The journalist role is important because it provides the world with facts and the answers. Often times politicians or public figures may not tell the world the whole truth. But because of journalist, who take time to investigate the whole story and they provide citizens with correct news. Not only does a journalist investigate the news, journalist also take time to interview these public figures and ask the questions that viewers want to ask. For example, Barbara Walters is known for her skills of asking the questions that most are scared to ask. But because she is fearless and true journalist, she asks these tough questions and gets down to the nitty gritty. This is all made possible through the first amendment.
The first amendment grants journalist and all citizens of the United States Freedom of Speech and Freedom of the Press. Because of this, journalist and all citizens of America, can voice their own opinions without facing any consequences. This also allows journalist the opportunity to report on anything they deem necessary without any repercussions. If it wasn’t for the right of freedom of speech, Barbara Walters would not have been able to ask those tough questions. Therefore, tons of the information that she has gotten over the years would not have been public.
As a rising journalist, I believe the media has been doing an outstanding job covering the election. There are multiple media outlets that provide citizens with a bunch of different perspectives. For instance, FOX news may give you a more bias opinion of Donald Trump and ABC may give you a more bias opinion on Hillary Clinton. But because of these two outlets being opposites, it gives you a well rounded view of the election as a whole. Not only do we have national networks covering the election, we also have black media outlets like Bet News, TheGrio, The Root and many more that provide African Americans with the black perspective on voting. These outlets let us know the truth of who we should cast our ballot for in this upcoming election. Furthermore, they also ask the questions that we as a community have but may not have the direct access to ask.
Furthermore, I believe Social Media plays an awesome role in the election because it lets citizens know information right away. Because of social media, in the matter of seconds, we are made aware of breaking news. Social media also makes it harder for nominees to hide from the truth. People can instantly tweet and video record what the nominees say and post it on social media. Because of this it helps keep viewers/citizens informed.
Lastly, I had the opportunity to interview fellow millennials. Since this is our first time voting in the upcoming election millennials have had to be more active in this election season than we have had to be in the past. Moreover, when asked about media coverage and the election my fellow millennials had lots of different things to say on the topic. For example, BreAnn Jackson stated that she believes the news coverage covers Trump in a negative light, however, they spend more time focused on him than they do Hillary Clinton. Another millennial, Kaley Preciado stated that she believes that the media is very one-sided when it comes to the presidential election coverage. She stated that they “laugh and glorify trumps mistakes/mishaps[…] but attack Hillary when she does something.” Lastly, Alana Hudley stated that “news station purposely broadcast specific events that take place in the race which effects the amount of attention a candidate receives.” As you can see the millennials have a bunch of different views on the topic of the election and its media coverage. However, it is also very clear that the media has played an important role on how my generation views the election.
https://soundcloud.com/nayo-campbell/kaley-view-of-the-media-and-the-presidential-election-1
Nayo Campbell 