During his time in office, President Donald Trump has made several remarks concerning one of his favorite buzz phrases, "fake news." On July 24, 2018, he attended an annual convention held by the Veterans of Foreign Wars where he made a remark that shook me to my core:

"Just remember: what you're seeing and what you're reading is not what's happening."

Critics have scrutinized this quote by comparing it to another from "1984" by George Orwell, a dystopian novel about an oppressive government:

"The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command."

Essentially, Trump's remarks have been interpreted to mean that he wishes for his supporters to listen to only him and his favored sources rather than trusting media outlets who say different than him. As a citizen, I understand why one would be wary of a news report throwing seemingly outlandish information at me and presenting it as true.

As a journalist, I would respond to Trump's recent quote by saying it all depends on what you're reading.

The United States of America is the Land of the Free. You have the right to access accurate information about what's going on within our government. In addition, thanks to public libraries, another important thing that is having its necessity debated, you have access to computers and the internet where you can conduct research of your own if you don't trust what you've read.

As a journalist for almost five years now, I refuse to stand by and let people like Trump deter citizens from honest reporters. Our job is to learn all the facts to a story that we can, write it in a way that leaves behind our own personal biases, and add more to the finished product later on if there has been an update. We carry out this job with dignity because we believe in the citizens' collective right to develop their own opinions about a story even if we wouldn't agree with their conclusion.

Honest journalists are not your enemies. Your true opponents are the writers and news outlets who knowingly publish false information and phrase it in a way that causes readers to side with a certain opinion or ideology. This goes for both sides of the political spectrum. Don't take what you read at face value, and conduct your own research on how reliable the source is. Lastly, please do not let fear-mongering distract you from the more important things going on in our country, as well as the rest of the world. It's easier than you think to fall into that trap.