Complete coverage necessary for informing the public

Quick reporting results in skewing readers perspective

Faye Smith

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Society today has seen the fastest communication the world has ever seen. At the snap of your fingers, any text, email, or internet search can be sent away in a matter of seconds. As the communication world adapts, so does journalism. Reporters are the first to publish anything about any sort of news in a matter of minutes. But, this comes at a cost. With the fast publication of news updates, this only allows to see one side of the story. Journalists need to make news circulation more in-depth to allow for a lesser opinionated public.

The confrontation of a teenager and a Native American protester at the pro-life march called for an uproar on many social media outlets. This “smirking teen” was seen to be “disrespectful” towards a Native American man beating a drum. People were in an outrage to post their opinions on anything from death threats to the student, to calling the school district where the student was from. Although, since only this one video was shown, the public was not aware of the whole situation.

Up to two days later, the whole story unfolds, showing there were multiple protesters mocking the students, and the Native American man was simply trying to calm the situation. Nick Sandman the student confronted, was only standing in front, trying not to make the situation digress. Although the public realizes that Sandman was not necessarily in the wrong, he still received death threats and even an expulsion hearing (CBS News).

Even though these news outlets feel that they have the best position by publishing the story as quick as possible, it just ends up stirring the pot. People take their opinions to social media, demanding answers and justice for whatever they feel is necessary. This goes to show the same for the new establishment of the New York abortion law.

Journalists everywhere reported that on Jan. 22, the state of New York passed a law that enabled abortion in the third trimester. This unraveled the pro-life community, as the social media inputs rolled in about how wrong it was for a women to purposely terminate a pregnancy after 24 weeks, but, again, they were not shown the whole story. The New York law states that a women may only use a late term abortion if it is endangering their health (Associated Press).

Our connection with fast communication is astonishing, but, as stated, people are only seeing one side of the story. Journalists need to take a step back and realize what they are doing. By not waiting to report all sides, they are creating a more impatient, opinionated crowd. By understanding what is happening all around us, news circulation should be much more in-depth to inform the public of all sides of the story.