Running Head: A LOOK AT JOURNALISM

A Look at Journalism and Its Impact on Society

Jenna Benson

Snow College
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A Look at Journalism and Its Impact on Society

From photojournalism and documentaries to hard, 24-hour news, journalism is a medium

that comes in a variety of forms. Each of these forms, in one way or another, invades our daily

lives, fulfilling our curiosities about what is happening in the world around us (Niblock, 2012).

Journalism has been around for centuries, but in the past several decades, journalism has changed

immensely with regards to both the way it is consumed and what is being consumed. What began

as a medium that spread important information to the public and kept powerful people in line,

has been given a new face by recent technological advances that society has adopted, like the

internet and social media (Crichton, Christel, Shidham, Vaiderrama, & Karmel, 2010). In this

paper, I will discuss not only how journalism affects the public, but also how and why people

trust the medium, and how this trust, or mistrust, affects society as a whole.

The news is a highly influential type of media, as it is where most people source their

political, social, and world views. The news has the power to shape whole communities, nations,

and even the world, so it is fair to question why people choose to tune into specific news and

journalism resources, and why they choose to believe what they believe. A reasonable answer to

these questions delves into psychology and something called confirmation bias. Confirmation

bias is the psychological concept that people will tend to unconsciously seek information that fits

their pre-existing viewpoints (Nickerson, 1998). According to Raymond Nickerson (1998) of

Tufts University:

People tend to associate, on a long-term basis, with people who think more or less as

they do on matters important to them; they read authors with whom they tend to agree,

listen to news commentators who interpret current events in a way that they like, and so
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on (p. 199).

Confirmation bias is definitely a likely candidate to explain why people choose to trust certain

sources of journalism, but it might just be part of a bigger explanation to these questions.

Is it possible that there are news sources that are just good at fooling people? Are there

news sources that have a knack for reeling people in? It’s important to note what the ethics code

of journalism is. As stated by Catherine Gyldensted (2011), the code is as follows:

Seek truth and report it.

Minimize harm.

Act independently.

Be accountable (p. 3).

Perhaps, though, many journalists are not living up to this ethics code. Many believe that we now

live in what is called a “post-truth society” – a time in which much of our news and journalism is

filled with agenda-promoting lies and misinformation. Traditional media at the moment seems to

be widely distrusted by the public, thus many people have resorted to more independent

resources or social media for their news (Martin, 2017). According to Martin (2017),

In the midst of growing distrust of traditional news sources, the balance of power

between news media and the audience has been altered, with a power shift from ‘journalist as

gatekeeper’ to the citizen as editor . Due to the 24/7 news cycle, news is immediate; with

information consumers (users) at the heart of content delivery. Users can generate their own

content…and upload it to social media channels, controlling what content they want to view and

when they want to view it (p. 43).

These phenomena not only seem to affect individuals, but society as a whole. I do not think

society has trouble deciding what is true, but deciding what is true to them. This appears to be

because of journalism’s extreme and relatively new changes in appearance and act due to social

media and internet sharing and transition (Crichton, 2010).

While some may choose to trust what they read in a newspaper or see on the television

because of pure ignorance, preconceived beliefs, or confirmation bias (Nickerson, 1998), there is

certainly a case to make that the immense changes to journalism absorption are what have forced

the public to be more selective about media. An inability to identify entertainment versus news

has led to people giving up on the news altogether (Martin, 2017). Despite this, news was and

still is a way for people to distinguish the truth in the world around them. It is a way to keep

politicians and powerful people in check, and for individuals to keep up with their community

and communities all over the world (Niblock, 2012). Journalism appears to be a strong part of

many communities, binding together locals and giving them a chance to understand worlds that

are far away. While journalism has its shortcomings and its disinformation, the code of ethics

will always ring true for some people and therefore, it is reasonably one of our worst and best

sources of discovering truth in society.

Surges of technological innovation and reformation in the past decades have made an

enormous impression on the medium of journalism. Current generations have grown up with

their news on television, computer, and mobile phone screens rather than on outdated, grey

newspapers. News has been incomparably easier to share, as it can be done with the click of a

button and it can be shared with virtually anyone anywhere on Earth. But, as the ways by which

journalism is presented have changed drastically, journalism itself is still a blooming business.

This seems to be one of the biggest accomplishments of journalism in this generation – the fact
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that it has switched the way it looks without sacrificing its success as other mediums (like radio

and newspapers) have done in the past. It redefined efficiency and transitioned from inefficient

to efficient (Crichton et al., 2010). According to authors Crichton, Christel, Shidham,

Vaiderrama, and Karmel (2010) of Stanford University:

Over the past decade, newspapers, once the pillars of journalism, have been losing

readership and revenue…This decline does not, however, mark the end of news and

journalism…Journalism as a whole still remains relevant and necessary for the masses,

but it is also an industry that is now open to change and dramatic shifts in power and

influence.

All of these changes have heavily affected the political views that people have fashioned

not just about journalism, but the entirety of civilization as a whole. The political climate in the

United States is incredibly polarized and jagged, riddled with controversy and, often, the

inability to see eye to eye. Journalism has played a large role in building this dichotomy. This

climate has been formed either by the complete mistrust of all news sources or the over-trust in

traditionally liberal or conservative sources. It is easy to see that during times of political frenzy

and controversy, journalists have taken advantage of the United States’ political climate to

receive more clicks, more views, and, thus, more revenue. The desire to make money off of news

has led to the spreading of shocking and, more importantly, untrue information (Martin, 2017).

In addition, people’s views about ethics have been shaped (or misshapen) by journalism.

Individuals are able to recognize that many news sources have motives other than their ethics

code and the desire to share news with their community. This ability of some to be able to read
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the news is typically what has led to a general disappointment in journalists and their reports, but

Martin (2017) writes:

Given that we are often bypassing traditional media outlets due to the changes in the

news milieu it is imperative for information consumers to transform themselves into critical

thinkers…It is in our best interests to invest heavily in…emphasis on lifelong, continual

learning. If this occurs, we will discover how to become scientists ourselves, and embody a

‘sceptical way of knowing’ (p. 51).

In the end, journalism is a complex subject, as it is a medium that affects our lives on a

daily basis and provides the public with information that often shapes their entire world

viewpoints and political-social opinions. Determining whether or not a news resource is

trustworthy is entirely up to the individual, although that decision could be impeded my

confirmation bias or the overall distrust, and therefore pickiness, when it comes to journalists and

what they report on. Society as a whole seems to face these issues when it comes to analyzing

journalism, but society’s skepticism is not necessarily a bad thing. Journalism is not necessarily

all negative either, as there are many sources and journalists out there who continue to follow

traditional codes of ethics that they were meant to follow. Though media has changed largely in

such a minimal amount of time, it remains and always will remain, a gargantuan influence on

society and its people. Its impact on the public’s political, social, and ethical viewpoints is

visible, as journalism as a medium has paved many of the United States’ climates. Journalism is

a completely viable form of media. Even though some may have trouble distinguishing

journalists’ truths and mistruths, and although it is a medium that is widely distrusted, the fabrics

of society have been built upon journalism, so it is here to stay.

References

Crichton D., Christel B., Shidham A., Vaiderrama A., & Karmel J. (2010).

Journalism in the Digital Age. Retrieved from https://cs.stanford.edu/people/eroberts/

cs181/projects/2010-11/Journalism/index.html

Gyldensted C. (2011). Innovating News Journalism through Positive Psychology. Retrieved

from: http://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1024&context=mapp_

capstone

Martin, N. (2017). Journalism, the pressures of verification and notions of post-truth in civil

society. Cosmopolitan Civil Societies: An Interdisciplinary Journal, (2), 41.

Niblock, S. (2012). Journalism : A Beginner's Guide. [Oxford]: Oneworld Publications.

Nickerson R. S. (1998). Review of General Psychology. Confirmation Bias: A Ubiquitous

Phenomenon in Many Guises, 2(2). Retrieved from http://psy2.ucsd.edu/~mckenzie/

nickersonConfirmationBias.pdf