Leave it for the birds

There’s a lot of political speculation going around on social media these days and for me, it has been a crazy roller coaster ride filled with both anxiety and excitement. I suppose that’s the usual case during election season and noise is everywhere -- but so is a lot of speculation. I’ll admit I too have found myself taking part in the noise with all the excitement; however, when it comes to speculation, I prefer to be a tad more careful, especially when not privy to facts. Stories that go around, valid or not, are always best taken with a grain of salt, and keeping your quiet when it comes to a lot of hearsay is not only good practice but also an educated one.

From the standpoint of media literacy where critical thinking is crucial, bogus information through irresponsible journalism is more often than not molded by what we hear from others as “rumor has it” and this deprives us from sifting and using one’s common sense by intertwining everything into a round conglomeration of thread. Robert Brault once said, “You can accept reality without believing every yarn it spins” and I’d like to think that not everything you spin leads us to the right direction.

Back to media literacy, the ability to access, analyze, evaluate and create by using all forms of communication should empower one into being an effective communicator while sharpening your critical thinking. In the process of collecting data, experience and common sense should teach us that certain information needs to undergo a process of digestion in order to rationalize what ought to be communicated and what is better left unsaid. After all, not everything you hear should be transferred to another ear and If you’re smart or, at the very least believe in the power of common sense, things that are better left unsaid are usually the very same things that are meant to hype, antagonize or cause unnecessary distress for sensationalism’s sake rather than inform, advise or cultivate learning, more so discernment. False connections in my opinion are the worst kinds of communication, especially in this election season when journalists such as myself are tasked to convey proper information rather than “chismis” wherein the only result from such a maneuver is to betray confidence.

Effective communication is tied to empowerment and it has been said that rumor mongering is what disempowered people resort to when left with no access to facts and only hearsay. The aim of Responsible journalism is to provide good quality reporting  accurately and fairly and journalists must always maintain the highest standards.

Election season has come very early this year and most of us find ourselves involved in the political fray – well, only to a certain extent I should say, yet there are those that seem to take politics to a whole different level of mud slinging instead of proper discourse. We all know too well that pitting is not unusual but certainly, misleading information is another story. Indeed, as they say, it’s best left for the birds.