2 - Overcoming Mistrust of the Media - Sylvia C Kearney

Reference: Kelly Wilson, "High Anxiety," American Journalism Review, February/March 2008, http://www,ajr,org/article,asp?id=4478,

Liu, B., Horsley, J., & Yang, K. (2012). Overcoming Negative Media Coverage: Does Government Communication Matter? Journal Of Public Administration Research & Theory, 22(3), 597-621. Retrieved on October 11, 2013 from: http://ehis.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.uvu.edu/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=1ca5fd07-d640-477b-964d-776f0fea671b%40sessionmgr14&vid=3&hid=106

Weaver Journalist in the 21^st Century, Randal A. Beam, David H. Weaver, and Bonnie J. Brownlee; CfMC Quarterly Vol. 86, No. 2 Summer 2009 277-298 ®2009AEIMC  “CHANGES IN PROFESSIONALISM OF U.S. JOURNALISTS IN THE TURBULENT TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY”

Theme: Issues Exist in Communication and Mass Media, Especially With Legal and Ethical Considerations in Emergency Situations

Summary: The public often mistrusts what some news journalists are reporting about the government, for example, and reasonably so. A study revealed the following:

1)    “In 1994 Citizens trust in government plummeted to 17%, and again in 2008.” (Liu, Pew, et al., 2010)

2)    Government communicators have also been forced with more and more limitations on their freedom of speech, due to laws and regulations than the journalists in the private sectors. (Liu, Horsley, and Levenshus 2010).

3)    In 2002 major newspaper companies declined, by shedding many publications and over 2000 journalists lost their jobs. It was the new platform of journalists who needed to adjust to the Internet and create new content. Values changed, including professional practices, autonomies, ethical predispositions, etc. (Wilson, 2008).

4)    One part of journalists reported with a neutral, detached observation, whose main tasks were to pass along factual information to the public, where another part of journalists chose to interpret, explain and even advocate their own solutions to social or political problems. (Weaver, 2009)

5)    Case and point, in 2002 journalists were covering President Bush, as he began to build an invasion of Iraq, called Desert Storm. (Weaver, 2009)

6)    Then there came blogging, a practice that is now widespread. Most journalists prefer to write blogs for their organizations, which brings yet another different type of journalism to light. Instead of factual information, the public is more interested in finding solutions to society’s problems.

Application: Gathering factual information these days is more difficult if one only views one source of information. In order to receive all the details without opinions, we have to rely on our own intelligence and view more than three news sources, including those from different countries. Only then, can we gather the real truth. Only then, can we make up our own opinion and follow our God given free will. The same exists in offering information in EMS. I believe that the information has to be factual, timely and without personal opinions.