Distrust in Media: Causes and Consequences Essay

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The main feature of the modern information space is its ever-increasing multiplicity and discontinuity. Nowadays, a person is faced with a huge flow of information. The media does not guarantee the provision of verified news resulting in a fall of public trust in media and a decline of confidence for institutions.

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Young Black People Notice the News Media’s, Double Standard

Analyzing the first debater’s point of view, Catherine R. Squires, one may state that she considers the roots of declining the media are in discrimination of African-American people. Indeed, Squires provides the reader with bright examples to prove her opinion. She notes that media overlooks the strengths of their community and its culture, and instead reduces it to statistics; celebrates and makes money off the trend fashioned by their culture, but joins in discrediting people for wearing the same clothes when she or he was shot or abused by authorities.

Partially, I agree with those patterns that illustrate double standards of media. Nevertheless, there are plenty of examples of white man discrimination as well.

“Trust” in the News Media Has Come to Mean Affirmation

The latest trend is the redistribution of the political significance of the various media such as print, radio, television, social networks, and blogs when the largest Internet companies, one way or another connected with the content and the provision of internet services. A print media is gradually moving to the Internet, closing its printed versions while television is still the main source of information for the vast majority.

A significant role is played by Internet resources when everyone feels free to convey his or her opinion, social activity, to express a civil position on various political and social issues, and join one of the opposite sides. Usually, on the news sites, there are discussion spaces where citizens can be united by their common views, relation to events and processes occurring in the country.

“Americans say they want accuracy and impartiality, but polls suggest what most of us want is to hear what we believe,” claims Brooke Gladstone, the second debtor (Brenner, 2015). For example, Americans want to see patriotic news about themselves or some positive ones. As a result of the inconsistency of expectations, the fall of public trust in media, and the decline of confidence for institutions appear. In addition, trust in the media might be declined as a consequence of a much wider general distrust of societal institutions.

Liberal News Media Bias Has a Severe Effect

Sometimes independent media is a kind of business, and the possession or control of the media is a kind of political resource. The third debater, Timothy P. Carney, gives the fact that many former journalists are in the Obama government now. Thus, the widespread use of the media for the manipulative influence on citizens, especially during election campaigns, resulted in trust falls in news media in election periods.

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Excessive commercialization of media organizations operating on market principles leads to a loss of “public service” function, making a negative effect on the press, too. In the information industry, art and management decisions subordinate to the requirements of the market and frequently taken without regard to the social aftermath of their implementation, considering just the economic effect. All the above factors, as well as some others, create news media bias that provokes mistrust in media and social institutions.

Should people trust in media?

However, if people do not trust the media, then what and to whom? In my opinion, trust in media declined because news outlets have eliminated the distinction between reporting of fact and writing about opinion. The verified fact corroborated by at least two credible sources should be the standard for reporting the news. Unfortunately, the situation has changed.

People are in doubt whether what they are reading reflects the view of the writer or the facts of the matter. Sometimes when the writer quotes sources, there is little way of knowing, but even then, there should be fact-checking of what the source told the reporter. For instance, The New York Times or the New Yorker Magazine are two sources trying to correspond to high standards for reporting accurate facts by examining them. The decision of whether to trust in media or not is up to everyone.

Moreover, if one wants to get a balanced view of what is happening in the world, he or she should make a point to find and read news and blogs from different sources, including international sources as well. In that case, people are able to come up with their ideas of the events that are under-covered, not covered at all by mainstream media, and those events, which bend the facts depending on who is telling them.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it should be mentioned that the media lost the trust of the citizens when it became obvious that the news became agenda-driven and not fact reporting. Therefore, in order to decide whether to believe the media or not, people have to take into account different sources.

References

Brenner, D. (2015). Why Has Trust in the News Media Declined? The New York Times.

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IvyPanda. (2020) 'Distrust in Media: Causes and Consequences'. 9 May.

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IvyPanda. 2020. "Distrust in Media: Causes and Consequences." May 9, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/distrust-in-media-causes-and-consequences/.

1. IvyPanda. "Distrust in Media: Causes and Consequences." May 9, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/distrust-in-media-causes-and-consequences/.


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