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Journalism ethical issues
The negative impact of fake news
Ethics in journalism
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In the book, Trust Me I’m Lying Confessions of a Media Manipulator, there was a certain element of deceit throughout, the narrative, where a manipulator was able to produce a good living by means of lying, thus ultimately fooling themselves and the world around them. Ryan Holiday explains in his book, “Many have no idea of how much their general worldview is influenced by the way news is generated online” (13). In order to gain the readers attention, bloggers on the internet follow no set of regulations, adhere to no limits, and unfortunately, write anything and everything in order to gain attention, because in the world of media, large amounts of publicity can mean the difference between success and failure. Media manipulators go to heavy extremes in order to get random victims to click on their articles. Consequently, everything ever written on the internet could potentially be a lie, which forces the question what to believe? Upon examining a blog article written by Rebecca Rose, “Female Pilot Gets Sexist Note from Sexist Passenger,” this is evidence just how untrustworthy and deceitful the internet can be. When researching articles on the internet, people must …show more content…
People fail to realize that bloggers are not educated journalists getting published, but that they’re normal people spreading rumors as news just to gain clicks and shares. In order to get your attention, bloggers have no limits to what they write just to get your click. As a result of this blogging, everything we read on the internet could potentially be a lie. The internet is simply a business and ultimately a business in which a person is trying to make money out
Another reason why people, especially publishers, might find fake news appealing is from the amount of money they can earn from something that is not true. In the first article, it states, “When you click or share a story, the person or company that created the site gets money. This money comes from advertisers who pay sites based on the number of views their ads get. That’s the point of shocking or outrageous headlines: to get you to click,” (Lewis, 11). This means that, for every outrageous news story that is clicked on, whether it is real or fake, it gets a lot of money. Anyone can become rich from starting a fake news business, and that is what many find appealing about the business. All in all, whether it be the thrill of telling a story, or doing it for the money, there are always people who are interested in the fake news
Clare Boothe Luce, an American journalist and politician, delivered a speech in 1960 to the Women’s National Press Club in front of the American press to criticize journalists for the misinformation they publish in order to challenge them to start publishing the truth rather than writing what the public wants to hear. Luce appeals to the audience of journalists using her role as a politician, comparison, and emphasis to persuade journalists to start writing the truth, no matter how dull, in order for American citizens to truly understand what is going on in today’s society. Throughout the speech, Luce speaks to the audience of journalists about how the information they release shouldn’t be falsified for a myriad of buyers or views. Although
I wanted to save an example for the end, and the best one I can think of is this. Most true information about someone, someone else knows about, and therefore other people will soon learn. I pose this question. What would be worse? Digging up information and finding that the new mailman is really a rapist that the police have direct records of, or falsely accusing the new mailman of being a racist when in fact he is nothing of the kind? It's easy for me to say it is much worse to falsely publicize the news of the man than it is to give true information about him, even though you may have obtained in an unethical manor. Giving the truth is the most important aspect of the media and if we as a society cant believe what they say, why should we listen. I believe the media runs the world and people are going to believe what the media tells us. There is no way around it. In this overwhelming case, it is of utmost importance that it gives us the truth.
A good part of Outfoxed focuses on the company's blurring of news and commentary, how anchormen and reporters are encouraged to repeatedly use catch-phrases like "some people say..." as a means of editorializing within a supposedly objective news story; how graphics, speculation and false information are repeated over-and-over throughout the broadcast day until it appears to become fact, and in doing so spreads like a virus and copied on other networks. A PIPA/Knowledge Networks Poll points to glaring, fundamental misconceptions about the news perpetuated upon Fox viewers, versus information received from widely respected news-gathering organizations like NPR and PBS. Asked, for instance, "Has the U.S. found links between Iraq & al-Qaeda?" only 16% of PBS and NPR viewers answered "yes," but a frightening 67% of Fox viewers believed there had.
The internet is truly a modern marvel that contains all known information instantly at ones’ fingertips effortlessly. With the rise of the internet American thought has shifted to the point where people assume that all information presented is true. This has led to media outlets posting what their specific audience will read and believe for profit which is also a problem Postman associated with modern television. Ushering in a new age, where the accuracy of information is skewed so it gets attention and goes viral before anyone even checks the facts behind the statement. Television, the internet, and the era of mass media is a devolution of discourse and technology and needs to be reversed by remembering that man invented television and that we need to control it and not let it control
Stephen Glass, a writer at The New Republic, sparked widespread knowledge about dishonesty within the news, ultimately causing readers to investigate further about the topics that they came across. Prior to Glass’ insightfully imaginative publications, false stories were rarely challenged and almost never “debunked” (Bissinger). However, Glass masterfully exposed society to this new awareness: fabrications occur quite frequently throughout journalism. Building upon Stephen Glass’s fabricated stories, Buzz Bissinger, author of Vanity Fair’s article “Shattered Glass,” created a piece, which further discussed the escalating topic surrounding false news. Bissinger undoubtedly raised awareness about the detrimental impact that intentional fabricated news stories have on society. In doing so, Bissinger exposed Glass’s writing style and how his infatuation with success, subsequently led to the ultimate demise of his journalism career. Bissinger highlights that Glass was “one of the most sought-after young reporters in the nation’s capital,” he challenges his overall credibility (Bissinger). Through the analysis of Buzz Bissinger’s article about Stephen
Deception exists in media, among prestigious universities, and perhaps most commonly in the workplace. According to Dunleavy (2010), reasons for deception in the workplace include: competitiveness, conflict, or a response to a supervisor or fellow employee (p. 241). Dunleavy develops hypotheses’, conducts experiments, and collects data to determine what is considered acceptable and unacceptable behavior as it applies to deception in the workplace. Ultimately, the reason for deceiving and the method in which one deceives, through either withholding (omission) or distortion (commission), directly effects the perception of coworkers’ credibility, power, and trustworthiness (Dunleavy, p.241).
Through manipulation and lies, media manages to modify objective news into biased news in order to convince the public of what the media wants them to believe. The article, “How the Media Twist the News”, by Sheila Gribben Liaugminas discusses the major influence that news has on readers based on their choice of stories and words. “How the Media Twists the News” has borrowed from multiple other texts such as the books like Public Opinion and Liberty and News, news magazine writers such as Ruderman, and news networks like CBS through Bias, A CBS Insider Exposes How the Media Distort the News and CNN to make her arguments valid and prove that the news is biased and that it does influence readers significantly because of it.
At the beginning of the movie, Stephen Glass, who is the narrator throughout the movie, speaks about how important it is that a journalist knows who he is writing for and what he is good at. This explains to an extent why he crossed the boundaries to write false articles simply because he knew what subjects would be able to engross the readers and he was good at doing that. Despite the fact that Stephen deliberately applied that perception in the wrong way, he was able to capture the minds of many readers at large with creative and funny stories and this capped his career. I must say I was impressed with how guileful Stephen Glass was in carrying out this act but was disappointed in the end when his excuses were extremely cynical. He should have been prepared to prove the accusations false knowing he wrote a couple of false articles. It was not quite sensible of him to write an article about a software company that exists without having sources to back it up. Although, he was skillful he was at writing lies, h...
In our generation, the Internet allows us to have the world at our fingertips. Any information you ever need or want is just a Google search away. There is a mix of nearly 500 personal websites and blogs on search engines like Google, Bing, Yahoo, and Ask Jeeves. (Brazier) The Internet is one of the most powerful tools we have in this society. People fail to realize though is that anyone can write what they
Television is a vital source from which most Americans receive information. News and media delegates on television have abused theirs powers over society through the airing of appealing news shows that misinform the public. Through literary research and experimentation, it has been proven that people's perception of reality has been altered by the information they receive from such programs. Manipulation, misinterpretation, word arrangement, picture placement and timing are all factors and tricks that play a major role in the case. Research, experimentation, and actual media coverage has pinpointed actual methods used for deceptive advertising. Television influences society in many ways. People are easily swayed to accept a belief that they may not normally have unless expressed on television, since many people think that everything they hear on television is true. This, however, is not always the case. It has been observed that over the past twenty to thirty years, normal social behavior, even actual life roles of men and women and media, regulatory policies have all been altered (Browne 1998). Media has changed with time, along with quality and respectability. Many Americans receive and accept false information that is merely used as an attention grabber that better the show's ratings and popularity. Many magazines and Journal reviews have periodically discussed the "muckraking" that many tabloid shows rely on to draw in their viewers. This involves sensationalizing a story to make it more interesting, therefore increasing the interest of the audience. "Along the way, all sorts of scandalous substance and goofy tricks appear, but not much mystery in the logic," (Garnson 1997). People often know that these shows aim to deceive them, but still accept the information as truth. Many times, people have strong opinions on certain topics. Yet, when they are exposed to the other side of the argument, they may be likely to agree with the opposite view. As Leon Festinger said, "If I chose to do it (or say it), I must believe in it," (Myers 1997). This is an example of Festinger's cognitive dissonance theory, which pertains to acting contrary to our beliefs. Television influences many people to change their original beliefs. It has the viewers think that the majority of other people hold the contrary idea. Once these views are presented, people have the option to hol...
Naturally, journalism would spill over to the Internet and as social media websites such as Twitter and Facebook grew in popularity, so did regular citizens involvement with sharing news. The argument can be made that the explosion of social media journalism was due to frustration from the lack of coverage of news that mattered to society. For example, the lack of subjective coverage of Michael Brown 's death helped with the creation of #BlackLivesMatter and spread of news related to African-American’s and other minorities across the country. After all, journalism is supposed to be a public forum. Millions of people on Twitter share their thoughts and opinions on several topics, furthering the conversation and to some degree challenging society. Things such as “Moments” on Twitter provide us with direct links and summaries to the world’s most important stories and encourage a conversation. According to journalism.org, 63% of users on Twitter and Facebook get their news from these websites. Even more eye opening is that 59% of users on Twitter keep up to date with news stories via Twitter while they are in the process of happening.[3] The rise of social media related journalism has caused some issues however. “Inevitably, as citizen involvement grows, more of our media culture is concerned with talking about news, instead of focusing on original reporting and the vetting of it.”[4] Because the general public has the ability to post as they wish and pass it off as news, it has affected the accuracy of many reports. Many stories lack reputable sources but are shared between millions as an accurate and true story. There are several websites designed to spread inaccurate information. The website www.fakenewswatch.com exists to inform people of these sites in order to avoid mishaps. Recently a Connecticut mom went viral for being involved in an online hoax
Matheson, D. (2004). Weblogs and the epistemology of the news: some trends in online journalism. News Media & Society 6 (4) pp.443-468. (on-line)
Social media is a quick and easy way to spread news and information across the world. However, the common saying, “you can’t believe everything you see on the internet,” is true. Social media allows the spread of unreliable and false information. A study done by the American Press Institute found, “64% of people who use Twitter for news say that they have encountered something they "later discovered wasn't true," and 16% of Twitter news users say that "they had retweeted or posted a tweet they later discovered to be false” (API). This can have various effects as people are falsely educated which can lead to some bad or unnecessary decisions.
Blogs are a form of new media. The ability for bloggers to post any sort of text photos or even videos to other internet users that could interact have become popular.