Why does news matter? We asked faculty from the Department of Journalism at Penn State, "Why is journalism important?" Watch the video below to see how they responded.
In a democracy, regular people have a say in their own government. We vote for our leaders and representatives, we voice our opinions about laws, and our preferences for spending money we paid in taxes. Our choices are powerful in shaping our society.
If we are going to be making such influential decisions, we need access to complete and accurate information. The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees rights including the freedom of the press. With a free press, anybody can publish information or opinions. We can read, watch, and listen to criticism of the government and uncovered facts. It is important to have free press in a democracy so that we can make truly informed decisions.
The flip side of free press is that it can be abused to spread false and inaccurate information. Because anybody is allowed to say almost anything, people have figured out clever ways to use news media to manipulate our understanding of the world to their own advantage.
When we become unable to tell the difference between news that reflects reality and propaganda designed to sway our beliefs and opinions, democracy does not work. The person or people behind the false information become the authority. They shape our society instead of us.
To keep our democracy and our free press, we need to select our news with care, but knowing who is telling the full and accurate story can be difficult. Misleading information is intentionally designed to be convincing and persuasive, making it easy for us to become victims of news manipulation and completely false information.
News Literacy skills empower us with tools and techniques to find the real story. More than that, it helps us understand the incentives in our media system that sometimes lead to that story being hard to find. Being news literate means having the skills to figure out if you can trust a source of information and believe specific news you encounter.