With the election of Donald Trump as President of the United States, increasing political polarization seems to be tearing the nation apart at the seams. Opinion polls show strong opinions for and against our commander in chief, and we’ve seen many actions that have divided public opinion. But another large gap has begun to emerge – distrust of the media.
For the entire history of our country, from our Founding Fathers to our modern political slugfest, the media – composed first of newspapers, then radio, television and most recently Internet – has been covering it all. There’ve been highs, the investigations around Watergate for example. And there’ve been lows, such as the yellow journalism that helped bring the United States into the Spanish-American War. All of this time, though, shows just how much of an influence one industry has on our society, enough so that it’s protected by the First Amendment.
A strong, free and vigilant press is critical to any democracy. As can be seen throughout history, countries that have state-run or censored newspapers and media outlets can slide very quickly into authoritarianism. It’s important the media be able to publish and give people awareness of what is happening in the world around them. But with this great power also comes great responsibility.
Before the Internet, it took significant resources to be able to be a part of the media: large newsrooms and reporting staffs to cover events, a printing press or a television studio. Now, with a few clicks, it’s possible for one person to put his or her opinions or his or her supposed investigative reporting out for the world to see.
This has been a boon to the amount of information people have access to, but it has also hurt people’s trust in traditional media sources. As party loyalties become entrenched and opinionated, consumers move toward Internet blogs, and the more partisan media, television and newspapers follow suit. We’ve seen this on both sides of the political divide, which leaves very little of the national media in nonpartisan, fact-based stances.
It’s no wonder people feel they’re not getting the whole truth when they look for current events. The line between facts, commentary and opinion has become so blurred. I know personally many young people get their news almost exclusively from places such as The Daily Show, not exactly a nonpartisan source. Polls put trust in the media as a whole, especially among Republicans, at massive lows.
So how do we fix this problem and convince people to come back to traditional media? While playing to a particular audience may be good for particular outlets, people reading Huffington Post or watching Fox News won’t be able to discuss much of anything because the points that have been made to them or the stories themselves may be completely contradictory.
There is a truth out there, and I think the best way to facilitate healthy debate and bipartisanship is to lay out the facts of a situation and let people decide for themselves. Opinion and commentary will always have a place, but we need to be careful to know the difference between these and what actually happened.
If people cannot agree on what even the facts in a situation are, we cannot hope to have dialogue in this country, as each side will think the other has it all wrong. The United States has been successful in the fact we have common values. We are a diverse nation that has a universal commitment to liberty, freedom and democracy. It’s even on our money, “E pluribus unum,” which means “Out of many, one.”
To be one though, we have to want to be one. As citizens who are both consumers and creators of media and news, we should be aware of this fact. We’re stronger as a united nation than fighting one another over our differences. We shouldn’t let partisan differences take precedence over the common good of the nation – or the facts.
Connor Kockler is a Sauk Rapids-Rice High School student. He enjoys writing, politics and news, among other interests.
