This week’s theme was journalists and trust in the media. One of the most predominant messages was that when someone attacks them is that they need to speak up and defend themselves and not wait for someone else to defend them. By waiting for someone else to defend them, then it can make seem less trustable. Most attacks that happen tend to come from the conservative side of politics as we see with U.S. President Trump. However, this is not a new phenomena as these attacks began in the Nixon era (Pingree et al, 2018). Therefore by waiting for someone to speak up and defend them, there is a chance that that person could be from a more liberal political party making the journalist seem biased against conservatives.
Another predominate theme was fact-checking. It is important that journalists ensure what they are saying is factual. One way to do this is by fact-checking. However, that can be a little more difficult with the rise of social media considering information is being spread so much more quickly than it used to be. Meaning that a journalist could report on something that at the time was factual but five minutes after they posted the article new information could come up making it less factual. In a matter of minutes, what was once true is now not. Therefore it is important for journalists to fact-check themselves and to update articles if new information is released.
As for following theUnited Nations At Geneva social media. I have decided to stay with their Facebook for this week. Mainly because they tend to post more up to date information about current events there. One thing they do is share the live streams of the World Health Organization press briefings when they happen. This is one way to ensure that they are keeping people updated with the most relevant information available. They also still release the fact-checks when it comes to misinformation about COVID-19. Making an impact on the lessening the impact of misinformation that is spread about the virus.
Something else I noticed before completing this post. Is about an hour ago they posted something that called out the United States and their response to COVID-19. This is the first time I have seen or heard of them calling out the United States, one of the security council members. To me, this is bold as in past research I note that the United Nations is very unlikely to say or do something directly about the affairs of the United States, especially when it comes to domestic issues. I’ve linked the post here:https://www.facebook.com/UN.Geneva/photos/a.175840892461722/2916916811687436/?type=3&theater. I wonder if Trump will say anything about it since anything negative about his response to anything is a direct insult to him. Maybe they’ll actually trend in the U.S. because of this. Maybe it will have more implications towards the United States and their standing in the international order. I’m hopeful but when looking at this realistically, it most likely won’t have any effect.
Citation for first paragraph below.
Pingree RJ, Watson B, Sui M, Searles K, Kalmoe NP, et al. (2018) Checking facts and fighting back: Why journalists should defend their profession. PLOS ONE 13(12): e0208600. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0208600
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