Manipulation
One of the videos we watched in my JOMC160 class talked about manipulation. Every story has some degree of manipulation At first glance, this seems like it’s endorsing biased coverage, I mean, isn’t that the kind of journalism we’ve all come to hate? The kind that makes us turn the channel and to try to forget about the talking heads that masquerade as news. But I’ve come to realize that there is no way to change manipulation. It is a constant. The same story coming from two different mouths will be different, hell, even from the same mouth 20 minutes later it might be different. I think it is worse to avoid this manipulation in journalism than if we just embraced it. We know there are different perspectives to most stories, but it just doesn’t make sense to be “balanced” by quoting a scientist who believes in global warming and a guy who thinks it’s a hoax from the backwoods. It isn’t fair; it’s deceptive to readers to present a problem as 50/50 when in reality it’s at least 90/10. Fairness is important, but facts are what we have to cling to. We don’t need the manipulation of facts to make something a juicier story with conflict. We need the kind of manipulation that shows the story of real people who can’t get married because of ass-backwards laws. We need the kind of manipulation that shows what it’s like to be homeless because the bank took everything. We need this stuff, because in our crazy, high-paced world, nobody is going to give a damn unless you make them care.
Today, we need to be prioritizing what we are saying. We, as journalists, need to go back to the days of investigative journalism when they spoke out against the bad and unjust. Nowadays, there seems to be a whole lot of speaking out, but against what? Can we even remember four hours later? If we are just talking or writing with no purpose other than ratings, no good will come of this effort.
The thing I loathe most about companies like Fox News is that they are fake. They pretend that what they are saying is breaking news all the time, when in fact, 23 hours of their 24 hour coverage is quasi-news and commentary. If they fessed up to that, and their viewers were aware that this is opinion, people would be less likely to believe every word coming from Sean Hannity’s lips (I’m looking at you Grandma). Having a broadcast isn’t enough to make you credible anymore. Every 14-year-old girl with internet connection has a blog and a YouTube channel. This doesn’t make her credible. In our day, it takes more for people to trust you.
We need to care. We need to be honest. We need to be people. We need to help. The Unitarian model of thinking says, “Do the greatest good for the greatest number.” We need to get back to that place. We need to tell that story.
