Challenging both facts and opinions
The journalism industry seems like it’s been in constant flux over the past two decades.
Major news organizations in North America have had to shutter their publications and, closer to home, the Guelph Mercury ended its print publication last January.
All the while, it seems like we are more fixated on what is happening in our world than ever before, but now news is shared through social media rather than traditional publication methods. Amidst whatever inspirational yoga picture my mum may be sharing on any particular day, is a deluge of articles about the contemporary political climate both at home and abroad, and accompanying those posts are a torrent of comments.
Issues are bitterly argued, with all sides seeming to care more about being right than learning or having a productive conversation, a difficult thing to have when the platform isn’t always conducive to thoughtful conversation.
One point that invariably comes up is that mainstream media is corrupt, deceitful, and absolutely drowning in partisan bias.
I think that most of the blame for the lack of faith in mainstream media sources, whether in print or televised, is how our news has been presented in the past decade. The concept of the 24-hour news cycle has existed for decades, mostly existing on the airwaves as late-night radio programming, but the dramatic shift towards online reporting has put a greater focus on getting the story out rather than getting it right.
When truth becomes secondary to accuracy and publications are rightly called on shoddy reporting, confidence in journalism is lost. The transition to digital reporting—and the plethora of venues that now compete with each for viewership and advertising—tantalizing headlines and provocative leads often supersede the more mundane subject matter.
There’s plenty of anecdotal examples on Facebook and Twitter to draw from, where someone posts an attention-grabbing article which is then eagerly clicked on, only to find out that, after further reading, the reality of the article isn’t nearly as interesting as the headline made it out to be.
To focus on the American political context for a second, the term “fake news” was bandied around in 2016 and early this year, because stories were being put to press before they were fully investigated.
Whether the facts were exaggerated—or simply fabricated—news organization from both sides of the political spectrum discredited their own organizations by aiming for views instead of honesty.
Once these stories were proven to be false, doubt was cast on the entire backlog of published material, a situation that the Republican campaign capitalized on to reinforce the narrative that mainstream media was against President Donald Trump.
BuzzFeed—an organization probably more well known to students for their lists of tantalizing treats and quizzes that help determine vital facts like “Your Birth Month Based On The Doughnuts You Choose” than hard-hitting political journalism—published a dossier of unverified allegations against President Trump without properly confirming the contents of the report.
This short-sighted decision gave plenty of views to BuzzFeed in the short term. It also ensured that supporters of Trump had clear precedent now in place for fake news being published about the President.
Gallup, an American polling and research company, has been conducting a yearly poll since 1997 asking Americans how much trust they place in mainstream media. In 2016, confidence in mainstream media hit an all-time low with only 32 per cent of individuals polled expressing, “A great deal or fair amount of trust in the media,” though it’s important to note that only 1,020 individuals were polled (which is less than one per cent of the population).
This shift in how the media is perceived, even if the research is scarce or anecdotal, should incite a shift into how media organizations report on politics and world events going forward.
With the Canadian Conservative leadership race heating up, as controversial candidates like Kellie Leitch and Kevin O’Leary capture headlines with their nominations and public statements, it’s imperative that Canadian news outlets focus on the issues and policies at hand with a brand of blunt honesty that’s usually reserved for my grandmother after a bottle of Pinot Grigio.
It would be impossible to keep personal opinions out of journalism completely—everyone has their own perspective in how they see the world—and this is further complicated when an organization is tasked with curating news to send out to the rest of the world.
]It is important to guarantee that all the facts are in order and that any inherent bias does not overtake the truth of the piece. News organizations will probably always lean to one side or the other, but this shouldn’t limit them to the types of stories that they pursue, or the standard that they hold themselves to while reporting.
The truth behind the stories may end up being uncomfortable, it may challenge both the journalist and their reader on previously held opinions and beliefs, but it’s only through challenging your opinions that you can really learn to understand why you hold them and, hopefully, properly defend them when they are called into question.Living in an echo chamber of your own beliefs is not a healthy way to grow as a person.
Much in the same vein, readers will always carry their own biases with them, but it is their responsibility to look at the articles that they read critically and to not just repost an article once it offers a morsel of fact that appeals to their own view on the subject at hand. While engaging with news more critically won’t eradicate the trolls and (in an effort to be honest) idiots from the online conversation, it will be easier to pick them out from those who just didn’t take the time to properly engage with the present subject matter.
Mainstream media’s influence on the results of the last American election, whether intentional or not, should serve as a wakeup call to journalists and publications looking to bring credibility back to mainstream media. I won’t say that this is a silver lining to the election of President Trump, it’s just another outcome of the reality that we now live in, and it’s the opportunity for news organizations to step up and actually do their jobs.
Photo by Mariah Bridgeman/The Ontarion.