This is not in the interest of users, but in the sense of publishers and broadcasters, because the more users they attract, the more advertising they can sell, the more rewarding their medium. Since politics made the audience rate the measure of all things, public service broadcasters have been forced not only to base their programs on the benefits for democracy and the actual needs of their users, but also on the fact that as many as possible use their programs. In many media who provide the latest news in India, mass became more important than class. Commercialization and boulevardization are the result.
The only problem is that journalism and the media decide how we see the world. That is why it is not enough to tell a good story, it also has to be truthful, that is, to depict reality as precisely as possible. Since this is happening less and less due to tabloidization, shortening and decreasing topics, the trust of the users in the media decreases. They try to regain trust through transparency. Julius Reimer, a research assistant at the Institute for Journalism at TU Dortmund University, found that only partially possible:
“There is something like sources under a post, which makes the content of the post verifiable for the readers. According to our first results, this obviously only works in print journalism. Where, on the other hand, insight into editorial routines and decisions and also the introduction of an author and his / her CV obviously inspires confidence in online journalism. “
Readers of printed media apparently assume that nobody would dare to refer to non-existent sources or to refer to questionable documents while internet users are aware of the manipulability of websites and therefore do not trust links to other websites. However, trust arises when someone holds his head out for a contribution:
“When an author shows responsibility for what is published in online journalism and shows his name and face there, this naturally counteracts the appearance of anonymity and manipulability in online journalism and thus also creates trust. That is our interpretation of the results. ”
The loss of trust in the media increases the uncertainty of the citizens. This can lead to cancellations, as in Stuttgart, where many citizens were dissatisfied with the coverage of Stuttgart 21. This continues to force newspapers to save, which further reduces the variety of topics and thoroughness. A dangerous downward spiral.
Vinzenz Wyss uses an example to illustrate how problematic shortening and sloppy wording are:
“If you read in the newspaper” A 23-year-old Moldovan has run over a three-year-old child by car “, you can assume that the narration is already there. A lot of people will then think: “Aha, a typical foreign racer, we always knew it.” If you stop, you can transmit these facts; and maybe not ask the question, maybe he might have driven because his pregnant girlfriend had to go to hospital, and so on. So if you give it up to your hands, just throw the facts at the audience and leave the narration to them, then you are just as irresponsible as if you simply choose a narrative, choose a specific interpretation and not allow the others. ”
Accuracy, correct choice of words and a careful arrangement of the facts so that they depict reality as exactly as history has done, that would be the requirement of careful journalism. Every media professional should actually be aware that “telling stories” can always mean that you are cheating.
