PHOTO BY JAKE BULLINGTON
BY ELLIE HILSCHER
Luis Clemens from National Public Radio (NPR) made the trek to Drake University on March 21. Clemens is the Senior Editor for Diversity stationed in Washington DC.
I must admit that I haven’t listened to much of it, but do have it stationed in my car. NPR delivers breaking news as well as top stories, and those that need to be deeply stressed. Walking into the room, I had no idea what to expect for this lecture as I didn’t know too much about the event before hand.
With the past election, there is no doubt that there has been issues with real and fake news. The issue that has risen, is that people don’t know how to figure out if a source is in fact providing correct information. They tend to be deceived by the fake news, which is something I hope to help everyone learn how to pick out.
Now, it’s especially difficult due to the gaps in generation and how the past generations were able to retrieve their news. There is the generalization that people from older generations are less tech savvy, which can be true in some sense but isn’t something we should label every generation past the ’60s.
“I believe in the facts,” Clemens said throughout his speech.
Which, even though it’s a simple statement, is quite bold and did leave an impact on me. Because what should we trust? Who? What sources?
With older generations I don’t think it’s necessarily a lack of technical skills, but the fact that we are deceived by “news” as I mentioned above. We have to take a step back and closely check our facts.
Facts are facts, but the source is the most important piece. Before posting anything, please make sure you know about the author and source of information. Then think… does this make sense? The author? The website? Is it plausible? When you think it is, remember to dive in a little deeper to review it again.
While sitting in on the lecture, the idea of skepticism was brought up. We can not distrust the media because of skepticism, but we should have a right to know accurate information. Scandals are overblown these days in the media as well as the claims thrown out about fake news.
I’m not saying that every news source is scandalous, in fact that is the opposite. Here are just a few news sources that have a variety of fact checked information: The New York Times, Washington Post, BBC, The Atlantic, and the list goes on.
Question everything, and double check everything. This is a motto that I’ve come to enjoy. Clemens had the audience repeat these five simple words, and it’s something I want you to consider… “I will not be deceived.” Remember that in today’s world of media.
