I was drawn in by the provocative question fixed to the bottom of the screen, just like the producers knew I would be. “Does Islam Promote Violence?” in bold, black letters beckoning viewers to take a moment out of their day to see a question that’s been on their minds finally and definitively resolved. But instead of an actual informed discussion, with thought provoking questions on the part of the news anchors and insightful responses on the part of the interviewees, I was shocked to see instead a display of what exactly is wrong with the state of the news in the United States. I certainly don't want to take the focus away from the argument Reza Aslan is making in the video - in fact that's a big reason for my decision to share the clip. He makes a wonderful point about not generalizing an entire religion and its followers based off of a few extremist cases, and I think it's about time that more people started to come forward to call others out for their “bigotry,” as Aslan defines it. But the offender he has called out is the most important: the mass media. Before moving to China, I distinctly remember how frustrating it was to turn on the TV to watch the news. The embedded video is a perfect example of the problem; two "journalists" ask almost exclusively leading questions and verbally cut off the interviewee the moment he begins to stray from their intended script. Similarly, CNN anchors were bringing on guests, not to provide information, but to bully them into giving them the answers they wanted to hear. MSNBC, on the other hand, has also fallen from the pedestal on which I had originally placed it. Back in the day, they were calling out the nonsense of not only politicians, but also the pseudo-journalists on other networks reporting fake news. I get it, MSNBC is intrinsically biased; no one tunes in expecting to hear two-sided political discourse on that channel. In fact, I still remember being shocked whenever I would see Rachel Maddow bring up clips of reporters behaving badly from channels that weren't Fox. But the day I saw the Ed Show publishing Twitter polls asking questions like, “Do you think political candidates should be on the Fox News payroll?” and “Do you believe Republican leadership has solutions for anything?” was the day I knew that "MSNBC: News With Left-Wing Commentary" had turned into "MSNBC: Left-Wing Soap Box" and become reduced to no more than a bizarro Fox, doomed to flashy graphics, anti-republican rants, and misinformation, all in the name of getting more people to tune in and generate more money for the channel. As an aspiring journalist, it pains me to see television news going down this path. Unfortunately, it is only through witnessing the degradation of the field, that I have been able to understand that journalists are meant to be, first and foremost, public servants. The profession was created to give both a voice and vision to the people: journalism allowed for public opinion to be heard by the powers that be, but it also kept those powers in check because they always knew that with newsmen around, it wasn't just somebody watching, it was everyone. But in this day and age, with CNN playing hours of fear-mongering interspliced with just enough touchy-feely pieces to keep people tuned in, looking out for profit rather than actually keeping governments honest and the people informed, I’m questioning if I even want to get into a field that places money over basic human values like truth and honesty. Seeing the direction that journalism is currently heading towards is basically like finding out that Batman is only wealthy because each time he saved someone’s life, he charged them $50. It seems a bit ridiculous that it doesn’t go without saying that journalism as a profession should not be for the man with his hand outstretched for money, but for the man with his hand outstretched to help. Something is not quite right when I see citizens on the ground risking their lives tweeting pictures of life-threatening protests and natural disasters while pampered and made up professionals, backed by companies making hundreds of millions of dollars, sit in their comfy chairs reporting solely on images taken with the iPhones of those who were brave enough to actually go out and report. It’s time that that money stopped going into men’s eyeliner and started going back into actual news production - flying reporters into dangerous situations, hiring staff knowledgeable about a wider range of topics, and investing in technologies that will make dissemination of news easier. This final point is especially important in countries that lack freedom of the press; if newspapers stand for the rights of the people, why should publications end their mission for spreading knowledge when they reach the borders of their host nation? This partialism towards one’s own countrymen is the very root of the misinformation and bad reporting featured in the Reza Aslan video. Going back to the issue of the responsibility news sources have to report for the people, with the 24 hour news cycle, it should be easy to keep the public informed in a way that is actually effective. Interspersing national and world news as it happens with segments about different social issues is the best method, and it would be fairly simple to come up with a schedule that both maximized viewer exposure to breaking news when it is still relevant while ensuring that people are receiving the diversified flow of information that the new model strives to achieve. Moreover, it isn’t like this model would be devoid of color; all of that pent up anger and biased commentary that MSNBC and Fox pride themselves on could be channeled into things that we can all agree are bad. Rather than having Ed Sullivan spouting theories about why all Republicans are Nazis, imagine passionate and engaged reporters discussing topics like poverty, war, and disaster relief. It would only require that the news stations are honest with themselves and the public about what needs to be heard. For example, if news outlets ignored people that don’t want to acknowledge the reality of climate change but instead reported the facts about the destruction of our planet, real advancements could be made because the public would be in the know, and due to the informed commentary, would on occasion even find themselves compelled to act. This isn’t to say that there would be no place for pop culture in this “newstopia”, but on this ideal network I think it is safe to say that Solange's wedding would not get the same play time as the possible reunification of the Koreas. I do think that stories about the Royal Baby and “Panda Watch” are important for providing context and keeping people interested, but they do not deserve to stand alone. Segments that look at pop culture could possibly play an important role for connecting the youth back to the news (i.e.: the embodiment of class structure in the former example, and issues related to animal extinction in the latter), but for standalone gossip about musicians getting into fist fights and actresses getting divorces, we have the E! network in the United States, and similar channels in other countries. Obviously, this ideal news network is a long way off. Personally, I have a lot of ideas about what could be done to reign the media back in, but until the people make it known that they are unsatisfied with the state of their news, nothing is going to get done. We cannot rely on Rupert Murdoch to wake up and decide to take a huge risk and turn his media empire into an advocate for the people while he makes $30 million a year on superficial reporting and news anchors that can barely discern fact from opinion. We also cannot rely on governments to step in and solve the problem of bad news when said bad news is often in their favor and the model for good reporting threatens to limit their power. No, the problem can’t be solved by waiting on those already entrenched in the media sphere, nor those who are in charge of protecting our rights. It is up to us to make a stand and say we will not take it anymore. I am challenging you, the audience, to rally and make your voices heard by the networks; let them know that you refuse to be treated as just another statistic on their annual budget reports. Your views are paying their salaries, after all - it’s about time you spoke up. This article was written by Kadallah Burrowes. Send an email to [email protected] to get in touch. Photo Credit: Marjorie Wang