October Question of the Month

Social media/the internet + hyperpartisanship = a lot of inaccurate and unattributable thoughts masquerading as news. What can be done to make what we see/read/experience online more trustworthy and verifiable?

When it comes to any issue in our society, especially politics, people have very passionate but differing views. These differences of opinions can lead to massive political polarization or hyperpartisanship within our local communities, regionally, and more seriously, on the national level. One of the most common forms of expressing one’s opinion in today’s age is through social media platforms. Networks that used to be neutral sources of fact are now emotionally charged and followed by viewers who passionately agree with the presented network biases. Because of this, it can be very easy to skew data or headlines to seem more appealing to audiences when in fact, they may not be as accurate or attributive to the issues at hand. This is an issue that is shared globally and one that many are trying to solve without success. By better educating the public on these biases, and working with the oppositional parties to place restrictions on media opinion, not only would the United States be able to reunite, but also to redeem the trust that has previously been lost in the media and news.

One of the most momentous issues within media biases is the fact that people willingly believe them. Many people don’t even understand that the sources they use for everyday news have any political biases, and in many cases these biases can be difficult to spot objectively. Platforms such as Fox News, CNN, or MSNBC are openly biased when it comes to politics, but in other forms such as newspapers, magazines, and other televised media events, the biases are more subtle. The media can create biases within headlines by merely wording a phrase in alternate manners. People see these headlines and don’t think twice about the wording, or whether they’re necessarily true and many times, don’t even bother to read further than the headlines to find out what the story actually contains. This issue can be solved in a. Simple manner; educate the American people on these subtle biases and give them alternate sources that are more reliable and based upon facts. One example of an alternate source would be BBC which is very politically unbiased when it comes to the U.S because why would they have opinions or biases on foreign political issues? It affects them in no way whatsoever. If people stop paying attention to the biases and ridiculous headlines advertised by media networks, the media will realize that the people much prefer facts and will revert to a more factually based newscast.

In a more restricted approach to this issue, a solution could be proposed in restriction of certain media outlets so that the people have at least one trustable source. If social reform can not rid this bias in the media then the government should take control and do it for us. If a restriction were to be placed on media networks that stated that networks were to state only the facts of the matter instead of placing personal opinion or bias upon them, the issue would be solved. Yes, conservative networks would still choose to cover stories that more benefit their parties and the same would go for the liberal agenda however, at least the people would know they were getting factual evidence instead of personal statements that don’t accurately represent the political crises at hand. An issue with this particular strategy would be the backlash of the American people who particularly like to read stories that agree with their personal opinions, no matter how biased or inaccurate stories may be. To solve this, designate or create one singular newscast or media platform that is solely to state the facts of the matter. This would be the platform shown in airports and gas stations where large groups of people would congregate or overhear political issues.

While there is no exact science or perfected policies to be set in place to fully prevent the biases of the news and media, it is important that the people have trust in their news sources. This begins with an education of the personal opinions presented as facts within newscasts and a personal awareness of how to recognize subtle biases within stories or headlines. If this social reform is not sufficient, the government should step in to protect the public from the dangers of misinformation and inaccurate coverage. Untrustworthy news should not be an issue with which we should be concerned in this day and age but unfortunately it is. Unfortunately, platforms have turned from factual standpoints to posting headlines that will merely attract the most readers instead of summarizing the reality of the story’s contents. In the end, it comes down to the american people. The only way to prevent this from progressing further is to refuse to give power to the media. If we can stop buying into the biases, they will have to reform in order to maintain an audience. If we stop listening, the biases will have no power and fact will return as the most prominent type of news in the United States.

PSL Mentor Interview

My PSL mentor is Anya Chew. She is originally from Mississippi but moved to Cleveland at a young age and that is where she was raised. When applying to colleges, she initially wanted to go to an out of state University. In fact, OSU was the only in-state school to which she applied but, she loved the political science program offered here and combined with scholarships, she made a decision to stay a little closer to home. When she applied to OSU, she also applied to PSL as her top choice scholars program because of it’s connection with her major. So far she has loved it! Anya is double majoring in political science and security and intelligence with a dual minor in german and military history. Her hopes are to work for the government in some way or to work for a defense company.
On top of her impressive academic accomplishments, Anya is also very involved in student organizations here on campus. She has been in PSL since her first year at OSU and this is her second year being a mentor, which she does because she loves getting to know the new students. She is in a sorority: Kappa Kappa Gamma, the director for outreach at Buckeye Food Alliance, and a member of the Collegiate Council on World Affairs(CCWA). Her favorite thing about her student organizations has been watching them grow and come so far since the days when she had first joined. When asked to choose which of the organizations was her favorite, she claimed that she loved them all for different reasons but if she had to chose, she loves CCWA because it aligns with her majors and she has been involved in Model United Nations programs for nearly 10 years. “Its a part of who I am at this point,” she said. Anya would recommend any of these programs to new and incoming students however she highly recommended CCWA especially to new PSLers because anyone who joined PSL had to be at least somewhat educated and passionate about politics and thats what CCWA is all about. If you’re looking for some community service hours however, be sure to check out Buckeye Food Alliance. It’s a great way to volunteer and help people in your free time.
One of the things Anya really emphasized was getting involved. She said that joining student organizations really helps make connections, gets you out of your room, and can help to benefit the community. Even if you’re unsure about joining a student org, go to the first meeting. If you hate it, you don’t have to go back but you may end up finding something that you love. Her final advice for any new students was to chose one or two organizations and get really involved in them. At a school as huge as OSU, it’s easy to get lost in the people and feel like you haven’t made any connections. You want to be able to find a solid group of friends and a great way to do that is to join a student organization. Not only will you make friends but they will also have similar interests because you both joined that organization because it involved something about which you are passionate. it’s important to have social aspects as well as sleeping, going to classes, etc. There are so many organizations on campus, anyone is bound to find one that they’d love to join and if they can’t, you can make your own.

Artifacts

[Artifacts are the items you consider to be representative of your academic interests and achievements. For each entry, include both an artifact and a detailed annotation.  An annotation includes both a description of the artifact and a reflection on why it is important to you, what you learned, and what it means for your next steps.  For more guidance on using your ePortfolio, including questions and prompts that will help you get started, please visit the Honors & Scholars ePortfolio course in Carmen. To get answers to specific questions, please email eportfolio@osu.edu. Delete these instructions and add your own post.]