Final Writers Statement

In my intent for writing it would be in order to inform and ultimately persuade readers about the importance of the media and it’s role in society. Furthermore, I think that we should exercise critical thinking in determining its role in society as an institution that traditionally has had a lot of power and influence within society. I think that as an institution with such power within society that it is crucial to analyze its shortcomings and what it means for the millions of Americans that trust the media as a reliable source of information. Our literacy in being able to analyze various sources of information and decide whether or not it is worthy of trusting as accurate. This is especially difficult when analyzing trust sources of media, because traditionally they have been regarded as factually correct by the vast majority of institutions are trusted as legitimate, thus we have an inherit bias towards mass media institutions.

Levels of trust in the media according to numerous sources, have been declining for quite some time. More and more people are discontent with the media’s present-day reporting and either turning off the news or looking to an aftermarket of so-called alternative media which often showcases an opinioned spin to the current news cycle, in an attempt to share their ‘truth.’ The concern of what this means for our democracy and society is glaring, if we don’t have a reference for what should be trusted in terms of information validity, it will have real world consequences if what we are consuming for media is less than accurate. Fact-checking websites that fact-check claims made by both people and media publications have exploded since the onslaught of the 2016 election, in which the role of the media became increasingly important as then-candidate Donald Trump became notorious for attacking the media’s credibility.

One rhetorical aspect of the media that has caused controversy in regard to reporting is bias, the style of reporting often showcases biases. I think that this is especially important because It is often a left-wing bias, which causes many on the right to feel as if their style of reporting may not be ‘for them.’ This issue, in spite of its subtlety has real consequences in alienating large amounts of people on the opposing side of the pollical spectrum.

Lastly, I want to mention the relation that this is having to our crisis of information literacy. The media’s crisis in it’s creditability ultimately effects the public’s ability to analyze which sources are trustworthy and which sources shouldn’t be trusted. I think that there is now an atmosphere of criticism from some public circles against reporting on pressing issues such as climate change, race relations, and international relations. This pushback I think is an attempt to determine credible reporting on various stories.

This topic of credibility of the media I think is very important, and I seek to further my research into the topic and analyze the implications of this on society. Through it I hope to bring a sense of clarity towards my audience: the general public. We all deserve to consume accurate information from reliable and creditable sources, by being vigilant in our pursuit of the truth, we can become enlightened by our critical thinking skills.