The media has come under fire. Recently, CBS admitted to using sources it eventually couldn’t verify concerning President Bush’s National Guard duty. This startling occurrence raises a lot of questions about the validity of the media. Can the public completely trust big-media conglomerates to provide them with accurate and agenda-free reporting?

Although I want to defend Big Media, an incident such as this troubles me. If journalists are supposed to act as a watchdog of government, who is the watchdog of media? “Memogate” never would have occurred if a few Internet scribes hadn’t thought to raise questions. Has our media degenerated to the point where the public has to rely on blogs for the investigation of facts? If this doesn’t scare you, it should.

If the media doesn’t have a biased agenda, which in select cases leads to bad reporting, maybe we are approaching a time when our perception of coverage of government needs to change.

The watchdogs of media shouldn’t have to be a few dedicated news junkies tied to their laptops and broadband connections. From government to media to bloggers, accountability shouldn’t be passed down from one group to another. Instead, we should remove our faith from the media and put greater faith elsewhere.

For example, you can place a greater amount of faith in the government than n the media. After all, government officials ultimately must be accountable toward their constituencies. If they are corrupt or dishonest, we can vote them out. We have the power to deny them power.

Big Media, on the other hand, has grown suspect by turning news into a misuse of power. As corporate entities, their judgment can be compromised in certain instances by the almighty dollar. Furthermore, their influence as a news giant allows them to push an agenda. Unlike government officials, individuals have no direct power to vote Big Media out of their high-rise offices.

It all comes down to a matter of whom you want to trust. Do you trust corporations or government? In reality, you should trust an institution that you can directly control .

I want to believe that, as a journalist, my career will be dictated on principles higher than serving a corporate interest. The idealist in me wants to hold out hope that dedication to the truth and loyalty to the people will be all I need to act as a watchdog for democracy in the United States and abroad. I’d expect the organizations I work for to adhere to these same ideals.

The realistic and pessimistic sides in me, however, say that ideals can be bought at a price. If the bottom line comes from viewers and readers who determine advertising revenues, even the best intentions of journalists may one day be overridden by financial pressures and corporate agendas. Such an idea disturbs me, because there is little society can do directly to stop these actions from occurring.

Gallup polls from Sept. 13 to 15 show that 44 percent of the people polled trust the media. Contrast this with the 63 percent who trust those holding or running for public office. A year ago, the same questions showed 54 percent trusted the media, while 59 percent trusted government. Trust in the media has fallen, while trust in the government has risen. The most astonishing statistic, however, is that 75 percent of those polled trusted “the American people as a whole when it comes to making judgments under our democratic system.”

Maybe we should believe in ourselves as a nation of individuals who are capable of making the right decisions. Sounds corny, but it should work.

With the introduction of reporters that genuinely want to do the right thing, the media can turn itself around and away from political and financial agendas. Nevertheless, I’m still taking my faith and investing it in the government, the hands of good U.S. citizens and democracy – the people and practices that hold the true power of our nation.

Kiyoshi Martinez is a junior in journalism. His column runs Tuesdays. He can be reached at [email protected].