Is there Truth in Journalism?
One of the greatest debates within the Journalism community is the question of 'pure truth' being reported on. Because of the many news outlets around the world, sometimes, the truth is warped or presented in a way that bends the truth, or flat out falsifies it. An example of this could be seen in this Fox News clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBPBdW2wXpc Here the people who were being interviewed on live television began to blame the Georgian government for the recent attacks by Russia on Georgian soil. Fox News gave little time for the interviewees to express their opinions and their eyewitness story as they cut them off for a commercial break, and then cut them off again at the end of the show. This was not an attempt to falsify the truth, it was just part of the agenda of Fox News not to report this story and have it be put on the air.
Journalism truth should be unbias, however, many journalists sometimes with knowledge, sometimes without, have some sort of personal agenda. They all have personal views and opinions. It is up to the journalist to step away and check their biases at the door, and go into a story seeking pure unadulterated truth.
However, I believe that if not reporting on certain subjects (such as the CNN station not reporting on Sadaam Husseins cruelty to his people, because it allowed for their station to still run out of Baghdad and also gave safety to its reporters and local citizens) protects the people from physical harm, then it should be omitted from the public airwaves and print.
Truth can be interpreted in so many ways, that sometimes, it is almost impossible to discover the real truth behind a story. For example, it is true that Iran is trying to harness the power of Uranium. That 'truth' can be misinterpreted. Some may say that it is 'true' that Iran is using the Uranium for Weapons of Mass Destruction. It could also be said that it is 'true' that Iran wants to harness Uranium for nuclear power plants. What is the truth here? Again, it depends on how it is reported on.
I believe there is truth in journalism, however, I also do believe that we have to look pass media and reporters biases to find the truth within a story.
Journalism truth should be unbias, however, many journalists sometimes with knowledge, sometimes without, have some sort of personal agenda. They all have personal views and opinions. It is up to the journalist to step away and check their biases at the door, and go into a story seeking pure unadulterated truth.
However, I believe that if not reporting on certain subjects (such as the CNN station not reporting on Sadaam Husseins cruelty to his people, because it allowed for their station to still run out of Baghdad and also gave safety to its reporters and local citizens) protects the people from physical harm, then it should be omitted from the public airwaves and print.
Truth can be interpreted in so many ways, that sometimes, it is almost impossible to discover the real truth behind a story. For example, it is true that Iran is trying to harness the power of Uranium. That 'truth' can be misinterpreted. Some may say that it is 'true' that Iran is using the Uranium for Weapons of Mass Destruction. It could also be said that it is 'true' that Iran wants to harness Uranium for nuclear power plants. What is the truth here? Again, it depends on how it is reported on.
I believe there is truth in journalism, however, I also do believe that we have to look pass media and reporters biases to find the truth within a story.
Comments
Post a Comment