Campaign 2016 - Part III (The Media)
The Media needs to give voters balanced and true reporting.
The Media looks at today and 14 months ahead.
With a few more candidates opting to try offense rather than defense (http://perspycacious.hubpages.com/hub/Campaign-2016-Part-II-Offense-or-Defense), Campaign 2016 attention shifts to a look at what national media seem to be trying to accomplish in terms of providing true non-partisan news.
Recently a TV journalist questioned presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson about what the journalist claimed was Carson's remark (it wasn't) about killing illegal immigrants with drones.
Carson answered by repeating that he had specifically cautioned journalists not to change his statement about using drones to only monitor the U. S. border areas.
It may be that newspaper readers are more interested in bombast and personal digs, and that newspaper editors are featuring those portions of Campaign 2016 to give readers what editors think the readers want, but the present coverage seems to be failing newspaper readers and TV listeners by not fully covering the present candidates' positions in key political issues.
Any TV or newspaper editor would maintain that informing the electorate is their primary concern and a key to the electorate's ability to choose "the best candidate for the job",
But, if the big headlines seem at times to ridicule candidates' personalities, rather than focus on the real issues (writing about candidate Trump's hair and candidate Clinton's blonde dye job)), how do those same editors walk the walk after talking the talk?
In so many elections the media has sharpened its print type to use praise and favor, or satire and outright ridicule, to paint candidates in soft or harsh tones. When that is printed or broadcast as the declared personal opinion of a columnist or a station's editorial board, it is permissible.
When it is presented as news, it is misleading at best, and biased at worst.
Should we expect anything to be different in Campaign 2016?
The truthful answer is "Yes!"
Freedom of the press comes like all other freedoms. It includes a responsibility to exercise the freedom without harm to others....even to political candidates.
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© 2015 Demas W. Jasper All rights reserved.