Opinion: We Are in an Era of Lost Facts
Modern media's rise in American politics has led to a greater divide in the country. The increase of availability of information given to citizens has almost become a danger at this point. People of all ages have access to the views of anyone and everyone they want to hear from, and also to those that they don’t want to hear. It’s difficult to decipher what is real and what isn’t at this point when every possible idea is being pushed at you.
Once the Covid-19 pandemic sparked up in the United States in early 2020, the citizens of the country seemed to divide drastically. Some people stayed in their houses for months, while others acted as if nothing ever changed. A lot of division began with the implements of mask mandates. Many believed that these mandates were taking away their human rights. However, it wasn’t just the masks some Americans were worried about.
The covid vaccines have been a controversial topic for quite some time now. While the chief medical director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAI), Doctor Fauci has continued to embrace the importance of the vaccine and urges citizens to get their vaccinations, it has been spread through many social media platforms that he once said that vaccines do not protect from the virus. This information was later fact checked and proven to be false. However, there have been many people who avoid the facts and stick with their own beliefs. They use the words they heard from one, edited video and hold on tight to it. They refuse to believe what they don’t want to hear. This carries along the danger and rise of fake news in today’s culture.
Media sources like Fox News, are widely known for spreading false information across their platforms in order to gain the trust and appreciation of their specific audience. They share what those people want to hear, rather than displaying the complete facts. Fox News starts to manipulate news in the media in order to create the opinions and reactions they want from people. In many cases, they have twisted the words of politicians or faces in the media and manipulated what they said in order to make themselves look good. They begin to display “alternative” facts to the viewers.
Due to the neverending display of false information, fact-checking has an extreme importance in culture today. When people are spreading blatant lies about the value and importance of Covid-19 vaccines, it is crucial that the information is corrected right away and told to the public. Without reliable facts being put out, people start to spread misinformation and falsely educate people about the most useful thing we have to close down the pandemic in America.
Bill Kovach and Tom Rosensteil explain in their book, Blur: How to Know What’s True in the Age of Information Overload, how journalism and media is geared toward specific audiences and can be changed or manipulated in order to please their viewers. They wrote, “Their appeal is not in the questions they ask. It is in the answers they have already arrived at before the show has begun. They offer to the audience the illusion of putting things in order. They are not offering information, something people already are awash in.”
These types of illusions that they mention have been very prevalent in the news that has been broadcasted in the past year or so, during the pandemic. Many journalists, new broadcasters, and politicians have taken the words of their opponents and used them in ways that manipulate what they were actually saying in order to receive a certain response from a target audience. With this, many broadcasters also share their own beliefs and ideas as if they were facts, with no real evidence to back them up. This causes distrust and separation in the media and political world.
Fox News’ Tucker Carlson released articles titling “Democrats and the CDC have been lying about COVID and the vaccine”, “Americans should never be forced to take medicine they don't want, period”, and “The COVID vaccine is dangerous for kids, Big Tech doesn't want you to know that”. In these articles Carlson often isn’t basing his writing off of facts, just off of his own opinions. This causes his audience to take his articles and use it in their own beliefs towards the Covid-19 pandemic.
An NPR article stated, “[U.S. District Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil] wrote: ‘Fox persuasively argues, that given Mr. Carlson's reputation, any reasonable viewer 'arrive[s] with an appropriate amount of skepticism' about the statement he makes."’ There are many people who will stick to one journalist or political commentator, like Tucker Carlson, and stick to what they say to back up all of their own beliefs. If people don’t question the news and the facts they are given, it is impossible for them to understand what is really going on and what they should actually believe.
Media continues to have the power to alternate and change people's opinions by the very ways they display information and facts. It is important for New Sources and Media Platforms to use this power and spread liable facts to their viewers. The use of misinformation and “alternative facts” hurts the nation as a whole. It keeps people divided and arguing on topics because they are being given completely different “facts”.
While the real facts are what are most important when displayed in the news, there is the unfortunate realization that fake news will always affect the opinions of many. I believe that people deserve to hear and understand the whole truth, but it comes to the viewers on whether or not they want to do research or just believe the first thing they hear. While the “alternative” facts push their way onto the surface, true facts are what really make a mark. Without the reliable, concrete facts put out about vaccines by science and health experts, maybe no one would be vaccinated right now. We as citizens have access to these credible sources and are given the tools in order to decipher what is fact and what isn’t. It is the people who refuse to look past their own beliefs and single news sources who stay trapped under the danger of misinformation and alternative facts. These are the people who hurt the strength of America.
