Is There Really Truth in the News?

Solution to the Problem

The news media is an active and important part of our society, and we depend on it in order to be informed about current events. The only problem is people do not exactly trust all the news that is being reported. This needs to be changed. It is not an easy task since the media all have different opinions about what exactly is the truth. News reporters have a job of reporting news events to the public, who have the right to know about them. People are going to form their own opinions about what has happened, but the news media should not do it for them. The public is entitled to know what is going on around them. It is not fair that sometimes we are kept in the dark on important issues. As illustrated in this website, the media only report on the news that is going to benefit their corporation, weather it be in ratings or in revenue from advertisers. A good portion of the news is lost due to this.

There are a variety of different solutions that can be suggested in order to get the name and prestige of the news media back positively in the publics’ eyes. The first solution to the media problem would be to get rid of the whole ratings system when it comes to reporting the news. The news channels should not have to worry about ratings. Their job is to report on the issues of our society. When one brings ratings into the mix, then competition follows. This is where news does not become news anymore, because each reporter is trying to get the news first. Then, the wrong information gets reported because they do not know the full story yet. If there was no competition, then stories would be reported clearer.

The news media is a very powerful instrument and a lot of people follow the news in order to get a sense of what is going on in the world. There should be a balance of the amount of positive and negative news that is being reported nightly. People watch the news and see all the negative things and think that that is how the world really is (Dominick, 2002). If there was a balance of positive and negative news stories, then these people might not think that the world is such a bad place. Examples of positive news stories could consist of local charity events, fundraisers, or community programs. It is important to show the grim reality when it is necessary, but there should also be stories to balance it out. Another thing is that news should not be reported on non stop when events first happen. It is important that if a catastrophe happens it gets reported on so everybody knows what happened, but there should be some sort of break in between news segments in order to keep people from getting obsessed with what is going on.

Solutions to the Courtroom Problem

Another solution to the problem with media is to keep them out of the courtrooms during trials. It is not their place to be in the courtroom during a trial, because giving away too much information about the trial might mean that an innocent person is going to jail or a guilty person is being set free. Due to the competition that these different organizations have to get the story, justice might not be served in the right way. Since the public is interested in the lives of big celebrities and famous trials, there should be a designated person that talks to the press and gives them enough information to keep the public happy. There should be people that sit in the courtroom that go out and tell the public the facts of the case, therefore avoiding having the press inside the courtroom. If the press is not in the courtroom, then people will feel more comfortable and will be able to serve justice without having to feel the pressures of being on camera.

It is also important to cut down on the pre-trial publicity. This is where most of the problems occur with a trial. When the news media hear about a trial they immediately start pushing for information. This is when it becomes hard to pick an impartial jury because everyone has read the facts of the cases and comes to their own conclusions. In order to prevent this from happening, lawyers and judges should not be allowed to talk to the press before a trial begins or limit what they are allowed to talk about. Only the facts should be discussed before the case. It is also important to keep the jury away from the media in order for them to have an unbiased opinion going into the case. This is why they are kept in seclusion so they are able to walk into the courtroom without knowing anything before the trial begins.

Conclusion

Criticizing the news has become increasingly popular recently due to the fact that the media has shifted from a positive to a negative view in the public's eye. The news has a job and responsibility to report the news. Without the news media, people would be left in the dark as to what was going on around them. The media plays a big and important role in keeping the public informed but it is hard to believe everything you read and hear. Everything that is reported in the news might not be real all the time, so in that case, question what you hear and form your own opinions and not the ones that the media wants you to have.