Formative Writing

Summary Thread

This week I evaluated Jack Hamilton, Kyla Dunlap, and Ashtyn Howell Howell. Jack's pronouns are he/him/his; Kyla's are she/her/her; and Ashtyn did not mention preferred pronouns. While I enjoyed reading all of their posts, Ashtyn's brought up an interesting point in her response to the the video "Think Like a Journalist." Ashtyn said that "misinformation in the media has created a lot of mistrust in the information that we get from the media. But the problem that the media is facing is self-inflicted as they don't have to allow such information to be passed through their platforms" (Ashtyn Howell Howell). While I concede that misinformation is eroding public trust in media outlets, I think that opinionated reporting with a marked ideological standpoint is causing even greater harm. Don't get me wrong, I love to hear Rachel Maddow's take on hot issues. But in the final analysis, journalists should never give their personal opinions on any story. They are charged with informing the public, not with persuading the public that there is a right and wrong point of view on the issues. Thus, I agree with Ashtyn, but I would take it a step further and say that allowing journalists platforms to voice ideological stances instead of merely reporting the news is doing the most harm. I don't own a television, and so I can unfortunately no longer watch the Rachel Maddow show. So I now get my news from the New York Times. Of course, the New York Times has a political stance. However, I find that print journalism seems to have less opinion and more just "what happened". It's probably because the editors of those reporters won't allow it in print, whereas once you land a prime-time show bearing your very name, you're free to do whatever you please. I definitely will be bringing up Ashtyn's point with those I know. It's interesting to think that the big-market media outlets have created a self-imposed crisis which they seem to be not even trying to turn around. Like I said, it's opinion on this channel, and opinion on that channel. I think journalism should always shoot for neutrality and objectivity.