Journal Entry #6- If You Cant't Do The Time, Don't Do The Crime

I usually do not think very much about if what I am reading is true or not. The only time I think an article may not be true, or at least partly false is when it is to fake to believe. Now that I am thinking about it though, I am really curious about how many articles I read may contain fake facts. Journalists probably lie all the time to get a story finished on time, or to make a story more interesting. After all, a journalist will do anything to get an extra view or two. In my opinion I believe that I can trust any big name websites to be telling real news. I trust CTV, Vice and Sports Illustrated to name a few.

After reading these articles I am very surprised. I believe that the people who wrote these false lies should be punished and never allowed to work in journalism again. In both cases they told obscured lies to make a huge story out of something that shouldn't have been a big deal. Both cases are completely ridiculous and these people should be ashamed of themselves for what they have done. One of the rules of journalism is that you must always tell the truth in your story's, and this rule was obviously breached big time. The reporters should have realized that their was no way they could tell a lie to millions of people and get away with it. They deserve the bad publicity that they are getting now, after making others look so bad for no good reason.

Jack Shafer's quote says, "most liars make things up for the simple reason that they don't have the talent or the ability to get the story any other way." I agree with this quote, because if the journalists believed they had the ability to write a huge story, they would have never had to lie to hit the spotlight. The reporters must not believe in their ability's to write a good story if they have to lie. In my opinion I do not believe there is ever a good reason to lie as a journalist, because when you lie in a story, you are making people look bad and effecting peoples lives in a negative way. I do not understand how any reporter could do this and not feel badly afterwards.

I do believe that colleges and universities should prepare journalism students for the pressures they will experience in the real world. I do not really know how they can properly prepare them, but there must be something that can be done. I believe that there is probably a ton of pressure on reporters who work for big-time news outlets, and sometimes the pressure to have a big story may become to much for some people. When this happens they probably more often then not end up lying, but this is not something that should happen. there is no excuse for journalists lying, even when they are under immense pressure, but I guess we do not understand the pressure they are probably under as well.

I do believe that news ombudsman are probably very useful when issues of ethics rise. Their job is to look at complaints from readers about if the story is fair, or appropriate to be posted. If a story is full of lies or has anything else ethically wrong with it the ombudsman will see this and make a decision on the story and if it should be posted. The criticism that the ombudsman gives will help editors and journalists improve their papers and story's for the better, and this is definitely good news.

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