Reading the news — all kinds
It’s been interesting to read the comments assailing Fox News for alleged bias. Politicians and other media are also complainers. But, there is the potential for bias in all news reporting — either intentional bias (presumably to appeal to customers), or implicit bias of the individual reporters and editors. That bias is reflected in the language or nuance of the reports, or in the decision to not cover significant stories. First let’s turn to the distinction between news stories, and entertainment or opinion.
Newspapers generally try to clearly distinguish opinion from actual news stories, and bias in the stories is left to the discernment of the reader. Opinion is clearly opinion.
In TV and radio the distinction between news and opinion programs has not been as clear — particularly in “prime time” — where the opinion element is often the draw for ratings. Critics of Fox News for its alleged rightward tilt may be attracted to various left-leaning hybrid programs, but rarely announce that attraction.
One hopes that most of the bias detected in news stories just results from implicit bias. Reporters have individual perspectives on the events they witness or the evidence they are given about those events.
Their individual perspectives depend partially on the culture of the newsroom. They must be alert to the pressures that arise when a vast majority of their peers have a bias to the left or to the right, because even if they are trying to report without bias it can pervade their environment.
In political stories it is important to know the balance between left-leaning and right-leaning staff in the newsroom, but that is rarely reported.
The prevalence of left-leaning faculty at many schools, colleges and universities is well known and has become a concern of many.
Some bias can be intentional — either in the wording of individual stories or in the decision to cover a story. In TV or radio this is often a function of the desire for ratings. Do we cover a story that no one in our left or right-leaning audience cares about? A similar concern may affect some newspapers.
What is worse than some bias in the free press? Censorship by the government! That is why we have the First Amendment and that is why the Supreme Court has given the press significant protection from libel suits.
Thomas Jefferson, who suffered from scurrilous attacks in the press, said it best in a 1786 letter to James Currie: “Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost.”
Further, in an 1823 letter to Lafayette he says “(t)he only security of all is in a free press. (T)he force of public opinion cannot be resisted, when permitted freely to be expressed.”
President John Kennedy expressed the view that “(a) nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people.”
We can look to Russia and China to see that inhibiting free speech can lead to atrocities when their public is kept in the dark.
So what are we to do with the deluge of print and media we encounter? Think! Assess the bias which may be observed in a story.
Consider whether their other stories have indicia of bias. At least one website exists to assess the bias of major outlets and tries to report “all sides” of major stories.
Ultimately, the decision by some not to cover some stories is the most difficult to detect.
It can only be detected by encountering multiple sources — yes, even some with which we disagree. Only then can the failure to cover a meaningful story can be discerned.
Above all, it is important to resist the temptation to allow a government — any government — to restrict our speech. For then we are on the road to tyranny.