Remember those dumbfounded reactions from the mainstream media on November 8th, when Donald Trump proved the world of liberals wrong and won the US election. It is also the day, when those media people went completely out of their mind and chose to ignore the will of the people and decided that it is not the best interest of them to analyze their failure to recognize the forgotten millions of men and women (as President Trump calls them) across the United States and the world but to shrug them off as xenophobic or Islamo -phobic. This is truly dark days for journalism, which is now controlled by a handful of people looking to push their own agendas.
But there seems to be a glimpse of light in the dark. One of the most respected news organization; Reuters is showing ways to regain the credibility lost by journalism in 2016. This week Reuters’ Editor in Chief Steve Adler defined to his reporters how the media house needs to cover on Trump. He said, “Get out into the country and learn more about how people live, what they think, what helps and hurts them, and how the government and its actions appear to them, not to us."
He said that the first two weeks under Trump Presidency has been tough for those in the news business, as it is not every day that a President of the United States calls the media people most dishonest human beings on earth or his chief strategist dubs the media as the opposition party. He says but it is not the way of Reuters to respond by opposing the administration or to appease it or boycott press briefings or to use the platform to rally support for the media. Instead, he calls for his reporters to hold the principles high, which is the integrity, independence, and freedom from bias. He added, “This is our mission, in the U.S. and everywhere. We make a difference in the world because we practice professional journalism that is both intrepid and unbiased. When we make mistakes, which we do, we correct them quickly and fully. When we don’t know something, we say so. When we hear rumors, we track them down and report them only when we are confident that they are factual. We value speed but not haste: When something needs more checking, we take the time to check it. We try to avoid “permanent exclusives” – first but wrong. We operate with calm integrity not just because it’s in our rulebook but because – over 165 years – it has enabled us to do the best work and the most good.”
