Keywords: perspective news is inaccurate
"Truth is the life of news", which is a well-recognized wisdom. As the foundation for news organizations to establish a good reputation and the basic principle of Marxist journalism, the word truth plays an important role in journalism. However, in the real news work, the criticism and discussion about news inaccuracy and false news have never stopped. Various subjective and objective reasons make the media repeat the same mistakes again and again: Fu Guangrong, a "philanthropist" who was praised by the media for a while, was accused of being a liar who used children to make money; "Colgate" toothpaste is reported as "poisonous toothpaste" although it does not cause harm to human body; Since the selection of the top ten fake news in China began, the shortlisted fake news has not decreased as expected by the organizers, but has increased ... How these untrue news are formed and how to solve them should be the focus of attention of journalists.
Let's review the media reports about these incidents first. In September 21, Fu Guangrong established the "Sunshine Children's Village" in Shenyang, and began to adopt the children of 24 female prisoners. In 22, she established a legal and moral education base in Liaoning Province in the children's village, which was gradually called "paying mom". Media reports about her began to emerge one after another, and the kindness of "paying mom" was widely spread. At that time, Fu Guangrong in the media scrimped and saved, and did not hesitate to sell her house property for children to eat, drink and live. In order to raise donations, she ran around and created a warm family for the poor homeless children. The report made her get attention and praise from all walks of life. However, not long after June 23, when the positive publicity of some media had not died down, Fu Guangrong's auction of "Pay Mom" brand moon cake trademark caused some media to question and investigate. Since then, the living conditions of children in Sunshine Children's Village have received media attention again. At this time, Fu Guangrong's previously self-reported lawyer status, the exact number of children in the children's village, the children's diet, accommodation conditions, and the whereabouts of donations in the children's village were all exposed as problems. The media reported that witnesses said that Fu had never been a lawyer at all; People who used to be teachers in children's villages said that there were only 32 children in the village, but they were said to be 42. Children eat badly, almost every day is cabbage, sauerkraut and the like; Children can't use the money and things donated by well-intentioned people, but the daughter paid is the richest among the students studying in the UK ... The report is rushing headlong, and Fu Guangrong suddenly becomes a sinner through the ages and a "liar" in the eyes of the media. Only a few media have objectively raised the issue of the regulation of charity in China. This extreme report by the media made the truth biased, and then the investigation against Guangrong went away.
On April 17th, 25, Legal Evening News published the article "Colgate and other toothpastes are alleged to contain indirect carcinogens", which was the first to question the safety of Colgate and other toothpastes. Subsequently, major newspapers and periodicals all over the country reported that the status of "Colgate" toothpaste in the eyes of consumers plummeted and spread to the whole toothpaste industry. However, within a few days, some media questioned the article questioning Colgate toothpaste. Xinhua News Agency reporters began to check the source of the news and learned that it was originally an American research achievement, and the original text did not involve the words "Colgate" at all, while the news quoted by Chinese media came from a British tabloid report taken out of context. Original author Peter? Wexley also publicly stated that "the media's wrong reports and excessive reactions have caused unnecessary panic. Secondly, this study does not involve toothpaste at all ... We should not draw any conclusions about the safety of toothpaste containing Yujie Pure based on this study. ". Consumers also have objections to the inconsistent reports of the media, and feel that the media is suspected of speculation and should be investigated clearly before reporting. However, the Legal Evening News and other media still insist that questioning the safety of Colgate toothpaste is a manifestation of the media's responsibility. "I was based on a responsibility called early warning, and I think the media itself should play this role." The media's inaccurate reports triggered an unnecessary "public health crisis", which destroyed the image of a big brand in the eyes of consumers and caused an impact on the whole industry, and finally weakened its prestige to some extent.
The two incidents mentioned above have gradually deepened their close relationship with people's lives, among which the "Colgate" incident is even more related to people's life safety. However, it is these important news that have been reported blindly by the media without verifying the accuracy of information sources, without communicating with relevant departments, and with great subjective inclination of journalists, which has caused people's incomprehension, anxiety and even panic. From this, we can see that there are several factors that lead to inaccurate media reports.
1. report the truth of news rashly without verification
There are two requirements: one is that the basic elements such as time, place, people and events must be accurate, which is the lowest requirement; Secondly, deeper news truthfulness means to collect and disseminate news facts as a whole and from a dialectical and developing point of view, dig out the ins and outs behind the superficial phenomena of things, and accurately reflect the mainstream and development trend of news events. Obviously, the first of these two levels is the foundation. If we can't even make the phenomenon true, let alone what is essentially true.
As the saying goes, "seven points are chosen, three points are written". Interview is very important in the process of news writing, and you can't find the truth without in-depth interview. The media should try their best to find the source of the news, and then check the first-hand information such as the parties or bystanders to prove that it is true and accurate before publishing it. In the "Colgate" incident, the Chinese media first quoted a British tabloid report without investigation, which caused an uproar in the whole country. Fortunately, the Xinhua News Agency reporter made a detailed interpretation of the original text of the researcher before clarifying the facts. However, the negative impact of these reports on the brand's image in the minds of consumers has been difficult to quickly eliminate.
Second, the value orientation of the media is biased
Today, with the increasingly fierce competition, the media's criteria for selecting news have been biased towards the audience's preferences, and less consideration has been given to the value of news itself and its significance to society. Due to the need of competition, the media's understanding of timeliness has also gone to extremes. For some uncertain gossip, even if doubts are found, they will not be investigated, but will be sent out first. As Wang Lin, the executive editor of Legal Evening News, said, "I mean, if it has such a dangerous possibility, I must tell the citizens of this city at the first time that it may produce harmful substances." It's easy to publish it just because it's possible. What other news in the media is accurate and credible? In this society where public health crises such as "poisoned milk powder" occur frequently, people will naturally pay considerable attention to the "suspected poisoned toothpaste" exposed by major newspapers and then refuse to buy it. What influence did the media have on the psychology of the audience for their own self-interest, and what a huge loss it caused to the enterprise!
Third, the reporter's subjective arbitrariness is serious
We say that the absolute news truth is impossible to achieve, because news reporting activities are the reflection of the reporter's subjective consciousness on objective facts, which is bound to have a certain subjective tendency. In order to pursue the truth of news to the greatest extent, in practical work, this kind of subjectivity and tendency should be reduced and avoided by journalists. If journalists can't adjust their mentality and report news in a fair and objective position, but choose news facts according to their own subjective thoughts and emotions, it is likely to cause the news to be inaccurate.
When Fu Guangrong's "Sunshine Children's Village" was first reported, most of the media were positive and praised. If the news facts themselves are true, this kind of praise for charity is of course the "duty" of the media and has a positive role in promoting the formation of a good social atmosphere. But in the report of this incident, the media has gone too far. Before the reporter reported, he had formed a positive impression of dealing with Guangrong, so he showed praise when choosing materials and between the lines of his writing. But later reports put forward completely different opinions. How can this be explained? Although things are constantly developing and changing, Fu Guangrong may have gradually thought of using children to make money by a simple "good-hearted person", but the fundamental reason is that journalists are carried away by some so-called "mainstream" opinions, and only see some superficial things without serious verification, thus causing inaccurate news and interfering with the audience's judgment of right and wrong.
The above three reasons are actually interrelated and interactive. In most cases, the three factors work together, affecting the position and value orientation of journalists and editors, resulting in inaccurate news reports. There are quite a few false news reports, so how to avoid such false reports is a problem worthy of attention.
First of all, we should strictly adhere to the bottom line of news truthfulness ideologically and cognitively. Whether it is to publicize typical figures or expose social problems, we should put the verification of facts in the first place. Only by interviewing and reporting the facts accurately and clearly can we not wait until we find that it is untrue. You know, some losses cannot be compensated. Modern media exist in the space of market economy, and the social effect of reporting needs to be borne by the media itself. The credibility of the media has become an important and intangible resource for the media to survive and develop. If false reports are published just to seize the opportunity and stimulate the audience, in the long run, the long-established trust between the media and the audience will be broken, which will be difficult to repair and will be a huge loss for the media.
Secondly, journalists should change their work style, downplay the news curiosity and put rational thinking first. As a large-scale group, the audience has different demands for news. Faced with these differences, the media should carefully consider how to face the audience, whether to guide or cater to, whether to popularize or popularize. Only by observing the news rules, making choices calmly and rationally, and resisting the consciousness of blindly following the trend and speculation, can we persist in popularization without vulgarization, face the market without losing our way, and correctly handle and grasp the problems.
in terms of social influence and effect, different levels of media have different influence ranges. In Britain, the article about "Colgate" was published in a tabloid, which didn't attract the attention of the British at all, but the Legal Evening News in China, as a national newspaper, reprinted the article and quickly attracted the attention of the whole country. Therefore, newspapers with large circulation should pay more attention to the social effects of news, pay attention to the tracing of news sources, and never report rashly.
thirdly, the media and journalists also need to be supervised. The self-discipline of journalists and editors can't solve the problem fundamentally. The supervision here mainly comes from the higher authorities, who have the obligation and power to supervise the subordinate units, and should find the problems in time through real-time supervision and regular inspection. These seemingly small problems can't be solved by verbal criticism and education, but we should take effective measures to punish them, so as to arouse the media's vigilance and not touch this "high-voltage line". At the same time, this kind of supervision should also be guaranteed by policies and regulations, and the relevant departments need to form an effective supervision mechanism by improving the legal system, and always make unremitting efforts to the end.
this kind of supervision should also come from the audience, who are the recipients of information services provided by the media, and they can supervise from a different perspective from the higher authorities. The media should pay attention to the collection of such supervision opinions and pay attention to improvement in order to better serve the audience.
We live in an information society, and information is the most important resource in social life. It is easy for the media to collect information, but it is difficult to identify, screen and process the information and highlight the really important information, and it is even more difficult to ensure that every piece of information is true and correct. If the media only bombards the audience with information, or even brings some wrong information to the audience, such invalid information will cause them trouble. Comrade Lu Dingyi once said, "It's still a real problem that journalism is going around. There are many things in journalism, and the fundamental thing is this problem. With this article, it will be useful. If there is credit, the newspaper will be read. " The media must have a clear understanding of this fundamental problem. Under the guidance of correct understanding, we can truly keep the true bottom line of news, win the trust of the audience and finally win space for the survival of the media.
References:
[1] Smell entertainment. Silence or expression? -the antinomy of media from the perspective of "Colgate incident". Journalists, No.7, 25.
[2] Shen Shiwei. Credibility-the foundation of media. Journalists, No.2, 25.
[3] Jiang Yonghong. On the degree of news. News front, No.9, 23