By Kyle Kern, Co-Editor in Chief
What ever happened to “you don’t judge a book by its cover”?
I am not talking about recent allegations of Hollywood elite or political scandals. I am talking about the public attention to issues that are raised in media reports. People know the title but never read the full story or follow up on the facts of the situation.
Humans are social beings, they like to get to know one another by our famous pastime. No, it is not baseball, but praise be to the Yankees (some of you already dislike me from saying that).
Our most famous pastime is gossiping. It is the main way we get our information, which stems from incomplete media that reaches our stimuli.
Do you remember where you were when the Boy Scouts of America announced they would allow girls into their program, being involved in the same camp outs, the same meeting locations, the same equipment and activities? Were you outraged or happy? Well, that story was false and entirely blown out of proportion by the gossip- ing majority of the nation and the misleading headlines.
The actual case was that the Boy Scouts of America had never talked to the Girl Scouts of America about the issue and the Girl Scouts program became enraged. The girls joining the Boy Scout program would be organized into their own troop, separate from the boys.
Everything besides the parent program would be separate. However, supporters and opponents of the integrated troops idea were intense. People on both sides were upset, yelling at each other on Facebook. The majority believed the first story instead of the actual plan.
We, as a population, thrive on gossip. It makes us outraged for no reason and the media often portrays the information in bad light. The media’s job is to be unbiased, no matter the topic or parties involved. I understand that it is hard to have enough journalists to get adequate story coverage, but this type of misdirection is unacceptable.
As a communication studies, public policy, and environmental studies triple major, I make sure my argument and discussion is entirely sound and truth- ful, while in a discussion. The headlines I use for my news articles showcase a general, but accurate, idea of what the article is about. The media’s job is to not provoke controversy by vague headlines or mismanaged journalism. The media’s job is to keep the world informed.
I do not need the personal view of the reporter or the views of the managing news agency or donators. I do not need to hear a meteorologist saying,” Are you not entertained?” I would like to be informed, rather than being entertained, thank you.