In this chapter of the textbook, it had focused on newspapers and the effects they have had on shaping this country. One part, in particular, had caught my eye though because it had covered yellow journalism and how it gave false info about the Spanish-American war and how “Both Hearst and Pulitzer filled their papers with huge front-page headlines and gave bloody—if sometimes inaccurate—accounts of the war.” (p. 138). This reminds me of the sensational, and clickbaity headlines of news sites in the current internet age. 

It has gotten so bad that people can’t trust the news anymore, for example, this year we are going through a terrible pandemic in the middle of an election year, so the chances of finding non-bias information on the issue are slim because of how politized it has become. One major talking point out of everything to come out of the pandemic is how effective are masks? Most people know that putting on a mask will help slow the spread of Covid-19 but due to the president of the U.S spreading false and dangerous information to his millions of followers, some nutjobs are still going out without a mask, knowing the consequences and ignoring then or not believing that the virus is real because they can’t trust the media. This is just the tip of the iceberg as there have been multiple incidences this year where the spread of false information has caused a divide in the country.

When the news first broke out about George Floyd, there were millions of articles uploaded about it, and with that came the clickbaity articles talking about previous criminal history and vilifying him to try and silence the angry mob wanting justice for his death. There were also news sources leaving out important details and gatekeeping information to their viewer base so they can make their twisted narrative of how it all went down. This isn’t at all the first time nor will it be the last time this happens in our current society but it is a very recent and modern example of how the news can manipulate its audience much like publications back in the early days of journalism. 

The current landscape of journalism is a lot different then what it says in the textbook, for example, when it says “ The online newspaper is, in reality, still trying to figure out what it is. Indeed, this is an uncomfortable position familiar to many online-only papers: trapped between the printed news world and the online world of blogs and unofficial websites.” (p.164) this statement does hold up now but now instead of trying to compete with print, they are trying to compete with social media and the bloggers that breaking the news seconds after it happens. (ie Shaun King, a left-wing activist that posts injustices daily to his Instagram and Twitter accounts). 

One question I would like to leave up to you (the reader) is where do you get your news from currently? This might be a simple question but I want you to think, who is it coming from, is this person (or publication) a reliable source, are they bias toward one part of the political spectrum? I usually get mine from twitter because it’s easier and more accessible for me.