The Truth About Journalism

The media is under constant scrutiny for the things they publish and how events are portrayed. As an aspiring journalist it can be difficult to look at the field you are going into and wonder if you will be able to break the stereotype of bias reporting. Journalists are taught from the very beginning that bias has no room in news reporting; however when reporting on a sensitive topic, or a topic that you hold close to you, it can be difficult to set aside your beliefs and report the news objectively.

Just think about that for a second, you have to report on a topic that you disagree with and you have to give all the facts without letting your own feelings show. If you think that sounds easy, you are lying to yourself. Bias is a part of our every day lives. It is in the way we talk to people, who we talk to, how we talk about things, where we shop, and what we buy. So to set aside your feelings is near impossible as a human. From birth we are fed information and bias from our parents, the community we grow up in, and the company we keep. If you think you are unbiased, you are more than likely wrong. You may not even realize that you are doing it; it controls us at a subconscious level. It takes a high power of thinking to even try and separate yourself from the beliefs and ideals you have been given, even for a second. Journalists do what others can’t.

So for a human-journalist to be completely unbiased is almost an impossible thing to ask, that’s like asking a bird to not use its wings- the very thing that has carried it through its entire life and brought it to where it is today. But I also think it is interesting to note that the same people that get upset about bias news are the people who actively seek bias news. (Fox is extremely bias, it just is, and that is not a bias statement. That is fact.) People search for their information from sources that hold the same views as them. That is also a fact, we as humans want to be told things that sound good to us, that make sense, that don’t scare us, or force us to look at things from a different point of view. Nobody wants to have their belief system rattled or have to take a hard look at the things they have been told. “My mom would never lie to me, she has to be right.”

Journalists all over the world do as much as they can to present information, not opinions, unless, of course you are reading an opinion piece. Which I encourage you all to be careful about, there have been too many times where I log onto Facebook and see people ranting about a shared article that is from the NY Times opinion section, check your sources people. Obviously an opinion piece will be filled with OPINIONS and thoughts you may not agree with, take a deep breath, that article was not presented as fact.

            I feel as though there is a common misconception about journalists that we sit in rooms and wait for scoops and then try to make them as scandalous as possible and smear everyone that we get stories about. Which is untrue. The fact of the matter is that many journalists do their job as a labor of love. No journalist makes millions of dollars, unless you are a news anchor on a major television network. A lot of journalists make less than $50,000 a year. We are in this industry because we are trying to inform society and keep the people we hold in high esteem accountable. This job is not about ruining lives or presenting false/biased information to sway people’s opinions. Journalism is a medium where information is to be presented so the reader can have the facts and then infer their own opinion. And if that’s not what you’re getting or doing as a journalist/consumer you are not doing your job, and you are not reading good journalism.

            I will end with this; you cannot blame the media or journalists for your lack of knowledge on a topic. Journalists are constantly doing everything in their power to basically hand you the information you need to know on a beautiful, well constructed, gold platter, it is not our fault if you decide to not look under the cloche. All of the information that you need to build your opinions is out there. It is one Google search away. Information is out there, so don’t blame the people that would go to the ends of the earth and literally jump off of a cliff, even gave their lives, to bring you the information that you don’t even take the time to look at, or learn more about.