Abusin the power of the ink

If it is on paper, a written document, then it has to be true. That is the common assumption. Whether it is an article in the newspaper or the fine print of some policy, the written word is taken very seriously and often at face value. However, sometimes writers abuse their power and kill the credibility that newspapers have tried so long to uphold. This is unfortunate because audiences believe what they read due to the very nature of a newspaper.

Newspapers are already on the path toward extinction because of all of the newer ways of sharing information. However, the power of the ink is still the most powerful tool anybody can possess today. Despite the recent decline of newspapers as the main source of information, print media still holds the most credibility because they have existed for so long. The abuse of this tool is unacceptable because it misleads people. Once readers find out they have been misled they think twice about trusting that newspaper again. Usually, when an individual has had a bad experience, that individual will try to avoid a recurrence of that experience.  It is the responsibility of the writer(s) to make sure that what is being printed is accurate and true. We, as journalists, are the last line of defense when it concerns informing the public of the events that can affect them the most. If people claiming to be journalists are the ones abusing this power, then the entire meaning of the First Amendment is negated by their breach of trust. Journalists are the ones people look to for making sense of all the events surrounding them.

So, all of the Bill O'Reilly's and Ann Coulter wanna-bes out there should stop claiming to be reporters and journalists and get it through their minds that they are not fooling anybody but themselves if they think their opinions are fact. And for those who are unfortunate enough to believe them, I hope you eventually find out how horribly misconstrued that so-called "fair and balanced" news is. Hopefully, this type of pseudo-journalism has not completely killed the perception of news reporting, or caused the public to mistrust the written news media, as well as news media as a whole.

There are plenty of news sources out there for readers to choose from. The readers should be able to trust those sources without a doubt. However, it is the responsibility of the reader to criticize anything they read to keep the journalists in check.