Glasser's, Awad's, and Kim's study analyzes how four newspapers have written from different points-of-view relating to the same event. Two of the newspapers have written professionally, without attempting to influence the readers in any way. In contrast, the other two newspapers have written so that the public would get a wrong idea of the incident. Just as in the present case, it is normal for media services from within a local community to write differently than bigger, more specialized, media services. The journalists from the two newspapers which have distorted reality and have written the articles from their own points-of-view belong to the community involved in the incident discussed. The respective journalists have turned an ordinary conflict (between the officials and their community over the building of a mall) into a cry for help from a community presumably discriminated for years.
It is of no relevance whether or not the respective journalists were right or not and if their community had actually been discriminated by the authorities. What is worrying is that the public can see how newspapers are not always impartial, and, that in the cases when journalists are implicated in the topic being discussed, articles are unpleasantly altered.
The writers from the two local newspapers have forgotten what their main duty as journalists had been....
The newspapers have taken advantage of the fact that their community had previously been reported of suffering from discrimination. Using this information, the writers have gone as far as comparing the people involved in the mall incident with those that had formerly segregated their district.
The Claims of Multiculturalism and Journalism's Promise of Diversity certainly provides important information concerning how news can easily be altered by the persons making them. From such studies people can learn that they have to carefully choose the places from where they get their information if they want to be correctly informed. A first step toward receiving proper information is choosing to read from large publications, since there is a smaller probability for a large enterprise to risk getting sanctioned. Also, one needs to read and compare several sources in order to reach a verdict concerning the authenticity of a certain source.
The fact that there are a lot of sources to choose from in the present day stands as an advantage for people world wide, since information is not being imposed and they can identify which sources are trustworthy are which are not.
Works cited:
Glasser, T.L. & Awad I. & Kim J.W. (2009). The Claims of Multiculturalism and Journalism's Promise of Diversity. Journal of Communication, 59: 57-58.
