What can be learned from my experience with the media?

It was a day that I can still clearly remember. I was watching the evening news when I witnessed a very bad translation. It was in 2008, I was at university age enjoying life and had never thought much about the news or politics.The news that night was about a Chinese politician commenting on the relationship between China and Japan. The translation made the short speech sound negative; when the politician only said that he hopes more communication can happen between the two countries in the future.

I was so surprised as to what the translator did. It made me wonder what is the truth in the world? At that time, the sense of justice in my heart told me that I should tell people the truth! People are much more influenced by the media than they were by the textbooks at school. So I decided to find a job in a TV station, which had little to do with my major biology. However, no broadcasting companies hired me and in the end I got a job at a big trading company. I told myself that at least I could still tell the truth to people around me. But only later found out it was a naive idea as I am too weak compared to the media.

Well, if I hadn’t had this shocking experience, I would have trusted the news, especially those reported by the most "trusted" broadcasting corporations like BBC, CNN or NHK. I would think they are telling the most neutral stories. But if you have watched the video, can you still believe what they have been reporting now? Why did they clip parts of the pictures? Why did they have to deliberately turn the policemen from Nepal to Chinese soldiers to show the brutality of Chinese against Tibetans? Where is the professional ethics? I learned that the most "trusted" sources are not always unbiased, and we have to make educated judgement to earn the truth.