Though it seems strange, I enjoy reading the news, and it has become part of my daily routine to sit down and check to see the latest on trusted news websites like Reuters, NPR, BBC, NBC, etc. Yesterday I took a bit more time digging through the news, and I discovered that a Maltese journalist who had been reporting on government corruption was assassinated in a hit ordered by a rich businessman, who has been linked to high-ranking members of the Maltese government. Her death had occurred over 2 years ago, and yet I had never heard of it until now. This concerned me, because I have long held the suspicion that the news has become saturated in politics and the drama that sometimes comes with it, and has led to less attention being paid to just as important news like the article concerning the journalist's assassination.
The medium in general gives me a mixed feeling, despite the fact that it is such an integral part of my day. I have heard that for a time, you could receive the news and accept it at face value, without considering whether the reporter twisted the facts or straight out lied. However, that is not true today, and I have found it hard to find good, unbiased news that doesn't try to push a perspective or spin on what should just be the facts period. On top of that, the rise of fake news has further blurred the line between truth and falsity in a field where doing so can be dangerous to our very democracy. People can simply ignore news they do not like from a source that doesn't espouse their views, and label it as fake news now. They continue to receive news from "favorable" sources that don't challenge them, and never have to actually stop and think about what they support. Though none of the reporting on the assassination felt slanted, and it was not "fake news," I still harbor such worries because of just how much I have seen of it over the years. I just wish I knew of it sooner.
The journalist's name was Daphne Caruana Galizia, and she was a shining beacon who continued to investigate the illegal dealings of politicians even after receiving death threats. She was finally silenced Oct. 16, 2017, by those corrupt ones whose deeds were revealed by her. She was no doubt a loving mother and wife, and even after her untimely death, she continues to influence Malta, and the world, for the better. The Daphne Project, a collective of international journalists, carries on her work on corruption, and her death in the supposedly "safe" European Union gives further evidence that the news industry is in a very precarious position as it is now. We live in a democracy, but it is a democracy only made possible by the continued existence of the free press, and the idea that it carries not lies and slander, but the unblemished truth.
I completely agree that it can be quite difficult now to find news that hasn't been swayed or biased in any direction. It's sometimes scary to me knowing that some people don't care as to whether or not what they are hearing is really true. Some people will just take things at face value, and like you said, that can have very detrimental side effects. I love how you honored Daphne at the end. Her death is a very tragic story.
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