NICOLAS MARTINEZ

In the aftermath of Brian Williams’ suspension for reporting based on false or distorted information, Bill O’Reilly has also been pinned for errors on his reporting style. Mother Jones claims that O’Reilly falsely reported about the Falkland’s War in 1982. O’Reilly has denied any wrongdoing and upholds his integrity as a journalist, all while commenting that no one reads Mother Jones and it’s the “bottom wrung of journalism.”

View O’Reilly’s response here

Aside from any sort of political “left vs. right” intentions, what does this say about who to trust? To which outlets should we pay attention and to whom should we listen? Whether these statements are true or false is beside the point. We should be taking a more critical look at how the media industry is changing as a whole.

Mobile technology is in part to blame. Even Snapchat is getting on board with displaying new forms of media. But the issue larger than just adding a CNN channel to a new app, as Snapchat did recently in a move that was likely aimed at widening their user base outside of just teenage kids. Anyone with a smartphone can get free RSS feed aggregators like Feedly and compile whatever news they want, from more than four sources. Twitter can also be a source of news, without having to wait until 6pm for the nightly news. Twitter has allowed the individual to become the anchor, rather than the relying on the the ‘word’ of the old guarde anchors.

The industry landscape is changing and the debate should be around whether the there is room in the market for all of the players, new and old.