Ethics and the Media Arts: Who Can Be Trusted?

There are so many misconceptions held by the people of this country due to the lack of evidence provided to us by those in power. It is taken for granted that most of the population will absorb whatever is told to them and consider it to be true, merely because they saw it on the news. People simply choose not to look into issues further because they are apt to believe that the information provided to them is correct. If we do not begin to contest falsified news reports, then the truth will continue to go unknown.

Here we are in the midst of a great technological age in which so much information is literally at our fingertips, yet many people rely on television (most likely they have a favorite network and do not stray from their chosen news reports) to be told what is going on in the world rather than research for themselves. Chances are if it wasn't covered in the evening news, people don't know it happened.

Even if someone did want to further research issues, my guess is that the majority of people have no idea where to begin, and who is to say that the information they would find would be any more "truthful" than what they already "know?" There really is not a great variety of neutral sources through which to obtain information. Although skepticism isn't usually the best decision, it isn't out of line to say that journalists aren't exactly trustworthy. Anything can be twisted and taken out of context so as to support the writer's opinion of the matter and decided story line.

It is rare that two articles, both covering the same issue, will read in the same manner. Every writer puts his/her own spin on the material to make it "fresh." Coverage of the 2004 Presidential Election provides a perfect example of the disparities between the far-left and the far-right media sources. I cannot count the number of debates that occurred following the election about what actually happened in what time frame. Of course the end result was the same for all, but a person's impression of the election itself is dependant upon the channel through which they chose to watch events unfold. (How close was it?, etc.)