The News Media Fair or Not

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The New Media, Fair or Not?
Chris Tomlinson in his article “Only You Can Fight Fake News,” states that the most patriotic thing Americans can do is keeping themselves informed. I agree with Tomlinson’s perspective on “fake news” that have rocked the American media in the last few incidents such as the Las Vegas shooting and massacre. In light of Tomlinson’s article, it does not make sense why millions of people have continued to believe false information propagated by month old twitter accounts rather than relying on the credibility of media outlets that have existed for centuries. It is even baffling as people continue to share the false information on their social sites (Tomlinson N.p).
I agree that that “fake news” has become a norm in the recent past. The spread of fake news can be associated with the advancement of social media platforms and the ease of access to misinformation. As Tomlinson (N.p) alludes, social media companies such as Facebook and twitter bare a burden of the fake news that has been prominent on their sites. These companies have extended their “greed” for profits and users in such a way that it has become merely impossible for them to verify information and advertisements placed on their sites. For instance, Facebook has over the past five years gained millions of new users and adverts per year. With the huge number of followers, it has become unmanageable for the company to vet and in cases pull down information that is “fake.

” On the other hand, their need for revenue has caused them to accept payment from unverified sources whose intent is to place adverts that are misleading to the ordinary American.
Nevertheless, as much as the blame is shifted towards the social media companies, the users of these sites play a significant role in propagating the spread and emergence of fake news. As mentioned above, it is unbelievable why Twitter users would “believe” information given by a month old twitter account over the credibility of a century-old newspaper company. As much as it is difficult to understand this analogy, the social media boom has led everyone on social media to believe that they can become a professional journalist. Thus, these users are continuously looking for headlines that will pull traffic to their pages. Due to the “darker demons of human nature” as Tomlinson states, people will continually share any “trending” information without taking the “ultimate responsibility” of ensuring the information they shared is credible (Tomlinson N.p). Therefore, it is ideal for social media users to share information that they get from credible journalists or media houses.
Withal, Tomlinson’s perspective of “fake news” and its propagation is agreeable. Tomlinson notes that there is a looming danger for the demise of “real” and professional journalism based on the spread and propagation of fake news. The spread of fake news is an issue that is affecting the American population both politically and socially. The “fake news” has been subjected to the lack of proper guidelines for adverts and user acquisition by social media companies. Furthermore, the attitude of social media users has played a significant role in scenarios where they are likely to believe a newly formed Twitter account over a century old news media. Nevertheless, I agree that the only patriotic approach for the American people is to keep themselves informed.

Works cited
Tomlinson, Chris. “Only You Can Fight Fake News.” Huston Chronicle, 2017. Print.