“No democracy has existed in the modern world without the existence of a FREE PRESS.” Newspapers, specifically journalism has to be the foundation Of the United States, this form of media can enforce law, justice and create a nation. In 1733, John Peter Zenger publication his first copy of the New York Weekly Journal, which he was accused of libel and went to trial to ensure the court that the information printed about the defendant was public. Of course, this trial turn heads, as it showed that “truth is the best defense against liable.” Later this trial influenced the Freedom of the Press and was added as the First Amendment in the Bill of Rights. Consequently, providing newspaper outlets with credibility we see today.

In week 2, on Newspapers, we tackled the reliability journalism has on the circulation of media. And how journalism’s credibility can impact people’s minds. Based on the newspaper’s history of being unbiased and providing factual information in the years, this notion has fallen short.

With the United States’ undergoing a political frenzy with the campaigning of Donald Trump and Joe Biden, I couldn’t help to wonder how media ensure “fakes news” was demolished. 

Leading toward this election, many concerns were in the air if a similar incident occurred with the 2020 election, which happened in the 2016 election. In 2016, Russia took over Facebook and created target groups to persuade and fire up Trump supporters. In that demonstration, Russia interfered with the ballots and allegation that were published in American media outlets. 

As 2020 voters prepared for this election again, during this vulnerable time for America, “fake news” can still travel faster than the truth.  

Throughout our Former President Trump’s term in the White House, he called out media coverage as he sought to destroy media outlets that oppose to shine him in bright light. However, while that may not be how the world work, it did shine a light on how credible journalism is to the nation. This form of journalism is supposed to provide sourced-information on worldly situations— which gave citizens the decision to choose their sides or viewpoints on the given data. However, over the years, these creditable sources such as Washington Post, NYTimes, local Terbunes have become diluted to laziness and uncited text.

“Newspapers have control over which stories are told and how those stories are presented. Just as the newspaper industry has changed dramatically over the years, journalistic writing styles have been transformed. Many times, such changes mirrored a trend shift in readership; since the 1950s, however, newspapers have had to compete with television journalism and, more recently, the Internet. Both television and the Internet have profoundly affected newspaper audiences and journalistic styles.” (157)

On recent news, The News York Post’s published an article a few weeks before the election. As stated by the NY Times, “The article relied on documents purportedly taken from the hard drive to suggest that the elder Mr. Biden, as vice president, had directed American foreign policy in Ukraine to benefit his son, a former board member of Burisma Holdings, a Ukrainian energy company.” However knowledge of this alleged harddrive flew around social media as because NY Times was known to be creditable only a few questions it. Making this “fake news” a factor that could stagger Joe Biden’s campaign. Nonetheless, “The story was vetted, and The Post stands by its reporting,” a Post spokeswoman said in a statement; but left a terrible taste in the NYTimes mouth. 

This, however, has led to a monopoly effect of the world carry a lie faster than the truth. For instance, podcasts, Facebook groups, and other news outlet have gaslight this story, which causes founders of platforms such as Youtube, Twitter, Facebook, and Yahoo to block this misformation before it “ignited a different kind of firestorm.” 

The problem with many of these articles and headlines is that “only a small percentage of false headlines ever get checked and marked: Fact-checking is a painstaking, time-consuming process, whereas troll farms and internet bots can create and distribute misinformation with alarming speed.” (NY Times). However, This is a problem as traditional media has to ensure their headline are credible because readers most likely wouldn’t ensure what they are reading. Of course, while the Joe Biden incident may have reduced the confidence in all news outlets, hopefully, this encourages readers to engage more with critical thinking. If readers can effectively identify sources of misinformation, many incidents that have occurred wouldn’t have happened. 

The obvious conclusion drawn from my evidence against “fake news” and the newspaper’s credibility is that it is essential to search for evidence-based proof. The US is a vulnerable time for media outlets, and mistrusted information can cloud our minds. Research has shown how misinformation is most likely lacking fact-checking, and this information is then sourced, which creates a pipeline of lies. It is more effective to take charge of what we consume and become our independent researchers to ensure reading isn’t fake news.

Work Cited

Pennycook, G., & Rand, D. (2020, March 24). The Right Way to Fight Fake News. Retrieved November 09, 2020, from https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/24/opinion/fake-news-social-media.html

Robertson, K. (2020, October 18). New York Post Published Hunter Biden Report Amid Newsroom Doubts. Retrieved November 09, 2020, from https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/18/business/media/new-york-post-hunter-biden.html

The Trial of John Peter Zenger. (n.d.). Retrieved November 09, 2020, from https://www.ushistory.org/US/7c.asp

Understanding Media and Culture