A recent CNN panel discussing the Time cover, “Welcome to America,” which displayed a young girl crying looking up at President Trump, gave an honest and concise breakdown of what is going on in the news in regards to immigration.
I often struggle in my view toward the media. On one hand, I understand certain networks’ need to frame news to the political affiliations their viewers hold. On the other, I understand that it is my responsibility to search for the truth and open my mind to all viewpoints on a subject. The news cycle has lately shown me that the media’s influence and duty to report the truth is more significant.
The CNN panelists, Mary Katharine Ham and Jackie Kucinich, voiced their opinion on the dishonest Time cover and in how Americans distrust the media. Ham, a right-leaning panelist, opined that Americans are justified in their lack of trust in the media after using the child on the cover as a prop, saying, “People are going to wonder if you’re lying to them about other things.”
Kucinich, the bureau chief for Daily Beast, gave a similar argument, commenting, “Rhe fact that this story about the little girl is too good to check … do better.” In the matter of seconds, Kucinich perfectly explained the problem surrounding Time … its agenda was more important than the child whose life it believed it was saving.
Kucinich’s analysis of the cover speaks for other controversial photos included in the immigration debate, such as: Jennifer Lopez shared an Obama era picture of an Iraqi girl fleeing ISIS and later replaced it with the original photo of the young girl on the Time cover, and Facebook users sharing a photo of a young boy wearing a shirt designed with the number “47” and claiming the U.S. government has now numbered him, just as Nazis did in the Holocaust.
While disappointing, the spreading of fake news that has taken place in the past week were examples of the simplicity of fact checking. Taking initiative to investigate serious allegations only to find out they are false should be the the responsibility of readers, but it also leads members of the media down a dangerous path. When media can no longer hold other media accountable, the safety of Americans are at stake. Recently, the lives of ICE agents have been compromised because of fake news introduced by The New Yorker.
New Yorker fact checker Talia Lavin shared a photograph tweeted out by ICE that showed one of its employees, a Marine Corps veteran. The tweet slandered him about a tattoo Lavin contended was a Nazi symbol. In actuality, the tattoo depicted the “Titan 2” symbol and the Spartan Creed, both of which pay tribute to his time served in Afghanistan. Lavin’s great misunderstanding was one fueled by anger, not of legitimacy.
There is a difference between the Time and New Yorker incidents: One put lives in danger, the other did not. But one certainly led to the other, proving that the slippery slope of clickbait and social-media attention have consequences. Prominent media sources that prioritize a “resist” agenda about the truth should feel responsible for the culture of lies created but should also serve to teach their audience a lesson of checking facts and personal responsibility. The women of the CNN panel were correct … we should all be infuriated that we are not worth the truth.