Reporters are Getting an UNFAIR Bad Rap

This youtube video, Big Media Lies, is aggravating on many different levels. It is the first video that comes up when you type in media into youtube. First off, I have a great respect for reporters. I have considered it my future career path. The truth of the matter is that reporters dedicate their lives of informing to pubic. It is a respectable job. They work hard off of low salaries to serve the common good. Can we start off with giving them more credit and not turning them into monsters who twist facts? Without the media that gets so much criticism, we would be ignorant of the world we live in. Would you rather only be in the know of your own community? We should make a national Reporter Day in thanksgiving for their service. The number of reporters that have been killed in Iraq is 127. Are reporters in Iraq there for the purpose of fact manipulation? I think not!

Second off, this video is a joke, but most of the viewers of the video do not know that the creator of the video is a comedian poking fun at the situation. Proof of this is comments that viewers have left such as, "wow! did they really lead the interview that much? that's wild!" For Kevin Nalts to create this video exemplifies how there is seriousness to every joke. He is joking, but comments, "I can't mention the network that interviewed me..."

Doing my audio piece on my friend who has a fear of phones, I can have seen to be like this reporter who asked the person he was interviewing, "Can you do that again, but cut off the first part?"

Alright, I was not twisting the interviewee's words as much. Here is the scenario, I interviewed my friend John Duffy who calls Alyssa, the phone-a-phobic, during breaks from school. Because of her dislike of small talk, she never answers for John. Towards the end of the interview, I asked John, "So, is there hope for Alyssa Savage's phone phobia, right now?" He responded, "At this moment in time, no. Maybe two years from now when she needs to get a job." Instead of asking a follow up question I asked him, "Can you say that in a full sentence?" He responded, "Sure. Right now, there isn't, but there might be later on when she needs to get a job."

The truth of the matter is that I wanted him making the statement, "There is no hope for Alyssa's phone phobia right now" as opposed to just replying to my question. This did feel uncomfortable at the time and now that I look back at it what I asked of JOhn seems unethical. I wanted to be able to use his voice out of the context of my question. I as a reporter have a huge task of forming the story. If I were just to put John's statement into the story, it would make the story more juicy and almost an accusation at Alyssa saying he doesn't think there is hope for her. I ultimately wanted to prove him wrong, so that is why I wanted a direct statement.

John thought I was being a dirty reporter. He made me felt like I was over blowing Alyssa's serious phobia. The last question I asked him was, "Don’t you think I’m almost over exaggerating it?" He even had me slightly convinced. He said, "What in your questions? You totally are. There is no doubt about that, but that's what media does. That’s what journalists do. Journalists exaggerate everything."

I then asked him, "So tell me the real deal. It’s [referring to Alyssa's phobia] not that big of a deal?" He responded, "No it's not that big of a deal. If she doesn't want to talk to people on the phone, that's fine. That is her decision to make. It’s not something for the rest of the world to really care about."

This comment upset me. It is true that she can decide whether or not to pick up the phone. It is her life, but we should care about Alyssa's fear because ultimately we should try to help one another. Shouldn't we strive to help Alyssa not be afraid of talking to others? She is not fearing the device itself, but the judgment of the person on the other line. I would not say that I have a duty as a reporter to tell her story, but I know I have helped her by urging her to think through her fear.