I was 16 years old and completely unsure of what was next for me. It seemed like everyone else had life figured out while I was stuck thinking I was going to have to settle for something I like, not something I love. My peers wanted to become doctors, teachers or nurses but none of those professions seemed to fit me. I was fearful of a mundane life.
One day during my sophomore year of high school, I was called to the front office. Of course, I was expecting the worst, but all the secretaries had to tell me was that a class had been canceled and I was placed in the journalism course. To be quite honest, I didn't really know what journalism was, but I didn't have the opportunity to opt out of the class. Thank God I didn't.
During the semester-long class, I fell in love with the art of journalism. It amazed me how effective one person could be in informing the public, and I wanted to be one of those people. Just like the classmates I mentioned earlier, I had it figured out.
After my sophomore year, the presidential race was in full swing and that meant that the candidates were filling the news more than ever. Journalists everywhere shifted their focus from other newsworthy happenings to the election. As we know, the media's reputation declined rapidly. Sources became increasingly biased and the number one rule, remain neutral, was thrown out the window.
Oxford dictionary named "post-truth" the international word of 2016, defined as "relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief." Aka people weren't paying attention to the actual facts, and journalists adapted. The Washington Post reports that the use of "post-truth" in news reports increased usage 2,000 percent from 2015. 2,000 percent. This increase in post-truth has blurred the lines between true and false. Along with diminishing the media's reputation, the practice of these sort of true sort of false statements is detrimental to our society as a whole. As Ralph Keyes writes, "(Post-truthfulness) erodes the foundation of trust that underlies any healthy civilization."
I'll admit that at first, this turned me away from journalism. I was disappointed that professionals I had idolized would become so blatantly one-sided. I was embarrassed to say I wanted to become a part of something that was borderline unethical.
Although the media's reputation didn't improve, it began to encourage rather than disappoint me. I realized that nothing will change if people don't do something about it, so I'm going to do something about it. I will be a part of the generation of journalists who bring back ethical journalism. I will stick to my beliefs but leave them out of the news because my mission will be to give important facts, not how I feel about the facts.
I hope all future journalists have the same desire to improve the media. If so, our world will become much more informed.
