The Issue of Misleading Information in Communication
The
term "fabricating" information is defined as the intentional changing
of information with the intent to misguide or mislead the public (glovehubusa,
n.d.); this is an ethical issue that occurs on a daily basis in the field of
communication, and many people forge information to gain more views and be more
popular in the media world, and this is just the sad reality of society and the
field of communication.
An example of falsifying
information, the trending case of Usain Bolt and the SSL in Jamaica.
In
Jamaica, there are many bloggers who publish news to the media on You-Tube, but
in truth, the news that they publish is false, because the information that they
broadcast to the public is not from any official source, but just merely making
up news to keep the public entertained even if that news is false just to get
more views and more likes which often leads the public to be confused on which
source they should follow and believe. Even before the issue with the money
that was stolen from Usain Bolt, these bloggers had published many stories that
were false, and the public believed these stories. Based on the Jamaica
Gleaner, SSL discovered that a number of clients allegedly lost millions of
dollars that were given to the company to invest, with Usain Bolt’s US $12.6
million, which is equivalent to $2 billion Jamaican dollars, is nowhere to be
found in his account at SSL (Jamaica Gleaner, 2023). Based on the various
videos that have been posted since this incident occurred, some bloggers have
spoken about how government officials are involved in the loss of Bolt’s money
and that the firm SSL is in a partnership with other firms that led to the
disappearance of Bolt’s money, With all this information, it just creates more
confusion in society because there has not been any official source who broadcasted
this information just made up conspiracy to mislead the public about this incident.
Why is falsifying
information unethical?
As
per the definition that was given for misrepresenting information is unethical
because as for these Jamaican bloggers they tend to forge their information to
get views, but all this does is to spread fake news which will result in the
public not to trust the media they will view the media as being untrue while it
will also mislead individuals because they believe the false information rather
than the truth and the ultimate reason as to why this is unethical in
communication because as bloggers even
if one is independent or government funded one has a duty to ensure that
whatever they publish is true because if it's not true the public will believe
the lie and run with the lie which results in the lie being the truth. Fabricating
information is an ethical issue because this can create conflicts in society
along with many more things that can negatively affect the operation and
function of society As for the deontological theory, which speaks to duty,
bloggers must ensure that whatever they do, persons should be treated properly
and equally because, with spreading false news, this is not equal because the
truth is there and there is a big a line between the lie and the truth, so
bloggers must ensure that whatever they publish is true and do not try to
mislead the public with false news.
In
particular, Jamaican bloggers should refrain from fabricating the information
that they publish, and to conclude this blog, bloggers should stop to forge information
that they put out on a daily basis, because this can cause a great deal of harm
to the public.
Video by: TED-ed- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSKGa_7XJkg
References
Dorothy L Sayers. (n.d.). A quote from The Letters of Dorothy L. Sayers 1899-1936. goodreads.com. https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/394829-to-make-a-deliberate-falsification-for-personal-gain-is-the
glovehubusa. (n.d.). Falsifying
Information – Glove Hub USA. glovehubusa.com.
https://glovehubusa.com/falsifying-information/
Jamaica Gleaner. (2023, January 18). Pay
me back or be sued, Bolt tells SSL. News | Jamaica Gleaner. https://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/news/20230117/pay-me-back-or-be-sued-bolt-tells-ssl
This blog is very interesting! It talks about how misleading information can lead to conflicts and the public being divided because of misleading especially if its important.
ReplyDeleteFinally, a blog that addresses this issue because in Jamaica these bloggers continuously to publish information that is not true which is unethical I hope that they will desist from this unethical act.
ReplyDeleteGreat, the issue of publishing misleading information in communication is evident in Jamaica that needs to be stopped i am so glad this blog made mention to this as an ethical issue which is wrong to do.
ReplyDeleteUnethical behaviour right in our back yards and we take it up like hot bread! Thank you for addressing this, once again a wonderful read.
ReplyDelete