This is interesting.

Sharyl Attkisson, American author, tv host, and former investigative correspondent for CBS News, recently penned a piece in The Epoch Times claiming that the media industry has over the years increasingly operated to establish, build and maintain ‘narratives’ at the expense of facts, pointing to her own experiences within the media industry to back up her claims.

This has led, Ms Attkisson asserts, to a growing volume of news stories that are not at all based on fact - rather, they favour ‘smear campaigns, political interests, and corporate interests’ which fail to tell a balanced story. They are, in effect, biased pieces pushing a particular agenda.

And it’s not just her. Ms Attkisson talks of colleague, Lara Logan, another CBS news journalist who speaks about the decline of ‘fair and objective journalism’, and her experience at the hand of biased media.

Is this isolated to America? What’s happening in Australian media?

It’s a good question, and one that I am sure we won’t have to dig too far to figure out where facts end and narratives begin.

In fact, it was only yesterday, that Bill Shorten attacked The Daily Telegraph for publishing a story that allegedly claimed his recount of his mother’s career journey was in fact partial at best. So was the Tele pushing a narrative, rather than fact? Depends who you believe I guess. Of course, Mr Shorten came out swinging, and his emotional reaction was broadcast far and wide. Many individuals of all political stripes had something to say about it - but that doesn’t mean that a narrative wasn’t being pushed.

Decide for yourself.

While here at The Australian Academy of Media we’d love to believe that news and journalism is independent, investigative, and unbiased, in the hyper-corporate world we live it’s unlikely to be true. So, how should one navigate it?

As a consumer, read far and wide. Don’t rely on a single news source.

As a journalist, accept that news publishers will have an agenda and that agenda may not align with your values. Be ready to accept that your stories may be edited to offer a different version of events, to be used to sway a particular partisan story that may or may not have been the original intention.

The news media landscape is not as independent or investigative as you would believe. But it will only be a matter of time before consumers and journalists alike speak out and question the narratives being pushed, desiring a return to complete independence and non-partisan reporting.

WANT TO CONTRIBUTE TO OUR BLOG?
spitball@academyofmedia.edu.au