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How Modern Journalism is Failing its Reader


Since I started this blog around six months ago, I have continuously touched on points about the impact of the media on us and everyday life as a whole. And even now, I strongly believe the subtle influences that journalism has on our society represent a failing in their field of work.

Previously, I related these inaccuracies to the political spectrum and foreign affairs that have a profound worldwide effect on millions. This time, I wish to make it more general, and through touching on the nuances that shape the career that is a long-term goal of mine, it is easier to explain how journalism is in a dark place in the modern age.

The demands of reporters, editors, broadcasters and the many other forms of journalistic employment are tough, take nothing for granted. The single greatest need in the industry is speed. For most, this is more important than accuracy. But here lies a major issue with news, or should I perhaps say, ‘fake news’?

Say you’re the reporter that breaks the news of a historic worldwide peace deal using a unique source that helps you publish it before all the other major news outlets have had time to write the headline. You go down in history, whether people like it or not. If you’re inaccurate, so what? If all goes wrong, you can just pin it on your source and say it was unreliable. At worst, you’ll come out with egg on your face, which is usually repairable given that news is constantly evolving with each day.

It is this need for speed that in a way backs up President Trump’s claim of ‘fake news’. For everyone wants a slice of that potential glory, naturally, seeing as newspapers and magazines are money-making businesses, such is the capitalist society that we live in. No outlet cares if the reader is reading accurate information from their article particularly, as long as they are selling the papers and getting the online views, everything is thus rosy for the moguls controlling the media outlets and for the journalists that receive a degree of self-gratification that people have an interest in what they have to say.

See the source imageFrom this has developed the idea of ‘click-bait’. By this, I don’t mean anything that has a link to an article displayed (else I would be guilty of this myself through various social media platforms), but rather the intentional displaying of a misleading headline, often dramatized by the media outlet in order to receive more views. And this is what leads to an enormous amount of problems regarding inaccurate news in this day and age, given the influence and worldwide nature of social media, which is only rapidly increasing further.

This can range from subtle changes in politics in order to slyly influence a reader’s judgement, to a complete inaccuracy about the death of a celebrity or something of a similar ilk. Either way, it is a failing of what we call journalism.

It shouldn’t be the priority of the writer who is putting out an article to get views or sell papers. Unfortunately, simple economics gets in the way of that happening, but it still infuriates me that writers or editors are happy for people to be fed lies as long as they are getting their cash for bending the truth.

What was the primary aim of journalism? I’d argue it was to help inform those who may not have the access to opinions of others on social and political issues especially. It seems now that newspapers are business, treated as any other entities that exist just to make money. In that regard, it is clear that journalism as a whole has failed miserably. That tricking people gives greater reward than showing a representation of the truth is an indefensible mistake we have grown to accept.

People often say censorship is bad but, to a point, I don’t think the current system of media is much different. You could make a case to say that at least there is no competition when we have full censorship of the press, though neither of the two are ideal.

The problems stem further than just the writers that write the articles, the editors that control their freedom, and the moguls who steer the direction of the media outlet. It emanates from the basic system; the greed and ignorance of all those that have an involvement in it.

The whole journalistic industry has gone past the point of repair and it will shape our future dramatically in the next 100 years. And barring a dramatic change, this will be a process that is severely detrimental to us. 

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