The news media is obligated to provide accurate information regardless of the context they report about or report to. Codes of ethics that guide journalistic undertakings dictate that news media have the responsibility to accurately and faithfully present information. In addition, news media should also not suppress important information or include unfounded opinions in its reporting. Most importantly, different codes of ethics that guide media undertakings require that such entities are loyal and rectify any inaccurate news that gets to the public (Brown, 2011). Hence, their priorities should be reporting facts as they are and ensure the mode it uses to reach the public is not ambiguous or one that obscures the truth or clarity of facts.
News media’s response regarding reporting on social media chatter should first be verification of the source of information. News picked from different sites such as Twitter and Facebook should not be directly reported to the public before affirming its integrity. Besides ensuring the credibility of the sources of chatter, there is also a need for authentication of the news received. Social media reporting is often marred with biases because individual opinions often take precedence. Regardless, there are official pages, for example, official government handles on Twitter on which accurate information can be obtained. It is also vital that information is crosschecked between the different sources. When information obtained from different sources or social media participants do not conform, media outlets need to get to the ground to verify the authenticity of the information presented on social media. Most importantly, journalists should use their expertise to sort accurate information from noise, ensure they vet claims from different sources, and report information only after confirming its accuracy.
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Although non-media organizations present on different platforms such as social media and TV might not be mainstream news outlets, they are obligated to provide accurate and factual information. One of the reasons is because their audience expects nothing short of the truth (Brown, 2011). Unless such outlets are not responsible and honest enough to present content with no biases, they will lose their audience. Besides this, there are laws and regulations that obligate media organizations to provide accurate information. A non-news media organization could easily be sued for defamation (Brown, 2011). To avoid costly legal liabilities, media organizations should be highly aware of the accuracy of the information they disseminate. Moreover, a media outlet’s success largely depends on its ability to attract views and a significant audience (Brown, 2011). It is also important to note that different social media spaces or countries obligate users to present appropriate content. Germany, for example, enacted the NetzDG law in 2018. The law obligates sites to review the content they host. Under this law, Facebook was fined approximately £1.7m for inappropriately reporting illegal activities in Germany. Media organizations, hence, have a responsibility to present factual information because even on social media or blog spaces that are not monitored, other users could raise alarm and if found guilty of the violation of such platform’s policies, the organizations in question could incur substantial financial losses in the process of settling legal cases.
The first amendment to the constitutions of the United States deals with free speech. It protects citizens against censorship by entities such as the government. Although individuals are entitled to have an opinion and freely express themselves, the first amendment does not guarantee freedom about anything regardless of its impact on others (Kreimer, 2006). In terms of freedom of media, the protection under the first amendment is guaranteed as long as what is being reported is accurate and not illegal content, such as disseminating information by extremists who might compromise peace among citizens. Also, although the first amendment protects non-news media organizations’ information dissemination undertakings, they are obligated to provide legally acceptable information by the government and the platforms they use.
References
Brown, F. (Ed.). (2011). Journalism ethics: A casebook of professional conduct for news media . Marion Street Press.
Kreimer, S. F. (2006). Censorship by proxy: The First Amendment, internet intermediaries, and the problem of the weakest link. U. Pa. L. Rev. , 155 , 11.
