Issues Facing Journalism Essay

In New Hampshire in 2016, President Trump said in regards to the news media that "They're scum. They're horrible people. They are so illegitimate.” Having been quoted multiple times referring to the journalists and reporters in a similarly negative manner, President Trump apparently has diminished the nation’s trust in the press. The Trump administration is also notorious for barring certain news organizations, from access to events. In response to blocking prominent news organizations, including CNN and The New York Times, from attending a question and answer session with Press Secretary Sean Spicer, NPR wrote that “the relationship between the Trump administration and the news media has taken another step backwards.” By excluding typically adversary news organizations and including typically supportive news organizations, some argue that the Trump administration is inhibiting freedom of the press and prohibiting the truthful spread of information. On the other hand, it can be argued that adversary news organizations may distort events and quotes, causing unnecessary confusion and misguided

Public trust is at the heart of journalism. Such trust is built upon the credibility journalistic efforts. In the past, though mistakes have been made by even the most reputable of news providers, credibility was maintained and public trust in the journalist industry was steady. However, with the Internet taking its first infant steps into the reporting world, concern is being vocalized that public trust in journalism will be damaged by mavericks, such as Matt Drudge, who, without any foundation in reporting seek to tell the entire world every little secret he can dig up. And he’s been wrong.

On a July day in 2015, reality television star and real estate mogul Donald Trump announced his candidacy for President of the United States in the 2016 election. Following his announcement, the mainstream media openly mocked Trump, and some found great humor at the idea of his campaign, wondering how long it would take before he dropped out of his “doomed before-it-began campaign,” as many called it. By being openly dismissive of Trump’s campaign, the media did not remain non-partisan. Despite the media’s bias, Donald Trump is within single digit percentage points of being the next President of the United States, and no one in the media is laughing at him now. The media in the United States can influence many things, especially politics. Different forms of media all take different angles and at times will morph a story to fit their perceived narrative, and that is a problem.

“Shooting the messenger” is an age-old metaphorical phrase for blaming the bearer of bad news. While the bearers of bad news today might not be guilty for committing the wrongdoing, they are guilty of manipulating the public with their presentation of the news. News agencies must be kept in check because their eagerness to match the speed and availability of social media can lead to misinterpreted information; their use of false or biased media can mislead the public, and their profit driven motive compels them to promote stories that are interesting rather than accurate.

For the past several months, President Donald Trump has made it clear that he is not a big fan of the media. Journalists have been dealing with constant backlash from the President, who claim that journalists report fake news, or withhold news from Americans. Although present day journalists deal with this everyday, how do future journalists, currently in school, feel about this? What are they going to do when they enter the workforce as journalists in a few short years? Find out in my commentary piece on how journalism students are more motivated than ever to prove Donald Trump wrong. My piece is free, and timely since Trump has been continuously calling the media fake via Twitter and speeches. Feel free to check it out here: http://www.prx.org/pieces/204102-journalism-students-are-more-motivated-than-ever-u

In his article “A Farewell to Journalism?: Time for a rethinking,” media critic Robert McChesney focuses on the idea that professional journalism in America has been in a major decline—and if a solution is not agreed upon to save it, our democracy itself will be in peril. More specifically, McChesney attempts to convey the idea that government intervention is imperative in order to salvage professional journalism as a whole and save democracy in America. He argues that government intervention in the form of subsidization and nationalization of the media is required; he writes, “The future of journalism left to the market will likely approach what education would be like if all public subsidies were removed…. It would be a nightmare for any credible democratic or humane society…” (McChesney 619-620). It is apparent that McChesney believes that in order to have a functional democracy, a robust Fourth Estate must also be present. Throughout the article, McChesney defends his claim and warrant through credible research and analysis—yet he falls short at critical points, especially when he assumes transferability between European and American policies, attempts to quantify freedom, and fails to realize the true relationship between the free-press and the government. These discrepancies within the flawed research that he presents render his argument for a national media system unsuccessful.

According to the reporter, Anthony lives with his mother in TX, but visits his father in MS one week during the holidays and one week during the summer. The reporter is unsure when the child will return to the stated to visit his father or when he last came to the state for his visit. Ms. Nichols stated information was received at her agency reporting when Anthony is in MS with his father he’s physically and emotionally abused. Per the reporter, Mr. Cotton yells and screams at the child, he washes his face with a lot of soap and it gets in his eyes, he hits him, and drags him across the floor. The reporter stated Mrs. Cotton did not report Anthony having any visible marks or bruises that needed any medical treatment. Ms. Nichols is unsure

Instead of tweeting about important issues that are related to current events, President Trump tweets about topics that make him appear unprofessional. For example, President Trump immediately went to twitter after SNL, a comedy sketch show, performed numerous satire pieces about his actions. He proclaimed that SNL was the worst show of its’ network, NBC. Furthermore, he said that the comedy show is not funny and that the cast is terrible, declaring it “bad television.” These comments from our President are alarming because a newly elected President should not be taking time out of his busy schedule to review a television show while some of the country is still struggling to adjust to his election. Tweets such as this cause the public

While spending time trying, as Trump suggested, to figure out what "covfefe" means is a waste, it's far more worthwhile to take a big step back and look at the situation that leads to the President of the United States tweeting, poorly, at 12:06 a.m. about the bad press he

In a contemporary society, the role of journalism is a varied one that covers many different aspects of people’s lives. As more and more outlets spring up around the world, many more stories are able to be covered by different outlets, and this means that journalism takes on a more and more important role in a contemporary society. Much of our lives centre on political and social happenings, and journalistic outlets are the public’s way of finding all the information on these event. Journalism also provides us with a way of finding out which of these stories are important and deserve our attention, and which stories can be ignored. The important role of journalism can be well observed in the recent coverage of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) in both New Zealand and around the world. This is a ground breaking economic deal, and holds a great deal of importance for the 800 million citizens of the countries involved, as well as the rest of the world. With worldwide coverage of this deal, it is inevitable that different types of reporting occurs, and that different outlets will provide different accounts. With so many different journalism outlets around the world and locally, many have to have a way of standing out from the crowd. This means that some extremely different coverage of very similar stories can occur. However it can also simply be down to different ownership, differing political views, and different socio-economic environments. Two outlets with

When the White House felt a retraction was not enough because so much harm had already been done, the media got extremely upset with the White House, due to the pressure they were putting on the publication (52-53). Begala agrees with Hewitt that the media has a bias, but argues that it is a liberal bias. He cites the media's obsession with the Clinton and Monica Lewinsky scandal and how, "Even when Clinton was leaving office, he was hounded and pounded by the press" (199). He argues the news coverage was unfair, brutal and unethical in the way both Bill and Hillary Clinton were treated during the scandal (200). Begala also says Al Gore was treated very poorly by the press during the election, by being misquoted. Gore made major contributions during the early phases of the internet and made a comment on CNN saying he "took the initiative in creating the Internet." Begala argues this was blown out of proportion and more than a thousand articles have been written quoting Gore saying he said he "invented the internet" (202). The people's perception that certain publications are bias can have a negative affect on journalists as a whole. While the public demands that the press question politicians, Robinson says there is public discontent when bad news is reported due to the publics distrust in news and a "kill the messenger syndrome." At times, the public will assume all media is the same and when one publication is guilty of inaccurate or bias

The recent surge in popularity of social media comes with a price: fake news. Fake news is defined as news or media that has been altered or modified. Journalists have begun to analyze why that fake news exists and why it continues exist. Two authors, Eoin O’Carroll and Kevin D. Williamson, both have written articles about fake news. Eoin O’Carroll’s article “How Information Overload Helps Spread Fake News,” discusses how the media has bombarded us with news stories, blurring the distinct lines between real and fake news. Kevin D. Williamson, a journalist for the National Review, writes in his article “‘Fake News, Media and Voters: Shared Reality Must Be Acknowledged” that the news is not fake; it just does not align with one’s personal beliefs. Both authors successfully appeal to their audiences’ emotions and feelings, but O’Carroll is more likely to succeed than Williamson in persuading his audience to try and combat fake news because the writer presents himself as someone the intended readers will more readily identify with and offers evidence that his readers will find more compelling.

The widespread use of social media and the resulting transition to a system dependent on new media has fundamentally changed the ways in which we communicate. One significant aspect of communication that has been drastically altered is the news media and their presence on social media sites such as Twitter—primarily as a result of our changing interactions with and procurement of the news. Over the course of the last semester, I worked as an Assistant Producer for both Unify and Activism Media, which are sister companies. One of the most significant experiences I had during my internship was in my work as a journalist for Activism Media. I was assigned to cover the public’s responses to the death of Michael Brown and the subsequent protests following the failure to indict both Darren Wilson and Daniel Pantaleo (also known as the ‘Shut it Down’ protests). My experiences during this assignment illustrated a number of theoretical concepts in the media studies field—chiefly: citizen journalism, agenda setting, and framing.

Have you ever had an original thought? Why do we dress the way we do, watch what we watch or even live the way we do. Through our means of entertainment, it is almost a guide in how one should live their life. With the technology we have in our world we are persuaded to believe what is right and what is wrong. Although we create our own world, our thoughts were imposed upon us since the day we are born. “What if the world is some kind of show. What if we are only talents assembled by the Great Talent Scout Up Above! The Great Show of Life! Starring Everybody! Suppose entertainment is the Purpose of Life,” says Gabler. We wake up in the morning where most of us have a daily routine we go through. Why do we put on

To wholly have a grasp on how this new founded approach to journalism has changed alongside technology—as well as understanding the dangers such openness brings forth—one has to understand what exactly those changes are. Primarily, those that are writing for the sake of offering information have, whether willingly or not, fed into the usage of social media as it has become a centralized method of distribution that is relatively inescapable with the current times. As such those framing the news for the masses find an authentic avenue to stay in contact via social media that has benefits ranging from, “its extraordinary newsgathering potential; its potential as a new tool to engage the audience; and as a way of distributing our news” (Eltringham, 2012), all of which are deeply different from the presentation of reporting that occurred during earlier eras. Days of strongly structured instances of journalism that could not travel with such speed have been replaced as, “social media has trashed many of the foundations on