By Nick Forbes Asst. sports editor
While skimming Twitter headlines in search of a topic for my editorial this week, a tweet caught my eye: “Open-carry activists release full video of police station incident.” I decided to see what was behind the story.
Two Michigan men, having been pulled over earlier that day, decided to go to the police station to file a complaint. Why were they pulled over? They were reported as suspicious persons due to their ski masks, ballistic vests and loaded guns. Suspicious? Yes, but not illegal in Michigan, which does not have a law prohibiting the carrying of such weapons.
The men then decided they would film their visit to the police station to see how their open-carry privileges would be respected. Strapped up with an assault rifle and multiple handguns, these brave warriors of justice marched into the Dearborn Police Station, ski masks, ballistic vests and all.
Within seconds of walking through the front door, a cacophony of shouts erupted, and the men were surrounded by dozens of officers with their weapons drawn. The five-minute long video details the tense moments that ensued, as the men refused to put their weapons down and were taken down by police.
The thing that bothered me from the get-go was how the video was prefaced. While the men approached the station’s doors in the video, text appeared saying, “Keep in mind, I am a journalist gathering content for a story.” Who would take whatever journalism this guy is doing seriously? While I know the social media comments section tends to bring out the worst in people, I was shocked by how many people considered this legitimate journalism.
This example is just a microcosm of how over-saturated consumers of news are in the modern day. And now, with so much of this “fake news” populating the internet, consumers often just follow whatever sources align with their pre-existing views, and in turn, the sources continue to give the consumer what they want, regardless of validity.
As consumers of news, we must be more careful than ever in deciding where we get our information. But how can one differentiate between legitimate news articles and the libelous ones that are strewn across the internet?
Facebook will introduce a new flagging system for articles. If a user reads a piece they think is not factual, they can flag the article, which is then reviewed by a group of Facebook-approved fact checkers. If the article is found to be untrue, it is marked, citing the information that isn’t factual, and users are directed to an article that is more factual.
Journalism is more important than ever, and as journalists, the responsibility is on us to make sure the quality of news take precedence over the quantity.
The editorials of The Quill reflect the views of individual members of the editorial board. They do not necessarily reflect the views of the entire editorial board or of the university. The content of the Forum page is the responsibility of the editor in chief and the Forum editor.
