|
|
Along Life’s Way
Spinning
the News
By Lois E. Wilson
The First Amendment to the Constitution grants the press freedom to
fairly present the news. At the end of the twentieth century and after
four years of intense dialogue, journalists developed a statement of
purpose and nine principles for those in the media field. The central
purpose identified is to provide citizens with accurate and reliable
information they need to function in a free society. Their nine
principles of journalism are listed below:
1. Journalism’s first obligation is to
the truth.
2. Its first loyalty is to citizens.
3. Its essence is discipline of
verification.
4. Its practitioners must maintain an
independence from those they cover.
5. It must serve as an independent
monitor of power.
6. It must provide a forum for public
criticism and compromise.
7. It must strive to make the
insignificant interesting and relevant.
8. It must keep the news comprehensive
and proportional.
9. Its practitioners must be allowed to
exercise their personal conscience. (a moral compass)
Since the election of President Trump, it has been apparent that much
of the media is suffering from TSD (Trump-matic Success Denial.) During
each news cycle, spin doctors diagnose a daily malady and hand out
prescriptions which they hope will divert their readers or listeners
from any factual positive news from the Trump administration. How do we
know these are manufactured prescriptions? We know because many
left-leaning media outlets use identical talking point phrases as they
report their “news” of the day. We don’t know the spin doctor managing
the reports. The germs of fake news are certainly spreading and
becoming an epidemic.
A recent example of spin was visible in the press coverage of the
President’s visit to the deployed troops abroad. He was criticized for
signing the MAGA hats of the troops and for posing for pictures with
military personnel. Some outlets claimed it was a “campaign event” and
“such pictures endangered the troops.” It’s apparent that if he had
refused to do either action, the media would have chastised him for
being aloof and insincere.
Since there may not be impeachable evidence against the President from
the Special Counselor’s report, the spin doctors are again diagnosing
his mental health stability. They threaten to invoke the 25th Amendment
to remove him from office.
Some media personnel have forsaken truth in news for stories that
should be on op-ed pages or TV opinion shows. They think they can
influence the masses. However, they are not in touch with the majority
of citizens. We do not want fiction and fantasy in our news; we want
facts and fairness.
If you are a spin doctor, try not to be a hypocrite. For the sake of
the freedoms we possess in our society, media practitioners should
adopt a paraphrase from the real doctors’ Hippocratic Oath: “First, do
no harm.”
|
|
|
<
|
