“Big problem, little attention.”
Our news outlets on television have long been the information medium for all of our news; outside of newspapers and radio. But in recent years, more and more news is flooding the internet. But the news that is flooding the internet is not necessarily the news we should be reading. Why, well because a lot of the news on the internet is not real or highly misleading. Someone might post a photo on the computer of a situation with a totally different agenda, and people blindly follow. I was scrolling through my Instagram today, and saw a photo someone posted about Martial Law in Chicago. A few hundred people commented, but instead of blindly replying, I did my research. I found that photo, and it was of the National Guard looking for the Boston Bombers after their attack on the marathon in Boston.
In that particular situation, it was truly necessary for the National Guard to patrol the streets. A strict curfew was placed so that people would not be of a danger to themselves, nor a threat to the law enforcement looking for the bombers. But why do we just follow the lies, when in reality, the truth is far more different. One of the reason we do so as people is to justify our bias we have for a particular situation. We want to believe there is government conspiracy so we have a reason to say,” This is why my life is panning out a certain way.” We have a need to make sense of something we don’t understand. And if you are not someone who follows, you’re all of a sudden the problem. When in reality, they are just as blindfolded, even more because their own agenda clouds their mind of thinking. Meaning, they are so into their agenda, they start out credible, and lose credibility as they explain because there are so many flaws in their thinking.
So how do we combat these types of people from having a voice. We really can’t because there is a freedom of press. And who is a member of press is very ambiguous to be honest. You used to have to have press credentials to report and people listen. Now anyone with a large social media following can report on a particular issue with people listening in on what they have to say. Yet when seeing the news becoming misleading, you realize that everyone with access to a computer shouldn’t have a voice. Having a voice will eventually become a privilege and not a right because too many incidents are taking place over misinformation. Yes, President Donald Trump is right about news being fake, but it’s directed in the wrong place. The internet such as Facebook hosts a large volume of stories that just aren’t real.
And in the end, we have to find a means to combat information that is not real. People are rallying and protesting over incidents that did not even happen. Yes, people have a duty to research information before blindly following, but you as the reporter also have a duty to report on situations that happened. It’s not your job to put a spin on something that didn’t happen for the sake of increasing your social media following. But if you don’t want the responsibility of having to deal with the grunt of complaints, always state this is my opinion or I think, instead of this is what happened. Because when there is a mass hysteria, you’re partly to blame.
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