
Research credibility of the information you come across in the media is essential. More information is at our fingertips than ever before and the amount of information makes it even harder to determine which information is correct. “Truth reveals itself in degrees, and we can progress from an incomplete to a more and ever more complete comprehension of truth. Truth is not a thing, not an object that we either have in entirety or have not at all.” – Johann Goethe
“Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts.” Daniel Patrick Moynihan. Knowing what you know now, do the headlines seem different to you? “Journalists’ main goal is to ensure the right of citizens to truthful and important information, which allows them to form adequate impression about social processes, their essence and importance, about the situation in the modern world. The journalist bears responsibility before the society in general, before the law and before the professional association. The social responsibility of the journalist requires that he acts in accordance with his personal ethical standards.” Ethic Net
“When journalists talk about how they wish the public could recognize good reporting from bad reporting or even fakery, the subject often turns to whether the audience has the right skills. The discussion usually falls under the heading of “news literacy,” a body of work that typically involves a curriculum supervised by schools, heavily oriented toward teaching young people “critical thinking skills” as they consume news.” Wrote Jane Elizabeth
Most articles share common elements including the principles of truthfulness, accuracy, objectivity, impartiality, fairness, and public accountability, as these apply to the attainment of newsworthy information and its resulting for distribution to the public. That is the core principles of journalism.
