Responsible Journalism

What is responsible journalism? Well, a lot of folks have a lot of different views on the subject. If you do a google search for the term, you’ll get a bunch of articles talking about the ethics and responsibility of those reporting on events. But these are for the “real journalists” right? Surely, nobody expects bloggers and website article writers to be held to these same standards…Right? I think we should, I think anyone who sits down to pen out anything, including Op Eds should be holding themselves to those same ethics. Why are those ethics so important you might ask?

It allows readers and viewers the opportunity to see what the news organization’s thinking is when it comes to journalistic methodology. It guards against arbitrary decision-making, and it gives people a basis to complain if they feel the organization has overstepped its bounds. – J Source

Again though, it says “News Organization”, so you’d be forgiven for not expecting a tabloid or rag mag to adhere to these same standards. This is where we are ALL wrong and should no longer be allowing this damaging articles to gain the views that they are seeking.

Websites like TMZ, Perez Hilton and the like make a killing off the click bait headlines. responsible journalism goes right out the windows when you’re trying to generate clicks and views for your website. They feel that a credible source is anyone with a half baked story about some celebrity they may or may not have even come in contact with.

Non Responsible Journalism, How Damaging Is It Really?

We don’t often hear about the websites that are the worst offenders getting hammered with libel cases or the YouTubers being hit with slander or either hit with defamation lawsuits. so they must be telling the truth. Right? Wrong, most of the time these cases get settled quickly out of court or the website is forced to remove the story and print a retraction. But, why are these sites so popular?

We supposedly love the celebrities’ we see on tv and in movies, yet we as a society have grown to be an entitled and envious bunch of humans. When someone gets to the height of popularity, that’s when the collective of the populace turn on the famous people. We crave to see their downfall, especially if they dared open their mouths and express an opinion.

My article here, came about because I have been watching the Johnny Depp v Amber Heard trial nonstop for the 9 days it’s been going. I have my opinions on things and that is all they are…opinions. One thing that stuck out to me, near the end of Mr. Depp’s testimony via cross examination. Heard’s lawyer brought up all these articles written about him spiraling out of control and the rocky nature of their relationship. Every headline sounded like a copy paste of the one before it.

These articles were nothing more than slam pieces for page filling. They didn’t even get into the content of the articles in the court room, they simply went off the headlines to try and make Mr. Depp seems erratic and combative to the jury listening. Why would they do that? Surely if the content of the article were so damning, it too would be worth delving into in court to illustrate Amber Heard’s point that Johnny was abusive and violent.

Nobody Reads Beyond The Headline

Responsible journalism isn’t much of a thing anymore for that exact reason. People read a bite size headline and form opinions based of it without ever investigating the true meat and content within. Knowing that the jury is made up of average everyday people, Team Heard played into that and tried to tap the click bait crazy nature of our media consumptions.

How many times have you been on social media and seen people arguing who clearly didn’t read the item their arguing over? Better yet, how many time in real life have you heard someone arguing a point they clearly know nothing about? Our short attention spans are to blame. We complain if a movie is over 90 mins, we want the fastest solution possible whether it’s right or effective and we choose to consumer content that does take too much time to digest.

Just look at how links to articles give you things like “X min read”, yet we’ll binge watch 16 episodes of something, but not take more than 5 mins to read an article? We refuse to gather information before spouting our opinions. We feel we have to be the loudest and rightest person in the room or on the internet. That we’re somehow less than if we don’t voice and violently defend our opinions. Civility has all but evaporated from our culture, we’d rather cut someone than build a person up.

Just Stop It!

I always say that we are in control, our behaviors are what can be modified the fastest. If we stop paying attention to their tactics, then they’ll have to change to get the views and clicks they want. We need to not be so obsessed with the lives of the people we see on the big screen. We’re killing our heroes and employees of mediums we love. I often feel out of place in this world, nobody sees things the way I do or thinks the way I think. To a point where I feel alien within the confines of our current societal structure.

My wife has told me before that I come off as thinking I am better than everyone else, that isn’t the case at all as I believe nobody is better than anyone else. I just hold myself to a higher standard and espouse the wisdom that standard has provided me.

Sure I’d like to see a world that thinks like me, I feel a lot of our collective wounds would begin to mend if society thought like me. My feeling is, we’ve tried one way for so long and really haven’t gotten any where, what is really the worst that could happen if we took a decade of doing things differently.

What If?

What if we stopped buying what was advertised to us?
What if we stopped clicking on bullshit stories?
What if we stopped being so easily manipulated and really began to think for ourselves?
What if we decided tomorrow, that we weren’t gonna make our sports team, our political party, our religion or anything else we enjoy our whole personality?

It’s time to become a society not driven by lies and indoctrination, to break free of our greedy and materialistic driven ways. We need news, to be news. We do not need gossip, hearsay or out right blatant misinformation to dominate our timelines, TVs and other media consumptions.

Hold those reporting anything, accountable for the words they speak, write or otherwise choose.

It’s time for responsible journalism to make a comeback.