Six Principles News
The US-based Radio Television Digital News Foundation provides six principles which underpin news and information:
- Free expression is the foundation — the cornerstone — of democracy. Unlike in the UK and many other countries the US Constitution provides freedom of expression as inalienable rights to protect the foundation of journalism to ‘accurately, thoroughly and completely inform their communities’, to promote more effective and active citizens. This enables citizens to freely share information needed to empower themselves, to make enlightened decisions, to express disagreements and to make sound choices about what leaders to elect, take responsibility for the welfare of their communities and respect the rights of people with different viewpoints and beliefs.
- Discerning fact from opinion is a basic skill and obligation. It is incumbent upon journalists to inform citizens by reporting of information to enable them to determine the difference between authentic news reports and false ‘news’ (facts and fiction) and to correctly perceive what columns, commentary, editorials, letters to the editor, advertising, advocacy ads and advocacy are produced by whom. They should be proficient in evaluating what they receive and verify what they create.
- When the process of gathering and reporting is transparent, news and information are more meaningful, trusted and credible. Journalists should refrain from indulging in biased, distorted and paid news. They should clearly identify issues and provide objective reporting which ensures journalistic independence and integrity. News consumers should be able to trust their journalistic sources for correct information and news.
- Effective communication of news and information requires synthesis of multiple sources into meaningful context and comprehension of its impact. Journalists must check news content and information to enable audiences to make meaningful use of it, in context, with a minimum need for clarification. Journalists must get it right and must present news in a relevant, engaging manner without sensationalism, speculation and bias. Citizens should be trained to expect credible and reliable information sources.
- Information requires verification to be effective. Journalists must report and present information in coherent, clear, meaningful and relevant manner. They should interrogate sources without advocacy or disengagement.
- Information in today’s society must empower forums to give voice to citizens and to monitor the free flow of information. Even though journalists must reflect their society, they must be ready to challenge its values and preconceptions. They should report news from all stakeholders in pursuit of an inclusion policy by offering a platform to those who are traditionally unheard. Although they are the watchdog for society they should also be catalytic to change. (The Radio Television Digital News Foundation).
In 1776 Adam Smith in his book ‘The Rationality Choice Theory’ introduced an invaluable concept which is critical in today’s world. He argued that in fulfilment of their social responsibility journalists and the media are bound to provide news and information, which are scrutinised and factually correct which is indispensable to enable news consumers to make rational and informed decisions and sound judgements.
Herbert Simon states that those who reject the assumption of perfect rationality argue that rational choice is conditional upon the availability and full access to the information for making the most rational decision every time.
Adam Smith argues from an economic perspective that the impact of incomplete, inadequate, uncontextualised and tendentious news resonates with one of the four types of bias groups known as ‘Less News and Information’ as cited in the set of about 200 cognitive biases. This is insufficient for news users to fully comprehend the total picture, it distorts reality and reliance upon it results in judgement impairment leading to biased action and wrong decisions.
A common sensible approach is to apply the theory of evidentialism by Clifford’s principles: “It is wrong always, everywhere, and for anyone to believe anything on insufficient evidence” because it tends to lead to wrong or distorted decisions.
Daniel Jackson emphasised the “weighty responsibility of journalists in verifying claims of truth.” He contended that aside from the prevalence of fake news, political journalism encompasses four other concerning factors that must be acknowledged: “an excessive focus on the theatrical aspects of politics, an inherent skepticism towards politicians, an inadequate framework for addressing issues where the evidence is unbalanced, and a growing mistrust of traditional media fueled by populist figures.”
Adam Smith’s Theory of Rationality argues that people are not always able to obtain all the information they would need to make the best possible decision. Smith’s point is echoed by Simon who argues that knowledge of all alternatives, or all consequences that follow from each alternative, is realistically impossible for most decisions that humans make. Rational choice theory posits that individuals use a logical, cost-benefit analysis process to make decisions, rather than randomly selecting options.
Katz and Blumler (1974), User and Gratification Theory explains that audiences tend to choose media texts which provide them information, entertainment and knowledge that are also influenced by several factors; normative functions of the media and cognitive bias.
The deluge of news and information has rendered the standard economic theory of rational expectations ineffective where rational inattention assumes that individuals no longer act rationally but make decisions out of personal interests. Rational expectations tenet, which assumes people acting on full information quickly process all freely available information, has been undermined by the rational inattention theory. RI states that despite full and available information people don’t act quickly, absorb it all and translate it into decisions. RI is based on a simple observation that attention is a scarce resource and, as such, it must be budgeted wisely. (Christopher A. Sims, 2006) RI theory states people choose to pay more attention to more important things. (Maćkowiak. Bartosz et al, 2021)
However, in reality, humans are not always rational in their decision-making. They are normally influenced by cognitive biases, which are intrinsic systematic errors in thinking that affect their judgments and decisions. This explains why consumers do not act rationally anymore. Research supports the assertion that younger audiences have different attitudes towards news than older groups. A research by the Reuters Institute for the study of Journalism found that younger people are primarily driven by progress and enjoyment in their lives, and this translates into what they look for in news (Newman, Fletcher, & Kalogeropoulos, 2019). The research also found that traditional news media no longer seems as relevant or dominant to younger audiences when it comes to news content.
The RI theory operates on the premise that individuals cannot process all available information; rather, they must selectively attend to certain pieces of information. Imperfect information has formed the basis of several critical findings in economics. Despite the abundance of available information due to advancements in technology, we have the ability to assimilate only a fraction of it.
Consequently, the type of imperfect information we possess and use to make decisions is primarily determined by the information which we choose to direct our attention to. These choices are influenced by prevailing economic conditions, leading to behaviour that exhibits several deviations from conventional models that are empirically validated.
Cognitive biases can lead consumers to make decisions that are not in their best interest. The endowment effect is a bias in which people value something more if they own it, which can lead them to overvalue their possessions and not be willing to sell them even if it’s in their best interest. Similarly, confirmation bias is a tendency to seek out information that confirms one’s existing beliefs, leading consumers to ignore information that contradicts their views.
Moreover, emotions also play a role in decision-making. People are often motivated by fear, greed, and the desire for social status, which results in irrational decisions. People often rely on heuristics, or mental shortcuts, to make decisions quickly, leading to errors in judgement.
These cognitive biases and emotional influences have an impact on the behaviour of consumers. They may make impulsive purchases or fall victim to advertising or marketing ploys that play on their biases and emotions. They are commonly prone to seven most common types of cognitive distortions on a daily basis: (a) selective abstraction – having negative aspects of experiences in a selective way, (b) overgeneralisation – belief that in future negative outcome will ensue in similar situations), (c) catastrophisation – believing that the worst is most likely to happen, (d) personalisation – tending to attribute the cause of external events to oneself, (e) temporal causality or predicting without sufficient evidence – holding a belief that in a negative that has happened in the past may occur again, (f) self-reference – feeling that one is at the centre of everyone’s attention, and (g) dichotomous thinking – believing in a binary thinking mode either positive or negative one will happen. (Beck, Rush, Shaw, and Emery.1979) & (Maharishi Mahesh Yogi).
As early as 1949 Orwell predicted the repercussions of digital abundance. Orwell feared those who would deprive us of information.. The narratives centred around Covid-19 forming into binary polemic dispute and over the UK referendum to remain or stay in the EU fulfilled the prophecy of George Orwell’s in 1984. He expressed concern that the truth would be concealed from us whereas Huxley feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance. (Andrew Wilson, 4.5.2012)
The most effective strategy used now to deny or deprive news to unauthorised people is the current “locked platforms” about social media companies making their data inaccessible to researchers, journalists, and non-governmental organisations. This has caused concern for governments regarding “dark political posts” and untraceable political ads. In response, the study has created a political ad archive tool. It is important for social media companies to make their data available for research, monitoring and archiving purposes. The government also has a role to play by consulting with the mentioned groups and taking a regulatory and facilitating approach.
News or editorial content creators, such as journalists or writers may have more information than news consumers about the stories they report on. By corollary the news content may not paint the full picture for being biased. For example, a news outlet may selectively report certain facts to support a particular political agenda, while omitting other relevant information that would provide a more balanced view of the situation. [NEXT –