It is a common thing we all share all over the world, which is starting our day with the news. We might not be imparting so much importance to what we consume in the form of news, yet it influences our whole day somehow or the other.
A person going through negative news will definitely not have the best of days, and that is how much news influences us. Journalism being an integral part of our system, requires to be authentic. But as days pass by and the number of news channels is increasing, and the amount of fake news is also increasing.
It is extremely important that journalism maintains its truthfulness. But due to the excessive competition for the prevalence of a huge number of news providers, many tend to write about things which are easy to attract the attention of the readers.
As readers, we are also mostly attracted to news that talks about scandals or something that indicates a bit of gossip, be it about politicians, celebrities or anybody. As consumers, we need to be extremely aware of what we are consuming in the name of journalism. The authenticity of journalism is extremely important due to various reasons; let’s see why.
Fake news can initiate a communal riot.
Journalism, which is not absolutely authentic, can be very dangerous for society. Any news that is not true or twisted to attract readers attracted towards it can often initiate a communal riot or unnecessary hatred between people. This mostly happens when news providers are dealing with political news. Political news is not always interesting; hence often, news providers can twist their opinions in a way to generate enough clout they want to see. Fake news is always 100% capable of brainwashing people who are consuming it and can ignite hatred against a specific community, race or party.
Fake news can ruin the reputation of individuals.
Fake news about celebrities, politicians or any individual famous or not can affect their lives to a great extent. News providers find it extremely hassle-free to write twisted things about famous people and incidents mostly because consumers love to gossip. But it is extremely important for us to decide whether we want to consume this content or not. It is important for us to testify to the authenticity of the news before we decide to incorporate it into our minds.
How do we testify to the authenticity of the news we consume?
- Make sure you search online about controversial news and see if other news providers are also reporting it or not.
- Try to take more than one point of view about important news from different news providers. See what each one of them is talking about and how it differs from one another.
- Check if the news is authenticated by the editor itself or not. If it is written or approved by the editor, then it has to be authentic news.
- When reading controversial news about celebrities, try to check their social media pages to check if they have reacted to that news to know the truth.
As consumers, we should be aware of what we are investing in and also the quality of content we are reading in the name of journalism. It is important to read news which is extremely transparent, like the ones provided by World News Times.