Media loses sight of responsible reporting

The morning of August 8 was a momentous one for me. I ate breakfast and listened to the radio on the way to my summer internship just like I did every week, but inside, I knew that the end of an era had come.

I, along with the rest of the world, found out that morning that Peter Jennings had passed away due to lung cancer.

For those of you who don't watch the news, or perhaps watch only CNN, Peter Jennings was ABC's lead anchorman for the past 22 years.

An icon of American journalism, Mr.. Jennings was also my personal hero. His eloquent voice and calm demeanor delivered the news into millions of households each night; mine was one of them.

I grew up watching Peter Jennings on an almost nightly basis. His was a familiar voice brought the world closer into my sheltered upbringing.

In that sense I feel like he played a critical role in shaping my world view and forming my political opinions.

But I mourn Jennings's passing not only for nostalgic reasons, but also as a journalist (albeit amateur) and an avid news junkie.

Jennings's passing marks the end of the era of the "big three" anchormen: a time when Jennings, Tom Brokaw and Dan Rather dominated the airwaves to bring American families the nightly news. His death also marks the fall of the last bastion of good news reporting.

More and more Americans are now getting their dose of current events in sound bytes or short segments that play over and over on CNN Headline News.

Others turn to the internet, where a plethora of opinions bombard the reader.

Many call the media a circus, while I don't completely agree with that sentiment. The name of "media circus" is a moniker that becomes more and more appropriate each day.

During the Spanish-American War Americans were victims of "yellow journalism," in the 21st century Americans are victims of sensationalistic media.

Popular media nowadays, especially the around-the-clock news channels like the one down the street, would much rather report on the misdeeds of celebrities than the misdeeds of African dictators.

Stories like Natalee Holloway and the Runaway Bride run rampant in popular media, while major revolutions in Nepal are largely ignored.

It seems that these journalists have forgotten that they are supposed to enlighten the minds of the public, not fill them with the latest gossip from Aruba or Duluth. Journalists play such a significant role in forming the public opinion on issues, and they seem to have forgotten that they have the responsibility to bring balanced, unbiased and pertinent news to the public.

I find it sad and ironic that I know more students who turn to Jon Stewart to find out what's going on in the world than they do to "real news."

Sadly, as much as I do love watching The Daily Show, it isn't real news. However, the very qualities that make Stewart so popular are the very ones that are missing in "real news."

If serious journalists had more of Stewart's frankness and his ability to provide perspective on the media's off-kilter sensationalism, the world of journalism would have a much brighter future than it does now.

Another journalistic responsibility that is often forgotten is the responsibility to play an active role in reporting the news. If journalists never dug for stories and took no risks to find the truth, there would be no reform, no social change. We never would have heard of Watergate or the Pentagon Papers.

Even here at the 'Nique we are guilty of not living up to all of our journalistic responsibilities.

We do our best to provide both sides of any story that we do, but we don't always go after the stories underneath the surface.

To be able to dig deeper, we need your help. Don't be afraid to express your opinion to us.

If something in the paper strikes you, write a letter to the editor. If something on campus bothers you, come talk to us. Together we can expose the pertinent issues on campus, and together we can address them.