Uniformed or simply misinformed???

Famous Author Mark Twain (“Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”) once wrote "If you don't read the newspaper, you are uninformed; if you do read the newspaper, you are misinformed." But to what extent is this true? Since absolute truth has been rejected, how are we to know who's truth is valid? Are we really just victims of PR piracy or post modern casualties???

This week’s reading “Truth or Dare” by Tapsell and Varley (2001) states “Truth is central to the process and practice of journalism...But what is truth? And how important is it?” Even more importantly, they raise the idea of a “journalist’s truth” that is, A truth, and consider the effect this has on reporting practices. Modern society embraces relative truth...However as budding journos, does this mean we ought to present 'the' truth, or 'a' truth that our chief of staff decides upon? Oh the pressures of being a journalist!!!!!

I thought it would be quite interesting to research into the history of objective journalism. Freelance Journalist Naomi Rockler-Gladen, “most people don't realize that objective journalism is really just a style of writing. Before the 20th century, unbiased news was not the norm in most newspapers. Newspapers would have a specific bias that everyone was aware of, and news stories openly reflected the paper's bias. The language used in newspaper articles was much more descriptive and emotional than it was today.” Objective journalism became more popular in the late 19th century, and has become the accepted procedure or norm of journalism today. That explains it! This is why objective news stories are written using the inverted pyramid. No wonder we've had this idea drilled into our minds since first year.

The website “Honest Reporting” lists 7 important principles of media objectivity. They are merely a guide for journalists to follow when writing stories, however also act as a educational resource for readers, listeners and viewers to help interpret a story and gain its truth. The website applies these principles to a case study on the Israeli war which I found quite relevant. A contributing author to the website, Rabbi Simmons says “since the outbreak of violence in the Middle East, much concern has been raised about media bias and the manipulation of media to influence public opinion.” I agree with Sharon Tickle and believe it’s important to consider the pressures on journalists to work between these two extremes, but also reality. If we haven’t yet realised, we soon will...Journalists work within a “reality of time pressures, market forces, law work culture and practices, human frailty and the journalists own experiences”. But in this reality, whose or what truth are we actually trying to maintain???

So how can readers discern the truth between the lines? Listed here are common methods employed by the media -- intentionally or not -- to influence public opinion. By being aware of these methods, he states, the audience can avoid becoming a pawn in the media war. Click on the link below to check these out!

With reference again to this week’s reading, Sharon Tickle states the “skeptical public’s perception of journalistic practise, exemplified by the old chestnut, ‘Don’t let the facts get in the way of a good story’ is far from the benchmark Australian journalism has set for itself.

 http://www.honestreporting.com/a/media_objectivity.asp.