By Gina Ender
Journalists are trained to check our opinions at the newsroom door. We obviously have our insights and thoughts on the news we report, but our job is to present the news, not share our biases.
This is the exact reason that readers need to become engaged with news. Journalists are not here to tell their audience what to think, but to give them topics to think about. We will not choose sides for them, making it more crucial that readers make informed decisions on their own. We give them the information they need to know and what they do with that information matters.
It’s a two-step process.
Firstly, be informed. Secondly, form an opinion on the information.
This begins with reading and watching news coverage. There are too many serious topics circulating for people not to have thoughts and beliefs about them. This can range from local APU issues like the ‘Activate’ campaign to global ones like ISIS. Readers deserve to know what is happening. They also deserve to know how the information effects them and how it makes them feel.