Dear Huffington Post,
Inspired by the popular Christmas story "Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus" I would like to ask a question that I think only you may be able to answer. Because, just as in the story I believe that when the Huffington post says it, it is so. Well, not exactly but let's for a moment assume that it is so.
Every day I read, watch and hear the news. CNN, Fox, Washington Post only a few of the many, many news outlets there are. And every single day I am confused, I am torn, I am exhausted. Why? Because when once I believed that being a journalist was a profession with honor, integrity and trustworthiness, today I am not so sure about that any more.
Why do I feel like every day I am being fed only what a certain media wants me to hear and feel stirred into a direction that feels so wrong in my own mind?
Why is it that I don't feel I can trust the media any more and why does it make me so angry to have to search through thousands of articles to find a handful that seem to be written from a neutral perspective, reporting what's really going on, instead of being able to read the truth from the beginning?
Dear Huffington Post, can I still believe in the real meaning of journalism? Is there still such a thing as ethics when it comes to reporting?
I grew up in a country that once was divided by a wall and for a third of my life I lived on the wrong side, where no one could trust their neighbor, where the West was demonized for their capital greed and our own country hailed as the only way to give the people what they need, even if they didn't know themselves they wanted it.
When that wall came down, I had the privilege to live in a united country and faith in freedom of speech, freedom in general became a huge part of me. Yet in that country we have a single payer healthcare. We have higher taxes, but we live without having to fear that we couldn't afford to go to the doctor or, if we did, to lose our whole existing because of health costs. Our country is not a socialistic country, yet we do have social values like recognizing the right of every person to receive health care if needed.
A politician like Bernie Sanders would almost be left right center in our country, yet here in the media he is decried as a dangerous socialist. Why don't we hear more about the serious lies Hillary Clinton has told over the years and I am not even talking about the usual crap every politician pulls or has to pull. Why do we keep hearing over and over again that Hillary Clinton is the only, the inevitable candidate, when the people tell a whole different story? Why is entertainment so much more important that reporting the neutral truth? Why is a claim that this is a rigged economy something that is so very ridiculed when we all know that it's true?
As someone who worked in media, I remember well the staff meetings in our offices where we talked about what topics to cover. And I remember well the moment my faith in journalism has been crushed. It was that moment that a journalist was told to remember our political affiliations and the devastating moment in which she had to hear that her research meant nothing because it would never get published.
I remember my own reason to quit working in a profession that I once held in deep respect. It was when my story, a documentary piece that I had carefully studied, researched and executed was denied until I added enough conflict to it, enough moments that cause a negative emotional response. "No one wants to see a piece that doesn't make them cry, angry, upset or frustrated" were the words my boss used. The result was a 180 degree twist on the story, with a truth factor of 0. But it got the attention, it got the ratings - and I couldn't have sunk deep enough into the ground with shame. I could never trust a TV piece or a newspaper article as much as I had before.
Now, during the primary elections, the coverage of the candidates, how much is there really to trust? How much of what we read is the truth and how much is influenced with money? Setting aside different viewpoints, differing opinions or a change of perspective, where is the truth hidden? When do people become important and not only sponsors?
So please tell me, dear Huffington post, is there any faith yet left in journalism?
Thank you.
Dorothea
