They search for the story, we yearn for the facts -- yes, I'm talking about journalists and consumers. With today's competitive media market it’s a rush as to who can produce the most interesting and fact-filled story, as quickly as possible. The first source to break the story is often the story that gets the most traction, whether the story is true or not. Despite this, reporters need to hold themselves responsible for continuous self-assessment and commitment to the truth. With a strong individual commitment to accountability and accuracy -by making sure the information presented is factual before producing a story- reporters could change the current journalistic scene. Poor sourcing can be the downfall of any story or journalist. If a source is not truthful or trustworthy one story can destroy the reputation of a reporter - or worse a whole media source entirety. Reliable sourcing is key to producing a good story, as said by Fred Friendly, “if your first no one will ever remember if you're wrong - no one will ever forget.” Personally, I believe the past five years has only made the rush to press worse. It’s more common today to see a story with improper or incorrect sourcing/information than ever before. With the plethora of media, we have access to it’s a constant race to get information out, I believe this is negatively impacting the quality of the media we receive and consume.
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