Below is title and ideas for the paper…teacher has asked for 1st draft with proofreading marks on the paper…MLA format 3-4 pages minimum
“Integrity in Journalism”

What ever happened to responsible journalism?

The power of journalism

Accuracy in journalism is important to help an informed public make decisions.
Accurate and honest information is crucial to the quality of decisions made by the public.

Many people vote based on what the media conveys to them about the candidates. People decide crucial ethical issues from information they read about in newspapers, and live their lives according to what they believe as reported by journalists.

News media do not often report everything they know
News media select information to disregard
News media can present information that is simply false
News media bias should be kept to a minimum.
Poor material, as well as the responsible material, can impact society as a whole.
For example; facts left out, twisted, or discarded altogether.

News media and journalist must do their best to check and confirm, with several and reliable sources, all facts and information in the articles they publish.
They must be accountable to their readers, listeners, viewers, and each other.
News media and journalist are responsible to test the accuracy of information from all sources and exercise care to avoid inadvertent error.
The task of reporting the news can be a demanding one.
Journalism is a job like any other, but reporters must be aware of the impact that their words have on the world.
A journalist and news media credibility can me seriously damaged.

A single mistake is enough to destroy it (credibility).
Once lost, it’s almost impossible to have it back.
Distrust of the media increases with time.
If a media’s reputation can be damaged by not presenting all the information and it can take time and a different news environment to regain that respect.
When journalists do not report responsibly, they take the focus off the more important issues in society.

Reasons for inaccurate reporting sometimes are because of extremely competitive environment.
News media tries to find the most explosive angle of the story.
News media has deadlines to meet.
News media finds themselves in an environment of competition between themselves.

Yet one solution to the issue of credibility in journalism is for journalists to step back from the situations they are reporting and report only the truth. While some would claim that this solution is inefficient because people will not do it, they miss the point. We must use any means necessary to correct rampant flaws in the integrity of journalism.

We as a society should take it upon ourselves to search for truth. Just because a news outlet reports it does not make it true. We must stop mindlessly believing the things we hear and read, and we must investigate situations ourselves. The issue of character and integrity in journalism is huge. Irresponsible reporting abuses our privilege of freedom of the press. As a society, we must learn to honor and uphold truth at any cost.

The impact of social media is having a big impact in the way we disseminate information. Just as the journalists have a duty to fact check and report the truth with proof of evidence, we too as social media users must do the same. We have a responsibility to never rush to judgement but fact check and do our due diligence before disseminating information to ensure credibility within our own community. This is a great reminder to us all on the power of social media but how we use that power is what will ultimately help us a trusted community around our own network.

It is time for a return to integrity in journalism, a return to the simple, foundational purpose for reporting: truth.