By Orson Scott Card.
He makes a very compelling point. There appears to be no honest, middle ground in journalism anymore.
Update!
I merely brought you potato salad, but my friend Don Gerz brought the meat. Check out this post he made regarding this issue.
"You Need Not Worry" (To Monica)
1 year ago
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1 comment:
(I finally figured out how to comment!)
Thanks for the compliment, but I like potato salad too! :-)
Anyway, thanks for posting Orson Scott Card's article. Good point!
I think news stories and journalistic articles are inevitably biased and subtly slanted (either unconsciously or on purpose), no matter how hard the writers and news instruments may try to be objective. (Even Edward R. Murrow, the patron saint of “objective journalism,” would probably admit that absolute objectivity is a goal that, by its nature, can never be achieved.)
That’s why individuals who are interested in arriving at informed views must read, listen, and seriously analyze many, many, many sources from every aspect of the information enterprise. I read and view sources that run contrary to my own bias, which is left of center. Therefore, I make sure I watch FOX and listen to people like Rush Limbaugh (who usually makes me ill!). In fact, my all-time favorite commentators/journalists are William F. Buckley, Jr. and David Brooks, both right of center. DAVID BROOKS RULES! HE IS INCREDIBLE! (http://www.nytimes.com/ref/opinion/BROOKS-BIO.html) I also watch The Charlie Rose Show (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Charlie_Rose_Show) almost every day. Rose invites heavy hitters from the left, center, and right who are articulate and intelligent. I love that show.
Of course, I watch the inevitable network news and read The Wall Street Journal, the AJC, and The Christian Science Monitor occasionally, as well as periodicals such as National Review, New Republic, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The Economist, Time, Newsweek, U.S. News and World Report, etc., and whatever else I can get my hands on at the library and the book store. As well, I’m constantly keeping an eye on Google News, and I follow up those stories by researching them on the Internet and in the print medium. I’m always consulting Wikipedia, and I read blogs, yours included.
One thing is for sure: I never delude myself into thinking that anything I read or view is unbiased, and I always keep in mind that any given point of view is a product of inevitable prejudice. Only by reading, viewing, and critically evaluating a boatload of info from the left, center, and right can an individual (whether news “consumer, ” news maker, or news reporter) APPROACH an escape from bias.
Objectivity will always be a goal for individuals and news sources, a goal that can only be attempted but never absolutely reached. I think the closest we can get to pure objectivity is to admit that no human, institution, enterprise, or epistemological attempt can ever, because of human imperfection, attain pure objectivity. We humans are, by definition, not gods. (Well, perhaps Doctor Manhattan [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_Manhattan] of Watchmen [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watchmen] is unbiased, but he’s no longer human. Wait! He must be human and therefore biased because his creator, Alan Moore, is human!)
Of course, don’t listen to just me. I’m biased! :-)
Again, great article, Chris! I’m sorry I took so long to comment. Thanks for posting it.
Don Gerz
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