Conclusion

In conclusion, the Journalistic Jazz group found the Truth vs. Truthiness project to be eye opening. By finding, researching and analyzing videos from Fox News, The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, we came to the realization that these different sources can be very misleading.

Fox News has an image of being a "go-to" source in the media where viewers can discover what is going on in the world. By analyzing the health care reform debate we have learned that Fox News reporters don't always have their facts straight.Although The Daily show and The Colbert Report seem to be more factual overall, we also found they are not always completely truthful either, often using exaggeration in a way to over-present their points.

One reason we found Fox to be more misleading could be that while Comedy Central is mostly scripted, uses the tool of a staff of writers and has the ability to fact-check everything beforehand, the reporters on Fox have to come up with a lot of what they say live and on-the-fly. They have to respond without a script to the events around them and to what their guests say.

Both Fox News and Comedy Central view things a certain way. Because of this we found some information is left out and some information is twisted by each show to make the reporters' opinion seem more valid. They also both use biased commentary to make their fact claims appear to support their views more than they actually do. 

The media can often be based more in truthiness than strictly truth, depending on which source you are watching and how much fact and hard evidence is being presented to you. All media sources— Fox, Comedy Central or otherwise— can be better in their efforts to "abide by the same high standards to which they hold others" as provided by the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics.

From the videos we found on the health care reform debate, Fox News and Comedy Central were both biased in their views. We found Fox News to be conservative in their approach, portraying the Affordable Care Act to be something negative and threatening to the American— and conservative— way of life. Comedy Central's Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert portrayed the Affordable Care Act as something positive and beneficial to the American people. 

In nearly every clip we watched from Fox News, We found their anchors, contributors and reporters to have a hard time with one of the key parts of the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics: "Distinguish between advocacy and news reporting. Analysis and commentary should be labeled and not misrepresent fact or context."

We found Stewart and Colbert were centralized in their efforts to "expose unethical practices of journalists and the news media" and thus upheld one of the provisions of the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics. Also, both of the Comedy Central newsmen inadvertently "encourage the public to voice grievances against the news media."

After we researched health care reform we were able to be more open-minded about Obamacare. We learned to not take things as they are presented; rather, ask questions and seek answers. Don't simply trust the media and the things they tell the public. 

Each group member of the Journalistic Jazz felt this project helped expand our horizons.