Do We need a Media Filter? - Siobhonn Shannon

When I sit down and read the paper, watch the six o’clock news, check the Sydney Morning Herald website, or choose to utilise one of the many other ways in which the news is available, I like to know that what I’m reading is the truth. Don’t get me wrong, I love a bit of fiction every now and again, but it doesn’t belong on the front page of the newspaper. I’m not the only one who feels like this, and for exactly this reason, your average journalist uses multiple sources, which they check and cross check against all the other information they’ve gathered. Essentially, a news story is filtered down to its essence, all the false information carefully teased away by journalists who have the time, contacts and resources to do so.

For decades, we’ve been fed news by a media who is able to verify every last detail, so it’s not surprising to see that many people are against the constantly increasing popularity of blogs. Anyone can publish a blog, and they can put anything in it. The blog is limited only by its author’s imagination, and because of this incredible freedom, blogs are difficult to consider as a legitimate news source. While many bloggers cite their resources at the bottom of the page, most don’t, meaning that a lot of the time, the filtration process so highly valued by the conventional media does not occur. This makes a lot of people uncomfortable, even more so with the endless speculation that blogosphere will eventually take over the media world, leaving the news-craving public at the mercy of anyone with a computer.

Personally, I think the media can breathe easy. Blogs are, above all else, opinion pieces, written from the point of view of the person sitting at the keyboard. It is simply not in their design to be mind-bogglingly accurate. To filter the blogosphere would be a desecration of the very concept of blogging, which is to give the everyday citizen a safe and judgement-free outlet for their opinions and thoughts. The filtration of information has its place, and that place is only to make sure that the truth is told, not to censor the opinions of the masses.