At a town hall meeting on Friday, July 22nd President Obama talks about the news media. President Obama believes that the consumption of news media may have caused the lack of compromise in Washington. Since I am a journalist, I want to look at this from a journalistic point of view instead of a political one.

Watch the video below to watch President Obama talk about the news media.

Text of the video:

“You’ve got a media that has become much more splintered. So those of you who are of a Democratic persuasion are only reading The New York Times and watching MSNBC and if you are on the right, then you’re only reading the Wall Street Journal editorial page and watching FoxNews…And if that’s where you get your information, just from one side, if you never even have to hear another argument, then over time you start getting more dug in into your positions.”

Journalism plays an important role in our understanding and comprehension of the world. Journalists are supposed to be independent, truthful, and report events and issues in our communities accurately. Furthermore, journalists are supposed to give a voice to the voiceless. To say that anyone does not have a bias is wrong. No one can be 100 percent unbiased on any story. Reporters are humans and have feelings. Finding information about a story through interviews and research will cause a reaction. Journalists often suppress these reactions to tell the story in an unbalanced way. So I think the president is right to say we should check multiple sources to get our information.

Here’s another reason why we shouldn’t rely on one source of information for our news.

I took a class on media criticism last fall. We discussed the Westly & McLean’s Gatekeeper model. The model looks like this:

x¹

x²   A –> C –> B

x³… (fca) (fcb)

x¹, x², x³… are all of the events that are taking place at a given location. “A” is the reporter who is observing the events (x¹, x², x³…), “C” is the gatekeeper (editor, news producer), and “B” is the consumer. “FCA” is the feedback the gatekeeper gives the reporter on what will be reported to the consumer. “FCB” is the feedback and expectations from the consumer on what “A” and “C” is giving them as news.

There are some basic human problems displayed in the model. First, we cannot report on everything that is happening. Some elements will get lost. When I report a story, I will report on some things but will not report on everything. This is not my fault – there are thousands of stimuli in our surroundings. However, this does not mean another reporter won’t capture what I missed.

Try this: In your home record a party or family gathering. While the camera is rolling write down everything. Watch the video to see how accurate you were to recording the actual events. What did you write down? What did you miss?

Furthermore, reporters have to go through an editor or news producer. This can be a problem and an asset. The problem could be if the editor wants to change parts of the story. The editor or producer was not at the scene so is basing everything on perception of the event. This perception may be accurate or inaccurate. The gatekeeper is an asset because another set of eyes could help a reporter. The gatekeeper could offer a different perspective, idea, interview, or direction of the story.

Last, the consumer is last to see the final product. Consumers have biases too – just like the editor and producer – they are perceiving what the reporter actually saw.

My point is this. We all have a bias. Even reporters. Even news organizations – not necessarily on purpose – just because we’re human. Journalists are supposed to provide truthful and accurate stories. It would not hurt the public to research and take a more active role in the consumption of media. A perfect example – a story that has multiple sources is stronger than a story with one.

What are your thoughts? Should people take a more active role in media consumption?