Journalism Is Dying All Over the World

Journalism is dying all over the world, according to the message of the film “Endangered.” The film is about the way the world is interacting with journalists. As depicted in the documentary, journalists are being arrested, abused, and beaten.

Journalists are being disrespected on an international level. In America, for a multitude of reasons, there is a rising level of distrust of the media. This causes proper journalists to have an even harder time doing their job. “Endangered” is a documentary depicting the global erosion of journalism.

The Old Journalism

There used to be an idealized view of journalism. This view depicted journalists as heroes, in this view they were noble fighters for democracy and defenders of the people. They were objective and questioned the establishment as much as they could. For the most part, this was the general view of journalists and the media. However, there is a new view that has made itself quite known in places like America in the past few decades. The public understanding of journalism has shifted from an idealized image to a darker and more demonized image. This image portrays journalism as a practice for liars, manipulators, and fools.

Fake News

More conservative members of the masses see traditional journalism as all fake news. These people would rather get their information from social media and more obscure parts of the internet. The problem with this, however, the film eventually points out is that there is rampant misinformation and lies in those places. The active demonization of traditional journalism, the rise of anti-intellectualism, and the overload of misinformation on the internet have drawn a spell of the destruction of knowledge, the truth, and trust in the media. In the eyes of many people, journalism is dead. Along with its death, truth, integrity, and logic have died along with it.

Journalism And Democracy

Additionally, journalism is a core part of any democracy. The reason why is that people can’t make decisions if they aren’t informed. A strong journalist presence is an indicator of a healthy democracy. The opposite is true as well. Journalism is intrinsically tied to democracy because democracy is tied to truth and freedom. If the right to freedom of the press and free speech is protected then a nation’s people will have the opportunity to have accurate coverage of events.

This then allows people to make their own opinion on the events. The way news stories are covered also matters. The possibility of a news station showing images of protest and showing the brutality of the state is a threat to the legitimacy and the power of the state. For this reason, governments like the Mexican government or the American government don’t take kindly to the press.

State Repression

Violence is typically the response to journalists doing their jobs when it comes to sticking it to the man. This can look like legal threats, arrests, or even physical violence.

Even during a protest, on which journalists are allowed to report, they may be abused or harmed by soldiers of the state like police officers or army soldiers. The film depicts the violent means of state suppression. Not only in American contexts but journalists are also being physically harmed in easy that can be graphic.

They are being arrested and jailed simply for the act of being there.
The active devaluation of journalism in modern society has major consequences for every nation impacted by it. It can already be seen in America, where many of its citizens prefer to use alternative media sources instead of traditional news sources. Journalism is dying in not just America but in many nations across the world.

For a multitude of reasons, journalism is being threatened with state violence and being propagandized to be faulty. Thankfully, journalists haven’t forgotten their eternal quest for truth, justice, and integrity.

Written by Kenneth Mazerat

Sources

Roger Ebert: Endangered by Peter Sobczynski

The Guardian: Record 28 countries rated ‘very bad’ in press freedom index by Jim Waterson

CNN: A record number of journalists are in prison right now, according to press freedom report By Kerry Flynn and Eliza Mackintosh

Featured and Top Image Courtesy of Daniel X. O’Neil Flickr Page – Creative Commons License

First Inset Image Courtesy of belgraded.com Flickr Page – Creative Commons License