Newspapers Should Not be Allowed to Use Sensationalism as a Tool to Avoid the Truth

29/09/2019

The freedom of the press is something we defend, and rightly so.

However, for them to enjoy this freedom there should be respect for the responsibility they have.

The word 'newspaper' suggests that it is going to deliver the news, and that's what they should do:

• report the facts, not the propaganda; and

• save opinions for a separate and clearly marked section of an article, recognising the opinions for what they are; advertisements for the views and ideology of the author, or perhaps more accurately the owner of the newspaper.

Whilst the worst culprits may be the Daily Mail, Sun and Daily Express, the other newspapers also need to address the issue. The Guardian, perhaps trying to offset the damage caused by the 'right wing' tabloids, are also printing articles that stretch the truth and are inflaming passions.

The Times and Telegraph cannot be classed as innocent in this matter either; they definitely present stories in a very biased manner, which means the actual news is lost and instead we have opinions.

If our newspapers wish to retain the 'freedom of the press', they need to up heir game and clean up their act. If they carry on deliberately skewing stories to serve their own agendas and misleading their readership, regulation must be introduced to force them to report the news and cease their manipulation of the general population.

This is not about censorship.

Instead, it is about challenging the media moguls and stopping the abuse that's been going on for far too long.