Question of the Week: Do You Trust Journalists Or The Media?

This image was released by the Bachmann Campaign Saturday night highlighting what they state is media bias. (used with permission of The Bachmann Campaign)

Editors Note: The views and opinions expressed in this editorial are not necessarily the views or opinions of Osky News.

Oskaloosa, Iowa – Every morning millions of Americans start their day by opening up the local paper, flipping open the lid on their laptop, or with the click of the remote turn on one of the many 24 hour news channels dishing up the latest news.

Trust in your news. Many families, mine included, had a brand loyalty to a news organization, many times because it was the news your parents had watched, or you thought their set was nicest, or the print was easier to read, or the layout was more pleasing.

Americans rely upon the media to feed them the truth about the world around them, and the people in it. Media and journalists are those that stand in the gap many times to inform the public about the government and those whom we elect or hire to manage its’ needs.

But what happens when journalists and worse yet, the companies that own them, become biased in their reporting, or bow to the pressure of government or corporations in order to maintain a good standing with those people whom they depend upon nearly every day for news and information?

As I was recently speaking with a local politician, their comment to me was, “the problem is what don’t get reported.” This includes portions of interviews, or entire events.

A recent example of this happened when French President Sarkozy and President Obama were overheard talking about the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Now this was a private conversation between two people, but it was spoken in a place where it could be heard, but the journalists there agreed among themselves to keep it under wraps because they believed they had come across the information in a way that wasn’t fair.

A small French website analyzed the coverage of the G20 summit, and released the conversation to the world. The debate will continue if the media was right or not, but a concerning part would be journalists themselves deciding as a whole not to release the information.

Just this weekend, The Bachmann Campaign manager released an image of an email they state shows manipulation of Republican debates by suppression. In the email, staff from CBS stated they were doing it because “she’s nearly off the charts in the hopes that we can get someone else.”

CBS has sent out responses to the email stating the amount of questioning was based upon Bachmann’s current standing in the polls.

This claim has been a talking point as well by the Ron Paul camp. I actually wrote a piece about this shortly after the Iowa Straw Poll where Paul had come in a second to Michele Bachmann. I wrote this at the time: “So, with the media now playing Perry as their darling, one might think that after they remember on occasion that Bachmann is still around, and that ummmm Ron Paul very nearly beat her at the Ames Straw Poll.”

What happens is a break down in the trust the people have towards the media, seeing them as puppets of the politicians, corporations, or those in power.

This problem exists even in Iowa. A recent Iowa Appellate Court decision ruled in favor of a high school teacher who had been reprimanded by his principle for content in that school’s newspaper. The ruling established freedom of speech for high school students and the teachers.

But lets be fair to journalists and media organizations. We speak of freedom of the press, and the ability of the press to bring you news, but it has it’s challenges.

America ranks as 17th in the world for freedom of the press, according to News Online. The United States ranks below Costa Rica and Switzerland and just ahead of Hong Kong on this list.

They cite the reason for the ranking because of the amount of journalists who are jailed because they won’t reveal sources in court, or those that find themselves being locked up when they cross security lines.

According to the Society of Professional Journalists and their code of ethics, “Journalists should be honest, fair and courageous in gathering, reporting and interpreting information.”

Freedom of the press and demanding that the press report fairly are very important to our society. Journalists, in my opinion, have gotten away from presenting what a person says, and altering what people say to accomplish their mission or agenda. That is one reason why we do our best to provide quotes as whole sentences. We believe that while it may be boring, it will help in proving what the speaker truly intended to say.

In that spirit of attempting to bring you the news, we will continue to bring you the news to the best of our ability here, and we encourage you to tell us where you believe we are wrong. Email us at info@oskynews.org with your concerns.

[poll id=”151″]