Caught in Lies: Liars Are Bad, Readers Are Sad
The articles we read told the stories about Stephen Harper refusing to take communion, and another story about Jimmy, an eight year old heroin addict. both of these stories were lies, and both of the journalists that told these stories were caught in their lie.
I have before considered that the news I'm reading may actually be a lie. I sometimes think this because sometimes I read a story that I don't believe could possibly be true. Sometimes the story seems a little too far fetched for me to believe that it could have actually happened in the real world. It doesn't surprise me that professional journalists made up news, because since they are professional journalists they know the makings of a believable news story. Also, it doesn't surprise me that they would lie if they couldn't find a suitable story, because since it's their job to make stories, they can easily just make something up so that they can meet their deadlines.
My reaction to the articles were that I felt bad for 'Jimmy' (if he had been real) and for the other article I thought "This doesn't seem very newsworthy to me" It was just a journalists attempt to make Stephen Harper look bad. I understood, kind of, why the journalist lied in the article about 'Jimmy', though I still think she shouldn't have. I don't, however, think that there was any reason to lie and make up a story about Stephen Harper.
“most liars make things up for the simple reason that they don't have the talent or the ability to get the story any other way.” -Jack Shafer
I don't necessarily agree with this quote, because I'm sure these journalists have gotten good stories before, otherwise they wouldn't have a job in the news business. I think that the people that lied made a mistake, but they still have the talent and ability to get and write a story. I just think that the way they conduct themselves may need some improvement. Universities and Colleges making sure that their journalism graduates are ready could be a good idea. They could do assignments to make sure they can handle having deadlines. A good idea could be that the teacher give them a story that may not be true, a wild goose chase of sorts, and the way to get full marks is to not make up a fake story, and tell the teacher that there is nor way to write a story.
I think that an ombudsman would be a help to critiquing a story and making sure that everything in the story is true. This way, a story that is all lies might not ever actually get published.
I have before considered that the news I'm reading may actually be a lie. I sometimes think this because sometimes I read a story that I don't believe could possibly be true. Sometimes the story seems a little too far fetched for me to believe that it could have actually happened in the real world. It doesn't surprise me that professional journalists made up news, because since they are professional journalists they know the makings of a believable news story. Also, it doesn't surprise me that they would lie if they couldn't find a suitable story, because since it's their job to make stories, they can easily just make something up so that they can meet their deadlines.
My reaction to the articles were that I felt bad for 'Jimmy' (if he had been real) and for the other article I thought "This doesn't seem very newsworthy to me" It was just a journalists attempt to make Stephen Harper look bad. I understood, kind of, why the journalist lied in the article about 'Jimmy', though I still think she shouldn't have. I don't, however, think that there was any reason to lie and make up a story about Stephen Harper.
“most liars make things up for the simple reason that they don't have the talent or the ability to get the story any other way.” -Jack Shafer
I don't necessarily agree with this quote, because I'm sure these journalists have gotten good stories before, otherwise they wouldn't have a job in the news business. I think that the people that lied made a mistake, but they still have the talent and ability to get and write a story. I just think that the way they conduct themselves may need some improvement. Universities and Colleges making sure that their journalism graduates are ready could be a good idea. They could do assignments to make sure they can handle having deadlines. A good idea could be that the teacher give them a story that may not be true, a wild goose chase of sorts, and the way to get full marks is to not make up a fake story, and tell the teacher that there is nor way to write a story.
I think that an ombudsman would be a help to critiquing a story and making sure that everything in the story is true. This way, a story that is all lies might not ever actually get published.
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