My grandfather’s thing was the news. He watched Fox pretty much all day long. I never really understood it because I would sit there and watch with him sometimes and the same story would pop up over and over again. “Breaking News” would tick across the screen but no real new information would follow. I think because of this, and articles like “Attacking the Fourth Estate” that I am much more cognizant about where I get my news. Love my grandpa, and where and how he got his news definitely had something to do with how he was raised and generational differences but he probably could have benefitted from a few days of watching MSNBC or maybe taking a break from the whole TV thing.
Something I think this article does a really good job of is stressing the fact that distrust in the media and “fake news” as a political campaign platform did not start with Trump and distrust between elected officials and the journalists questioning their every move is natural. In a world where news is instant and sometimes even reporting before things actually happen, the economic competition of news outlets is more intense than ever and will probably continue to intensify. Personally, this makes me not want to watch the news at all. I think there is a difference between watching and reading the news. I like to think I am up to date on what is happening but I also put a lot more effort into finding multiple sources that cover certain events and combine sources to find out the actual truth. What is tricky is that the kind of news you watch is easier to fit into your day than reading many many articles. Convenience is key and I think people choose convenience to get half the story instead of choosing to put in the effort to get the whole story. I think the articles suggestions to research how attacking the press affects how citizens seeking information and how it affected their beliefs about government regulation of news outlets especially in this next election.
I am DEFINITELY guilty of choosing convenience over taking extra time to get an entire story because there are so many hours in a day. I get my snippets of news from outlets that I rely on and from articles that are sent to me by my parents. My issue is that I am aware of my bias when seeking out news, but I also believe that competitive news outlets also have biases. If everyone has a bias, how can you insure you’re getting fully correct information no matter where the info comes from?
The competition between news sources also turns me away from wanting to watch the news. I wish there wasn’t that competition and we still had the Fairness Doctrine in place to adequately portray all sides to a story.
I found it very interesting how you brought up the distrust of the media. Like you my grandfather watched the news and would believe what they said. I think there is definitely a point in U.S. history where this distrust of the media grew.
My opinions in politics are not very strong yet, so I have not found a reason to get fired up over policies that don’t really affect me yet. As I get more involved in politics, I will take more of a side.
My dad said to me the other day that “Trump isn’t a cause, he’s a symptom” and I think that’s pretty accurate here. Trump didn’t create this attack on the fourth estate. But he is certainly making the most out of it. Also, I agree… the way we have all been told that the news is full of lies or is biased… the truth just seems inaccessible.
Like many others, I am also guilty of choosing convenience over taking the time to research all sides of the story. There’s only so much time and on days when I am busier than others it is hard to keep up with the news and everything that is going on in the world even though it is very important to do. However, getting both sides of the story is crucial now because many news stations have become competitive with one another.
I completely agree, in my journalism class we learned that reading the news is much more credible than watching the news. When you are watching the news their breaking news stories are often not yet verified, which leads to a lot of the fake news we see.
I can say the same about myself that I will either watch the news and believe what I see rather than doing a little more research on it. I rarely read articles and it definitely leads to fake news.
I am also guilty of choosing convenience over taking the time to learn the whole story and I’m guilty of getting my news from one source. I used to get most of the news from social media but now I get alerts on my phone fro new york times.
I liked how you talked about convenience. It is really complicated in today’s world, where the news is so readily accessible and you can pick to watch news that only reinforces your opinions, which exasperates our partisanship.