How to Be a More Responsible Citizen with Your News Consumption

Our country is divided, and “the media” is an easy target for why. We blame the press for everything from political combativeness to fake news online. Certainly, declining journalistic standards are involved with our current culture, but it’s far more complicated than that.

I recently listened to a two-part podcast episode discussing a pending “media apocalypse.” It was an accurate and deeply troublesome conversation about the current state of our news media. As someone who graduated from journalism school, it was also very compelling for me personally.

One thing they talked about on the podcast was how we are active participants in shaping our culture. We can’t fully blame the media, or politicians, or some other nondescript group for our issues. They’re certainly involved, but we’re also active participants in what gets created.

The websites we visit and products we pay for are small votes toward creating more similar things. We can’t complain about tabloid news if that’s all we consume. And we can’t be disappointed in the disappearance in quality journalism if we aren’t willing to pay for it. Collectively, we must make more positive consumer decisions and encourage those around us to do the same.

With an upcoming presidential election, reading the news objectively will feel more daunting than ever. However, it’s also more important for us to be fair and well-informed. When done well, that leads to a more even-handed understanding of

Why Journalism is Important

• Investigative journalism holds powerful people accountable. The news media is meant to serve as a watchdog for politicians and businesses abusing their power and trying to hide it from the public.
• Democracy requires a well-educated public. We all benefit when everyone has reliable information, especially about elections. This helps us to collectively make better decisions about who our leaders should be.
• Misinformation is genuinely a problem and leads to uncertainty around facts. There’s no one definition of a journalist, but there are certainly standards they should meet. Factual accuracy is the bare minimum.
• Journalism is a surprisingly…