Journalism equals truth... at least to the general public.

I agree with what the group said in their presentation last week. We expect journalists to report the truth. We as consumers of the news assume that because a story is published that it is 100% true. I think that is a huge mistake with todays media.

With the main stream news sources you can always assume that the facts have been checked, however more and more people are turning to alternative forms of news. Blogs and social media make getting news very simple and people are able to post their own views and opinions; however, not all of these posts are factual.

One of my favorite websites is called "The Onion". It is a website that creates totally fake news that is in the correct style and format. It honestly take about thirty seconds for you to realize that this stuff isn't real; it is a joke. They stick to current issues and I think it is interesting social commentary.

This picture is from an article that describes how in an effort to earn money for the US economy Obama appeared in a Japanese commercial.  The reason why I think "The Onion" is so interesting is because when you see an article or a news clip in the accepted style you assume that it is actually news. People have no common sense when reading the news. They take everything presented as hard fact. If you ran this story in The Daily Universe I think that most people would take it as fact. Very few people would question the information and write in about it. The whole story can be found at http://www.theonion.com/articles/obama-earns-money-for-us-by-appearing-in-japanese,21292/