The TRUTH About FALSE News
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| A Chart by Pew Research |
Who is Experiencing Fake News?
Over the years, increasingly more misinformation has appeared in news articles, and the amount of false information online grows every day. This misinformation has an impact on numerous aspects of society, as the issue is most common within news coverage of current political and ethical issues.
Towards the beginning of journalism, however, being honest was mandatory when it came to reporting news, and no opinions were permitted.
After the printing press was invented and newspapers were commonly used, publishers solely focused on reporting important events accurately, and there was no room for lies or exaggeration. It was only a matter of time however until reporters started to fabricate stories in order to achieve an ulterior motive, such as gaining publicity.
Author Joanna M. Burkhardt wrote that the most popular first fake news story was “On November 3, 1948, the Chicago Daily Tribune editors were so certain of the outcome of the previous day’s presidential election that they published the paper with the headline stating, ‘Dewey Defeats Truman.'" The organization did this so that it could be the first news newspaper to publish the long-awaited results, but the article ended up spreading false information instead.
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| The Newspaper Held by Former President Truman |
More on the Chicago Tribune Article
Over time as the nation continued to have elections or serious political events, fake news would be published more each time. After the internet was invented, however, the amount of false information being published grew exponentially.
The internet gives unauthorized writers a platform, and they utilize the idea of journalism to sell false stories to others that appear legitimate. Since the origin of the internet, the amount of false news has multiplied, and most people have not realized that it is almost everywhere you look.
Journalism has become a field that has an untrustworthy reputation because of the construed information and stories that have taken over news media in current times. To combat this, truthfulness must be implemented more in modern-day journalism, as false information has had harmful effects on people and their lives, especially in recent years. Unfortunately, the use of false information on the internet cannot currently be controlled in a way that can stop the spread of fake news, and now it has become the reality of the news industry.
A research professor Lars Willnat conducted a study that looked at the opinions of citizens and journalists. He found that "a majority of US journalists and almost half of the US public thought that journalism is headed in the wrong direction, and only slightly more than one-fourth of the public thought that news organizations were doing a good job of informing the public."
A very significant example of fake news in journalism was the entire 2020 election. There was fake news on every form of news media, such as news channels, articles, Facebook, and other platforms that altered how they gave their news in favor of a candidate. Since the 2020 election was such a prevalent event, a large percentage of the stories done on the election were fabricated to raise publicity and sway readers or listeners to vote for one of the candidates.
Like we spoke about in class, even once credible news stations such as Fox News have become skewed to support a specific political party or ideology.
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| Tucker Carlson Reporting about Former President Trump Live on Fox News |
Furthermore, the prevalent fake news in the United States makes the journalism field seem frivolous and inauthentic. People used to be able to rely on all reputable journalism they regularly read, but it is much harder to find a news source you can trust today. This applies especially to political news, controversial topics, and news that refers to celebrities.
Additionally, there are many people who believe false sources, or they simply do not know better. Since people do utilize fake sources, it leads to chaos in social media and how people interact with one another.
Ultimately, the idea of truth is vital in journalism, solely because of the negative impact that journalism has when it does not contain the truth. Fake news is a serious issue, as it can have detrimental effects on our society and its political stability.
The field of journalism was built with morals and ethical standards that have been washed away because of ignorance and the need for publicity. The element of truth is significant in the journalism field, and it must return in order for people to be able to trust their sources again. People must look past their need for attention and focus on what is best for society, which is knowing the whole truth.
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