Media, both social media and the conventional mainstream media played an important part in our lives and our decision-making whether we realize it or not. It keeps us informed and helps us make decisions in many things.
When I was studying journalism in college, I was told by my journalism lecturer that journalism is the first step in history making, and as a journalist, especially those who chooses to practice mainstream journalism instead of Yellow journalism (tabloid line), we have to report unbiased truth so that the public knows what’s going on around them.
That is the basics of journalism ethics. Informational truth. But I quit being a journalist because I discovered that it’s not the case in my country. There is no such thing as reporting unbiased truth
I felt really disappointed with the journalism industry as soon as I started practising. In my country, mainstream media is not quite just a source of information for the public, but functioned more like political tool by the ruling government to spread their ill sentiments towards the opposition.
Journalists are not given freedom to report news and most of the time, editors are under pressure from the ruling government. We are restricted and whatever makes the government looks bad in the eyes of the public are not allowed to be published. If they are somehow published, so-and-so will contact the head editor and pressure for retraction.
There’s more nonsense news and propaganda in the mainstream media than anything else.That is why I quit. I did not want to be like a marionette being controlled by a puppeteer. I rather be a freelance than be attached to a news agency that does not practice ethical journalism and provide informational truth to the public.
I’ve quit reporting for the mainstream media in my country, but I still do keep in touch with my former colleagues and the going-ons in the media industry. There’s still a journalist in me.
Look at what I found when I was browsing around on what’s going on in the media industry these days; an infographic on web media sources and contents. It’s an amusing piece of information.
Click here to enlarge the infographic:
https://edit.imgzlla.com/organization_files/1147/mediasourcesandcontent.jpg
Cleffairy: Writing this article somehow reminds me of a quotation by John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton, first Baron Acton. “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men.”