"...although I got annoyed with the stupidity it was a much appreciated emotion."
Ahhhh my sentiments about Farhad Manjoo's book "True Enough" from a previous semester. They still hold true too because I have had a semester to witness the world around me fall prey to the many topics covered in Manjoo's book.
Last semester I lambasted my fiancé for his choice of selective perception/exposure. His enthusiasm for Glenn Beck is not a trait we had in common, but I have grown to tolerate Beck in small portions. My fiancé, however, still remains blissfully ignorant that there are other news sources out their besides Fox News.
You don't have to be a mass communication student to realize that objectivity in news appears to be a lost art.
"It's this system- the multichannel, watch-what-you-want-to-believe world...that is now working against the sort of "objective" news..."
Ask anyone you know and they have certain news outlets that are their regular sources. It is generally the outlets that agree with their personal beliefs. It's not a malicious act that they are taking part in; it's human nature. Our brain seems to be programmed to accept the things we agree with and be content with only that information. It takes a particular mind to research beyond what they believe to see what else is out there. The lack of objectivity in news helps to propel the instinct of "biased assimilation" that is already ingrained in people.
“…people accepted at face value the data that aligned with their position.”
It is not shocking because of obvious bias in news that people have become skeptical of the news. But it has gone past just basic skepticism of what people write. It is now what they see as well in photos. Photoshop and a few bad photojournalists have changed the outlook that “a picture is worth a thousand words” to “is that real.” It is a sad realization for those in the industry that are still true to the art of written word and photos, but a battle that has become common.
This semester I had the pleasure of working as an intern with Creative Loafing in the News and Politics department. On orientation day with my “boss” Mitch Perry (the only paid person in the News/Politics department) I was given a run-down of CL’s daily activities.
A day begins by reading the newspapers. I tried not to spit venom when he told me that because I am just old-fashioned enough to love reading newspapers. So you get the information from the newspapers to either help begin a story or to do a follow-up story. From there you do the reporterly duties etc etc. When the writing process begins, let creativity flow.
“We are a news source so we must have our stories BASED in truth but because we are TECHNICALLY a blog, we can add in some OPINION.”
That statement irked me to the core because I had already read Manjoo. A news outlet that I thought was new but reputable just sank to my “skepticism” list. How the mighty have fallen.
So I was sent on assignments to write about important events. Events I wanted to look at objectively because that is what I have been taught. I hoped my stories came out without bias and with as much concrete evidence as possible. But as I wrote my final article for CL, I could see that my agenda had shown through. I had broken a critical rule for journalists. My objectivity and bias, like my naivety, had ended with this internship.
How could reader’s who are not aware of CL’s opinion based reporting completely believe what they write? It’s a question asked about any blog someone reads. As one of my professor’s for beginning reporting Dan Ruth once said, “Blogs are like assholes. Everyone has one.”
There is actually a new superhero show coming out sometime on some channel I can’t remember, but the superhero’s object of affection is an investigative blogger!! I guess the producers were going for a high-tech Lois Lane.
Blogs along with technology in general have changed the way news is received. Everyone is trying to get their opinion out there and pass it off as real news. This makes it harder for those that still believe in the institution of researching and un-bias delivery. One begins to constantly question the expertise of the journalists and anchors. Who are they to say that this is correct or even news worthy?
It’s a part of life. Journalist will just have to work twice as hard to help re-create the expertise that has been lost through technology.
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