It seems that a wide array of people in the United States have an unprecedented dislike for journalism. They refer to it as "the media" and see it as an evil entity that's no longer objective, and therefore no longer trustworthy. As a past writer for my collegiate newspaper, someone with a minor in communication, and someone who has followed the news coverage of the tragic attack in Orlando last week, there's a recurring and ironic pattern I've noticed: People are not interested in actual objective journalism. How do I know this? It's pretty easy, really, I watched what my friends and family posted on their Facebook and Twitter pages after the Orlando shootings. Without even realizing it, every last person I know is a part of and a contributor to "the media." Unfortunately, because of this we are helping make the media a more polarized field and that polarization is translating into a lack of journalistic objectivity.
As a journalist, there is an unspoken oath that states you should strive to be as objective as possible while covering the news. Journalists look for the facts and find the truth hidden within an event, no matter the costs. I still believe that most news sources out there are trying to do their best at keeping their news coverage as objective as possible. However, social media has put the average citizen on the same playing field as most journalists. How did this happen? Again, it goes back to Facebook, Twitter and the almighty share button.
I am a major advocate for social media. Without it, this article would just be another burst of thought that no one would see. Social media allows people to express themselves and gives us all instantaneous access to thoughts, ideas, and events occurring all over the world. However, everyone's thoughts and ideas usually come from a certain side of an ideological spectrum. Media outlets are trying their best to keep up with the ever growing field of social media, but now they aren't simply competing with their competitors. They're competing with everyone on the Internet. People on the Internet find videos and articles from a wide array of sources and, when they agree with something they find, they share it on their accounts. This earns a source more views and more views means more money. The people in charge of media outlets have caught on to this trend. It has become blatantly obvious that some of these corporations have decided to side with one side of our political spectrum versus the other to keep specific audiences happy.
In 2014, Business Insider shared the following graphic demonstrating how particular sources attract the attention of certain audiences based around a political ideological spectrum.
While none of the sources are completely neutral, there are seven major sources that are close: CBS News, Google News, Bloomberg, ABC News, USA Today, Yahoo News, and Wall Street Journal.
Even when these sources give us somewhat objective insight into what's going on in the world, it seems to sink into the depths of the web. Opinion and human interest pieces come up to the surface and are shared all over the internet. I mean, you can't really blame journalists for that can you? Facts are boring. In this day and age knowing what happened and how it happened isn't going to get as many likes as something extremely for or against an issue, unless it's breaking news. People seem to need a predetermined conclusion tacked on to something they post on their social media accounts because then their own argument is already backed up. Even if they do share something profound, the Internet's cat videos are probably going to have the trump card for overall entertainment.
Journalistic objectivity is no cat video, I'll give you that, but I think it can be just as interesting and is honestly more important than articles that focus solely on opinion alone. Look at last week. Without journalism, we wouldn't know half as much as we do about the shooting that took place in Orlando. Let's go back 15 years to 9/11. Without journalism, we would not have known what was happening in real time while some of us were miles away from NYC. The roots of journalism lie in documenting history as it happens. Do we really want to let our way of using our social media destroy an ancient profession that has played such a significant role in modern day society?
What I write here on Odyssey is often as editorial as it can get, so I'm not saying I'm a by-the-book journalist by any means. However, it is essential we remember why journalism and reporting the news is important. All I ask is that instead of instantly sharing a heated article about whatever political issue becomes popular next, spend your time reading an article reporting about something you don't already know. Educate yourself about what's going on in the world around you. Grow and become informed by something newsworthy, and stop hating on the media. You're actually a major part of it.
