As time marches on, social media becomes more and more intertwined with our society. We have access to information from every corner of the world at the touch of a fingertip. This has greatly impacted journalism as we know it. It’s given independent journalist a chance to garner a bigger platform than ever before and has even given other aspiring journalist an easier way to start their career. Though, it has also been partially to blame for an increase in journalism being used solely for entertainment. I find this to be particularly annoying because the very root of journalism is to use the power of the press to aid and protect others. To do what is right. Yet, the modern-day form of journalism has been flooded with the censorship of government and stories with the intent to distract. And I see no one talking about it. Granted, the government has always fled to silence the voices they don’t find beneficial. Though that’s still not an excuse to not have something done about it. We as consumers can always choose to try and seek the truth, free of the shackles of oppression and discrimination if possible. And we as creatives can always do what we can to bring awareness to the problem through our various respective forms of expression. Journalism is for the people, not the government. People should write what they want to of course, but it’s crucial that we don’t loose sight of the true essence of what journalism is all about. That essence is to share the stories of those who would otherwise not be able to and or need their stories to be shared. It’s alright to consume and create news stories for entertainment, but it’s not the focus. So, I ask, where are the stories of the unknown? And where are the journalists seeking for and sharing them? The bigger the infatuation with entertainment journalism becomes, the more ignorant and blind we become to the world’s problems. A journalist should not be a businessman. A journalist should be an activist, humanitarian, a revolutionary if you will. So why are the faces of the news channels we see lacking these traits? While the oppressed people of the world scream for help or for their lives to be memorialized as a warning for future generations, the businessmen of the news turn the other way because it’s not palatable enough for their taste. Or they twist the story using euphemisms and sugary sweet words to coat the truth. Journalism is not meant to always be heartwarming and easily digestible. Sometimes it’s violent and nauseating because it’s intended to uncover wicked truths. Wicked truths caused by wicked people that need to be stopped. The news should make you feel something. It should make you feel anything from being outraged to confident. And so many other things as long as it makes you want to do something about something. These stories are not fictional. They are memories, events, and lives. And they have every right to be shared. Do not let entertainment-based news destroy that. Do not let journalism become the weapon of the very same people it was created to combat.