50 signatures reached
To: David Cameron MP, The House of Lords
Introduce mandatory media sourcing
Introduce legislation to force media outlets to source their information, much in the way students in universities are forced to, to provide legitimate, true and unbiased information, in the way the media is supposed to.
Sources should be provided with all major stories in a way that the general public can access the information at any time they wish to validate claims made by the media.
Why is this important?
In an age of fear inducing, xenophobic, biased media, retractions, edits and apologies have become far too commonplace in many media outlets.
Many newspapers have become a voice of fear and oppression, making claims, particularly about benefits claimants and immigrants, which is spreading fear, discontent and creating hostilities, only for these 'stories' to be found out as lies, or 'bent truths', with retractions and apologies published in tiny, tiny squares in the corner of pages, unseen by most, and by that time, the damage is already done.
So this petition would suggest that, like students in universities are forced to, that all media outlets must provide valid, reliable and accessible sources for all of their information.
This would mean:
*Where they got the information, i.e. a person (and how they verified this person, with links to another verifiable source, unless it presents an obvious risk to the person involved, and that risk can be 100% proved), which website they used (for statistics), links to studies used, etc.
*How they verified and cross referenced all information before processing it into an article.
*Having accessible links to all sources used, where reasonably practicable.
This petition would also like to suggest that when/if an error is made by publishers, the retraction/apology is printed on the front page of their publication.
The public gain all news knowledge from the media, and when an article is posted which stirs emotions such as anger, fear, hatred, etc and could be seen to promote xenophobia, racism, etc, it is important that the publishers take responsibility for that and inform the public of the truth.
This idea could be the foundation for legislation to keep the media unbiased, truthful, informative and in the public interest.
For too long, people have been hurt, shamed, stereotyped and damaged by slanderous and false media reporting, as well as discontent introduced by certain publications who insist on inflammatory headlines stating that we as Britons are being 'stolen' from by immigrants, while running adverts for anti-poverty charities on the same pages.
The media needs regulation for public interest, and a public forum should be opened for everyone to express their views, so genuine, positive legislation can be formed to protect the public from being fed falsities and tearing our multi-cultural society apart because of misinformation and fear.
Thank you for your time.
