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Zhiyang Wei

Prof.Valerie Fong

ENGL 1S

Nov. 21, 2017

Media rebuild trust

Since the emergence of the news media, people's lives have undergone

tremendous changes. From the most traditional paper-based newspapers and

magazines to the development of the Internet age, people in the world can understand

world news without leaving home. However, in the face of such massive news and

information, we are surrounded by all kinds of different information. Among these is

the lack of authenticity or prejudices flooding into the media reports. Various kinds of

false information, biased or unrealistic news reports, gradually affect our normal life

and even affect the presidential election. The public's confidence in the media has

dropped dramatically, and the public has even been attacked. Some people think we

should no longer believe the media, since the media have too much false information

or prejudices; others think we can still trust the media, because not all the media are

biased or covered up by false news, and reporters into the personal emotions can

make readers feel empathy.

When the media tend to be over-dependent on money, I will not trust the media.

Some people think that the news media now fall prey of profitability, since the ratings

from television stations, advertising costs, the reading of news, and the page views of

websites will all directly affect their earnings. Their reasoning is that this will prompt
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many media to find ways to keep readers engaged in reading their articles, leaving

many of the media's focus on news ceasing to be purely news coverage but to dig out

how to make news headlines attract greater public attention. For example, in

Gladstone's The Influencing Machine, the author argues that "People do not know

whether the media are doing it for profit or information." There's a long-standing

debate in the media biz over whether news outlets should give the public News of a

commodity like bread. Freshness matters. Inaccuracy - like this ballon hoax, penned

by Edgar Allan Poe - does not." (96) Also, Gladstone explains that media treat the

news as a commodity to be sold and expect the news to be sold at a good price,

making it no longer simple but tradable; in other words, it is the most direct way to

divest the news from the interests of the public. Instead of making the news false or

prejudiced because of money's interests, the public can really see the news based on

what they want to see instead of being unconventional. The title or content distracts

one's attention.

On the other hand, it is acceptable and trustworthy for some of the media to

increase their personal feelings in good faith to make the news readable and appealing.

Their reasoning is that many journalists will add their own personal feelings to the

news to increase readers' attention to the events and make the news more humane;

readers can therefore feel the situation of reporters at that time. In everythings an

argument, "You can also use emotional appeals to make logical claims stronger or

more memorable. That is the way how photographs and other images add power to

arguments." (Lunsford 34) It can be seen in the news when you add some more
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personal feelings; this also allows people to feel the news, for the news is moving,

such as the war, the loss of homes, the family asylum, etc. We will not be touched by

these pieces of news unless the presumably flat and tasteless reports allow readers to

feel the brutal wars or the despair of the refugees displaced; nor can readers resonate

with the news, unless reporters add their emotions without losing the objectivity of

their news.

Although not every news media or reporter lacks objectivity, most media carry

their own personal subjective prejudices or political positions to cover the news,

which makes the news lose its own independence and objectivity. The news reports

are therefore weakened or even fabricated, which makes me not to believe the media.

In Gladstone's book The Influence Machine, "Sometimes bias intertwines, resulting in

thrillingly misleading reporting"(67) "Pulling down the statute was not the

spontaneous act of Iraqis, as often depicted by the media. In fact, the square was

empty when the statue was seen by a Marine gunner "(67) Although the news media

are emphasizing the objectivity of the news, the objective in the full sense is hard to

come by in the actual news coverage. The news reports all conclude with interviews

conducted by journalists. This involves the personal values of journalists. The values

of each journalist will be different. Be it the cultural background, emotion, personal

experience or political stand, these will be indirect reactions to the news report. This

has caused the public to read the news biased, rather than being based on objective

facts of the news reports. Let the news return to the news itself, with the objective

facts before the reader; this is not only our pursuit, but also the essence of the news
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media.

The news media is a medium for the dissemination of social events and a very

important measure for the public to understand the society. After the emergence of

modern media, the news media have slowly exposed some problems that have

gradually made the public no longer trust the news reported by the media. How to

maintain the objectivity and readability of news while the news is not changed by the

interest of money is a place where everybody is dissatisfied with the media nowadays

and where the news media needs improvement. In fact, the public are willing to

believe the media. Only as the time passes by, the public has more and more access to

news reports and the public demand for the media is getting higher and higher;

therefore, the media should make corresponding revisions and improvements in

exchange for the media's trustworthiness.

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Work Cited
Gladstone, Brooke and Josh Neufeld. The Influencing. Machine: Brooke Gladstone on

the Media. W.W. Norton & Company, Inc, 2011.

Hoffman, David. Citizen Rising Independent Journalism and the Spread of

Democracy. CUNY Journalism Press, 2013.

Lunsford, Andrea and Ruszkiewicz John. Everythings An Argument. Graphic World,

Inc, 2016