Final: Being "The First"

Being “the first” in anything for Americans is an automatic win. You are winning if you are first. First place gives glory to those who deserve it most right? Not necessarily. First place is meant for sporting events and contests, not in the realm of journalism. We as journalists are supposed to give our audience a clear, truthful sense of what is happening in an event; whether the information is easy to find and understood by all or if everything is scattered and it is hard to put the pieces together. There is no excuse for false information. Yes everyone makes a mistake here and there, but the fight for first should never get in the way of accuracy. I believe people strive for first, because then they are entitled to the rest of the story in a way. I guess you could say they are the founder of that story idea. An audience can be easy to fool unfortunately, so if someone gets the information first they are most likely seen as the person who knows it all. They will have many people continuing to follow them throughout the story, because they were the winner who got it out there before anyone else. It is a shame to see that one, journalists are willing to put something out there that was not accurately checked first and second, that today’s viewers are this easy to sway into believing whatever is said. Yes social media has brought this whole being first idea to a whole new level of insanity. With the click of a button I could post information on anything I choose. For example, with the Boston bombings I could have easily posted information about the happenings before anyone else just to say I got it out first. Does that mean what I said is accurate… not at all. Social media has made it so much easier to get information out there the fastest to a mass group of people. Being first has never been easier and wanted more by journalists today. I wish accuracy was more important than trying to get the credit of being the one to start all of the information, true or not. Focus on the truth is what I look for in a source of information, and hopefully audiences will be able to see past the inaccuracy soon, but I highly doubt it. For journalists own sake, they need to do their job right by being accurate and stop worrying so much about imaginary first place medal. 

  

This photo is my favorite from the year. Carson took this photo at the Kayenta Street Painting Festival. I love this photo most for it's colors. The colors of her bracelets and both pieces of are just make this photo pop. I also love how you see her paper drawing, and then the bigger chalk version a long with it. This really shows how amazing these artists really are, and the effort it takes to make them look exact. This photo is just so clear and to the point It is really cool to look at and I enjoy it a lot.