With the 2016 elections came the rise of a new buzz term: fake news. While the practice of spreading false information has existed since the dawn of the printing press, journalists have fallen under increased scrutiny after the election season. President Donald Trump’s relentless use of the term has caused people to wonder, “How can I spot fake news?” While plenty of false articles exist, the clamor has harmed the reputations of legitimate journalists with integrity as well.

The news cycle during the election perpetuated multiple false claims. According to Time Magazine, one man entered and fired shots in a pizza parlor after reading a story claiming the shop had connections to a pedophilia ring involving Hillary Clinton. Another story claimed that Trump supporters had chanted “We hate Muslims, we hate Blacks, we want our great country back” at a rally. The irreparable impact of these stories lasted even after other news sources debunked the claims. People used the chanting accusations to make sweeping generalizations about how Republican-leaning people felt about race. The pizza shop received hundreds of death threats and required monitoring from the local police force.

While these stories circulated, so did the work of credible journalists. Countless newspapers gave accurate reports of the election and the candidates’ political missteps, as well as their successes. We expect this from our newspapers; therefore, no one celebrated them. The fear that reporters spread false information has undermined the industry as a whole. When asked whether they trust CNN more than President Trump, approximately half of the responses favored the president. The American people should not rely on their president as a sole source of news. If citizens do not seek complete or unbiased information, they will not have the opportunity to evaluate their political leaders, limiting their ability to participate intelligently in democracy.

I certainly do not claim that fake news does not exist; I merely mean to examine the way we treat news and news writers. Allowing a person or a campaign to disillusion people into rejecting one of the oldest and most fundamental industries is a very dangerous attitude. Journalistic integrity still lives in many newspapers, and people need to stay informed to vote appropriately and make conscious political (and other) decisions.