Are you one to think the media is biased, inaccurate, and manipulative?

You’re not alone. According to studies by Gallup, Pew, The Knight Foundation, and countless others, American trust in the media, across all platforms, is at an all time low. More than 60% of people surveyed have a poor opinion about the trustworthiness and transparency of the media. Most Americans believe the media is overtly biased and agenda driven. The majority of those people believe that the media is intentionally dishonest.

These statistics should be shocking and upsetting to you, but not because people have such distaste for the media. You should be shocked and upset because you are the media.

According to Pew Research Center, 67% of Americans get news from social media.  That is a huge number. Even more incredible, 45% of Americans report getting their news specifically from Facebook.

To understand just how terrifying these statistics are, I want you to log in to your social media account right now. Take a good hard look at what “news” you see there.

Exactly.

The vast majority of what people post as “news” to social media is typically someone else’s opinion, something taken completely out of context, or something that is flat-out B.S. People post this stuff because they know it will get a reaction, or because they wish it to be true.

So they tell their “friends”. And their “friends” tell their “friends.” And so on, and so on… just like that 1980’s Faberge Shampoo commercial:

The problem with this is that there’s no fact checking. There’s no questioning the veracity of the source. There’s no thought, just blind posting and blind consumption.

“But why do I need to act like a reporter? It’s just social media.  It’s supposed to be fun.”

67% of Americans get at least some of their news from social media.

Nearly 80% of all Americans gather some combination of news, information, or entertainment from social media.

Because malicious, foreign governments attempted to, and will continue to attempt to, influence US (and other) elections through the use of propaganda and misinformation posted to social media and spread virally by you.

That’s why.

Whether you like it or not, whether you understand how it happened or not, you are now an important member of “the media.” There are  implications and responsibilities that come with that. Ethically, you should be held to the same standards to which you want traditional media held. Don’t pass your opinion, or anyone else’s opinion, off as fact. Be sure of your sources. Fact-check the information you’re passing on.

Yes, we all care what you think, and we can’t get enough pictures of your kids, your friends, your pets, and you making duck lips in an endless string of selfies.

(No… not really. The rest of us find all of that stuff almost as offensive and self-absorbed as Rosanne).

In the film, television, theater, radio, music and print industries, success or failure has never been based on how much stuff they pump out. Instead, it was based on whether or not those industries understood their target audiences, and whether or not they could display some semblance of social and ethical responsibility in what they pumped out. The same will ultimately hold true for social media.

Social media possesses the most powerful voice in America. Those that use it have an inescapable duty to make that voice ring with intelligence and with leadership. In a few years, this exciting industry has grown from a novelty to an instrument of overwhelming impact on the American people. It should be making ready for the kind of leadership that newspapers and magazines assumed years ago, to make our people aware of their world.

 I invite each of you to sit down in front of your social news feeds, and stay there, for a day, without a book, without a magazine, without a newspaper, without a profit and loss sheet or a rating book to distract you. Keep your eyes glued to that feed until the day comes to a close. I can assure you that what you will observe is a vast wasteland.

No. I did not write those last two paragraphs. They were lifted and altered from Newton N. Minow’s 1961 speech to the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB).  I challenge you to read or listen to his entire address, understanding that the TV broadcasters of his era did not listen to him, which, in no small part, is why you are the media now. Everything Minow said to them applies to you:

To be sure, to live up to the standards set forth by Minow is not the responsibility of Facebook, Google, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram, or some other corporation. It’s not something the government can, or should, regulate. That would not be a free media. That would, in fact, be a government-controlled media. We don’t want that.

In 1961, the broadcasters were the ones who provided the content that shaped America. Today, we provide that content. The responsibility, therefore, is ours.

If you’re tired of “Fake News,” stop posting it.

If you think the media is biased, be sure to post multiple opinions on the same topic.

If you don’t trust the news, fact-check your posts before you send them out (Even Faberge understood the concept of fact checking. Check it out:

And finally, for goodness sake, please stop posting selfies with the duck lips. If nothing else, that will surely bring down the republic.