Who can you trust?

Friedrich Nietzsche, a German classical scholar, said, “I’m not upset that you that lied to me, I’m upset that from now on I can’t believe you.” I don’t think there is a better quote to summarize how people feel about journalists.

In a survey conducted in 2000 by David Mercer, Director of the OUBS Futures Observatory, journalists were one of the least trusted people in America. They were rated just a shade higher than politicians. That is upsetting to see, especially when journalists are the countries main source of news.

If people don’t trust them than they won’t trust the news either. This is a major problem for the journalism field.

Stephen Pritchard, editor of “The Observer” raised a good point in an article he wrote from 2002, right after the Sept. 11 attacks. He said that journalists need to stand up and question the government and question the news or else they are not doing their job. Journalists are supposed to convey hard and truthful news to the public.

Pritchard also claims that the government was coming down on journalists saying they were being unpatriotic by questioning the government’s decisions following the attacks. A lot of journalists followed the flow and ran stories that may not have been fully researched. The Washington post took a lot of heat for supporting President Bush’s plans and Web sites like this are out to point out the flaws of the Washington Post’s work.

What’s sad for journalists is that the damage has already been done. The public is no longer upset that they have been lied to by a few journalists, but they are upset they can no longer believe them.