Newsflash - The media is not out to get you

Last week, the White House took a rare step and suspended the credentials of CNN correspondent Jim Acosta after an intense exchange with President Trump at a press conference, later relying on a heavily-edited video to justify Acosta’s removal. Over the weekend, the president threatened to revoke the credentials of other White House reporters who failed to “treat the presidency with respect” and in an unprompted statement, criticized several specific reporters personally.

The incidents angered press freedom groups, but more importantly highlighted the revulsion felt by much of the country for members of the press. People across the political and ideological spectrum lambast reporters and anchors on a regular basis, accusing them of willfully spreading inaccurate information, abandoning objectivity or flat-out lying to mislead the public. Trust in the media seems to be plummeting — at least, you’d think that by listening to our elected officials.

Over the last several years, the term “mainstream media” has changed from a general descriptor to a vicious slur. We almost seem to be living in a post-truth world — where even legitimate criticisms are dismissed as falsified political attack. This phenomenon came with a new nomenclature, the now-ubiquitous “fake news.”

The vitriol aimed at members of the news media is unprecedented in a time when reporters have been called “the enemy of the American people” and even received death threats. But I’ve got news for you. We are not your enemy.

The news media is filled with people who are at their core idealists, who believe in honesty and truth and holding elected officials and corporations accountable. That’s why many — I might even venture to say most — of us joined this industry in the first place. You would be hard-pressed to find someone who became a journalist with the express aim of discrediting mainstream news sources or damaging the integrity of the American publishing industry.

It’s true: the media will make mistakes. Not every story will be perfect, errors will be made, and corrections will be issued. The being behind the news isn’t a hulking monster with fangs and claws made out of Times New Roman 12-point font; it’s a person, doing their best to do their job and feed their family.

But that humanity that is occasionally the downfall of a story should also be reassuring. Because media members are human, their reactions to situations, to stories and circumstances will be different.

“The media” isn’t a monolithic creation — it’s an industry comprised of thousands of individuals with differing opinions and values and goals. There isn’t an industry-wide conspiracy hell-bent on using the media to spread false information and divide the country. (Or if there was, I certainly wasn’t invited.)

Don’t get me wrong. There are major problems in the media industry as a whole: lack of diversity on cable news, highly partisan coverage depending on the outlet and the concept of “clickbait,” which is sensationalized reporting created specifically to draw in website hits and boost ratings.

These are issues that are our responsibility as industry insiders to address and relentlessly work to improve. If we don’t, we face the risk that it won’t matter if journalists do their jobs exceptionally and present perfectly researched and fact-checked information, because readers and listeners will categorically reject it based on their distrust of its source.

No successful, knowledgeable society will have 100 percent faith in its media, nor should it. There’s nothing wrong with a healthy dose of skepticism and a solid line of questioning. If a certain mistrust in the media leads people to think more critically, to search harder for confirmation or bias, that’s only a good thing. But the automatic dismissal of any information that comes from an official news outlet isn’t just reactionary — it’s dangerous.

There’s a joke popping up online that takes its cues from pastor Martin Niemöller’s now-famous words, spoken post-World War II. The joke goes, “First they came for the journalists, and I did not speak out because I am not a journalist. We don’t know what they did after that.”

This is one of those not-really-kidding moments. The media has been instrumental in uncovering actions that are damaging to average citizens all over the world. This spans from large-scale investigations into the Watergate scandal and civilian atrocities committed during the Vietnam War to local coverage of community violence and neighborhood heath code violations. The press performs a job that is not always popular, but is always necessary. A world without a media to protect the American people is one I don’t want to live in.

If you want to make sure you’re getting the best, most accurate information, there are ways to do that. Diversify your news media. Seek out world news websites free from censorship and research funding sources of your chosen news outlet.

Most importantly, support small local papers and independent publishers. Some of the best, most trustworthy journalism happens at the local level.

Shannen Talbot can be reached at [email protected].