Friday, March 06, 2009

This is the reason why news reporters need to be extra responsible and ethical

With response to the stabbing-suicide incident, there has been a spike in debates on how transparent and responsible the media is in covering the story.

Apparently, an Indonesian friend of David stepped out and clarified (or make it more confused) the situation. In essence, there is a divergence in the story provided by his friend and the news media.

Usually, the stories in the news are seldom doubted by the readers. We place almost 100% trust in what the reports say. There is no room for guessing -- we expect 100% facts, no speculation whatsoever. After all, isn't the media supposed to be objective? Isn't the media supposed to be the watchdog which bites back on untruths? Isn't the media supposed to serve the readers?

The amount of trust the readers place upon news media should not and cannot be misplaced and abused. In the past, maybe, but not now. The once gullible, all-believing readers can now turn to other sources.

With the emergence of new media, it is now even harder to "cover the fire with paper". 纸是包不住火的。

And whether or not the trust relationship of the news media and the readers has been abused, only time will tell. This trust, if misplaced, is hard to rebuild.

Media, beware!

Labels: Indonesia, news, NTU, school, Singapore