Journalism

While I haven't had any direct experience with journalism, I am affected by it just like everyone else. What we see online, on television, and in the news papers always has an effect on us even if we don't immediately realize it. I think it should be standard practice that the goal of all journalists is to report as accurately as possible without any particular slant. Journalism should be subjective, not objective, and people should be allowed to come to their own conclusions without being directly told what to think or how to feel. I feel that outlets such as Fox News are far too slanted to be taken seriously. I've watched Fox News before and it's almost painfully obvious that they are biased towards the political right. This slant that they have prevents them from reporting accurately since they have become famous for sensationalist and biased pieces. Fox News is just the most well known and main stream outlet. Other organizations such as the Daily Wire, Info Wars, and Breitbart are even worse. They obviously peddle conspiracy theories which I think is quite damaging to society. Now, that's not to say that there aren't journalistic outlets that are biased to the left, there absolutely are. MSNBC has an obvious slant, and Occupy Democrats is painfully biased. While many on the right constantly complain that mainstream media is slanted to the left, they fail to recognize that there are plenty of right leaning outlets that they are more than able to get their news from. In my opinion, one should always do their own homework after seeing stories, to find out for themselves whether the piece is honest and factual or not. Too many people take news they see at face value and don't question it. In this day and age, it's easier than ever to fact check stories, we have that ability in the palm of our hands so there's honestly no excuse. People who share obviously slanted pieces aren't doing anyone any favors and are actually doing more harm than good in my opinion. Recently, I've tried to make an effort to get some news from right leaning sources, mainly so I can get a feel of what they think and how they see the world. While it's been irritating at times, it has been helpful for giving me some perspective outside of my own world view. Journalists in general should view their job as a sacred responsibility to their audiences to provide them with pieces that are as truthful and unbiased as possible, and unfortunately, many outlets fail in that aspect. Over all, don' take what you see at face value. Do your own research and always be skeptical when you see sensationalist headlines.