Speed Over Content
Fake news has become a very popular term anywhere you go, whether you talk about it in class or you happen to follow Donald Trump on Twitter. Fake news stories are developed by the news companies’ need to get a compelling headline out before anyone else. The speed at which journalists are releasing stories has been decreasing the value of factual information. It makes you wonder who we can actually trust to get us the right, unbiased information. Will news companies change the way they work in order to give us facts, rather than half-truth stories?
The possession of money is so powerful, it is able to change people’s decisions and actions, both in positive or negative ways. However, money usually tends to change people for the latter option. We’ve heard the statement “it’s a business”, millions of times. We all know it’s just a way for us to brush the unethical things we have done under the rug and cover ourselves with this excuse. But, this excuse is able to stand on its own and be accepted in society. When it comes to news companies, they are giving us fast, but fictional information. Although it’s not ok, we say “it’s a business”. They need to make their money, so if catchy headlines and half hidden truths will get people to read their stories, they will continue to do it. Morally, it’s unacceptable but fast information is beneficial to the company.
All the blame doesn’t fall on them because we have to step back and realize that we as the consumers, are involved as well. We seem to be desperately hungry for a controversial headline that can provide us with a Facebook trending topic or a clever-worded tweet. I have heard people question why we gave a reality TV star a presidential candidate platform. He could say the most racist, controversial statement ever heard on television and people would be infuriated (at least the people in my filter bubble were. I’m aware that there are others who might have agreed with what he had to say). My Facebook and Instagram feeds were overflowing with angry people, but as much as we would like it to, writing a caption from the comfort of our homes is not going to change much. Why did we keep tuning in to see what he would say next? Who was he going to kick out of his rally next? We have to consider getting a patch for our addiction to lies and controversy. Imagine if we used half the amount of this energy and interest into an issue like climate change or providing education to girls everywhere, society would advance immensely. For example, Obama’s birth certificate scandal could have been stopped way faster than it was, but we used it as an entertainment piece.
So, if journalism is a business and will most likely not slow their stories down, it’s up to us to avoid the speed of the news from becoming more important than the content itself. We need to slow ourselves down and consider many sources before we close our minds and make a judgement, especially when the world is going through such a critical stage. A very interesting article that sparked many of my thoughts, is on the following link, written by Robert Wynne:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/robertwynne/2017/02/09/whos-to-blame-for-fake-news/#4d65f6166871
