“The media has an obligation to always tell the truth. ” Do you agree? Martin Luther once said, “Peace if possible, truth at all costs. ” Before we attempt to answer whether the media has an obligation to always tell the truth, we need to first make clear the definitions of media and always in the context of this question. The media refers to all types of media regardless of whether it is print media, news on the radio or television media. It however excludes gossip tabloids and the likes since such forms of reading materials serves the sole purpose of entertainment.
Social media is not included since it is rather extensive and the boundaries are rather fuzzy and unclear. Rephrasing the question for clarity, the media has the duty to tell the truth at all times regardless of the events presented, extenuating circumstances or even for the sake of commercial profits. I agree with this statement based on the idea that the media is the main source of information for common people on the streets and if the media does not strive to always tell the truth, media loses its appeal and value to the people. Moreover, if the truth is not told by the media, this can lead to disastrous consequences.
Media plays an important role in the education of children and teenagers and updates them on the events that occur worldwide. Media is the main source of information for the people on the streets and this is the case regardless whether it is print media, news on the television or radio. Newspapers, radio broadcasts and television news programmes provide citizens with updates on the happenings around them and also worldwide. Therefore, it is easy to see that the media plays an essential role in the lives of people since news about one’s surroundings and the world is garnered from the media which is available to us.
The Essay on How does Mass Media affect people in society?
So far, there’re various media for people to choose and access the information such as television, radio, Internet, or even mobile phone, consequently, media have a full capacity to set a social subject for mass audience to think and talk about. Often, media do not deliberately set the agenda and determine the pros and cons of that particular issue, so it repeatedly causes bad consequences ...
Much information ranging from news in the fields of sports to economy to science are presented in the media on a day-to day basis and these information enrich our lives and allow us to understand the world we live in better and to gain more insights globally as well. For example, Straits Times has high readership and there were 1. 35 million readers in 2011 alone. The many components of Straits Times such as the Home section which provides local news and the World Section which provides global news allow readers to grasp what is happening around them as well as globally and keep them up to date with the current situations and events.
Therefore, the importance of media cannot be overlooked and if the media does not strive to always tell the truth, value of media depreciates with regards to the viewers since viewers rely on media to provide them with truthful and honest reporting. Only through truthful and accurate reporting can media viewers obtain useful knowledge about current affairs and broaden their horizons and scope of knowledge. It is up to the media to repay their viewer’s faith in them to report the truth or to at least try their upmost to report on the truth so that media consumers can continue to update themselves on the happenings locally and around the world.
Secondly, media must always tell the truth because the media plays a large role in relations, especially relations between the public and the government and relations between races and religions. Not telling the truth can lead to disastrous consequences and misunderstandings especially misunderstandings between races and religions. When incidents and events of fragile nature are concerned, the media has to ensure that it steps delicately about such issues and not exaggerate or even distort the truth since doing so will lead to disastrous and catastrophic consequences.
In this case, the media has an obligation to tell the truth since it is relied upon to relay accurate information to the public. If false news is conveyed to the public, this can be very detrimental to the existing relations involved in the news being reported. For example, USA has been fighting a political civil war in Iraq but US media fell into the trap of toeing either a pro or anti-war line. Due to the fragile nature of the war, US media has found it hard to convey the full and complete picture of the war in Iraq.
The Essay on The Truth of War
War is a crucial topic that is covered in America. It is significant to many people because they value the importance that there is to serving the country and fighting for justice. People tend to think that it’s an honor and glory to fight for our country, but in reality what they don’t know is that war is draining and horrible. We see different views about war that in reality we don’t know the ...
Portraying a negative picture of the war will result in growing discontent of American citizens with the US government while an overly positive portrayal will result in conflicts and disharmony between the American and Iraqi government. Therefore, we know that it is important for the media to present the truth in order to ensure that relations between countries, religions, races etc. are not compromised as a result especially when we are talking about delicate situations and events. Thirdly, the media is widely used in education especially in the humanities and character education.
The media has the obligation to seek for the truth in order not to compromise the education of the young ones. Deeper understanding of a subject is also achieved with the help of media especially news found in newspapers and on television. It is paramount that the truth is presented to these youths for the information presented to them can end up shaping their mind-sets and changing their views of the world. As teenagers and kids are young and often gullible, they easily take in and accept whatever knowledge that is offered to them.
As a result, false or distorted news can be detrimental to their learning since they might be a negative influence to them and result in misconceptions. We do not want them to develop with incorrect knowledge nor warped attitudes as a result of the inaccurate and exaggerated news available in the media. For instance, the lead story on the front page of the business sections of the Rocky Mountain News and The Denver Post proclaimed that gasoline prices in Colorado were now at an all-time “record” high. Nationally, the average price of a gallon of gasoline is $1.
80. That is a record high in nominal dollars. But once you take inflation into account, the picture is entirely different. For example, in 1918 a gallon of gas cost 25 cents. Because of inflation, 8 cents of purchasing power in 1918 is equivalent to a dollar’s worth of purchasing power in 2002. So the same gallon of gas that cost 25 cents in “1918 dollars” would cost about $3 in “2002 dollars. ” Therefore, it is easy to see how exaggeration and false information found in the media can lead to misconceptions in students.
The Term Paper on Media Truth And Culture As In Jfk Report And Eternal Frame
Media, truth and culture as in JFK, Report and Eternal Frame America has enjoyed works of many talented movie directors. Oliver Stones JFK, Report by Bruce Conner and The Eternal Frame by T.R. Uthco and Ant Farm are all powerful movies because of their unique presentation of media, truth and culture in America as in connection with John Kennedys death. The main point of JFK seems to be that ...
Some may argue that it is not obligatory for the media to always tell the truth since the media is now driven by profit-making and this is often achieved by creating sensational and attention grabbing news at the price of exaggerating or distorting the truth behind the news stories. This is true with the advent of social media which has made news much more accessible and interesting. In order to compete with the likes of twitter and Facebook, it does seem justifiable for the news media not to tell the truth in order to capture the attention of the younger generation.
However, the main purpose of the media is to convey reliable news to the public to update them about current affairs and only through reporting on the truth can the media achieve this. Moreover, continuous distortion of the truth will drive away readers and viewers and this does not help media to achieve more profits. In conclusion, the media has an obligation to tell the truth at all times since the main purpose of the media is to provide reliable and trustworthy information and updates to the public.
Moreover, telling the truth might not always be beneficial but it should still be done all the time because it is the moral obligation of the media to provide truthful information for its viewers and readers because they placed faith in the media to always tell the truth. Additionally, education, relations between countries and religions etc. are also affected by whether the media tells the truth. Hence, to end off, the media should always tell the truth regardless of any circumstances as it is their promise and responsibility to their viewers.
