I have many friends ? and relatives ?who regard “The Media” with suspicion.
Simply put, they view The Media as a bunch of left-wing, anti-war, pro-bureaucracy, anti-religious (anti-Christian), pro-government, anti-gun, pro-environment, anti-life (as in abortion and Terry Schiavo), etc., individuals who are out to turn America into a socialist state or worse. I’ve had some very interesting moments in church and other situations in which I’ve met people who lambast The Media.
At times I feel obligated to introduce myself.
“And what do you do?” I’m asked.
“Well, I’m a newspaper editor,” I’ll reply.
A expression of shock usually appears. They don’t know quite how to respond.
I understand their view, but I don’t completely agree.
While there are certainly practitioners of print or broadcast or on-line journalism who fit the above description, there are a lot of us who don’t.
One thing that’s easy to forget is that The Media are actually people. People aren’t perfect, and American journalism has had its share of imperfection ?and outright rascals ? over the centuries. Journalists in the early days of our nation were fiercely partisan ?at times resorting to printing outright lies in attempts to besmirch those they didn’t agree with politically. In the mid-1800s, urban newspapers grew large and powerful and so-called “Yellow Journalism” led to abuses as some editors and publishers pursued sensational stories, true or false, to boost readership.
In the early 20th century, journalists, backing away from some of the abuses that had preceded them, began aiming to be as objective as possible, in some cases failing to question the truth of what they were being told.
After the Red Scare, which included the investigation of accused Communist sympathizers by Sen. Joseph McCarthy, many journalists decided that blind objectivity made them susceptible to manipulation. So another swing, this time toward more investigative and explanatory reporting, took place in the 1960s and ’70s, spurred on by such events as Watergate and the Vietnam War.
Today, a variety of approaches to journalism exist in the United States. Some publications, such as alternative newspapers such as Willamette Week or the Eugene Weekly, may openly acknowledge certain biases, even in their reporting. Others ? and many place large news organizations, such as the New York Times and CBS and Fox News, in this camp ? purport to be fair and balanced in their coverage, but are accused of letting political or philosophical bias color their reporting.
I’ve worked in journalism for 25 years and I believe there are many local news organizations, including some I have worked for, that make an honest attempt to be fair and balanced in their coverage of news. The bias, whatever it is, stays on the opinion page.
While all of us, reporters and editors included, have presuppositions about the world around us ? baggage, if you will, I’ve always believed that good journalism that best serves readers is as fair and as unbiased as possible in reporting facts. When we publish a story about an action taken by the City Council, ideally a reader who finishes that story will have a clear understanding of what happened, but no idea of how the reporter personally viewed that action. That’s good reporting and that’s the kind of reporting we will be aiming for in The New Era under my watch.
There are some stories that require a little more of the writer’s personal take on the story. A human-interest or feature story sometimes needs a little emotional investment on the part of the writer to be interesting and effective. But when we’re covering public affairs, where bias will slant stories, we will make every effort to keep things fair and balanced.
Opinion belongs on the opinion page, and I want readers to remember that there is a distinction between news and opinion. I say that because if we write an editorial saying we think a particular council action is a good idea, don’t assume that any future stories we write on the issue are going to be colored by that editorial stance. When we’re reporting news, our job is to give you the facts and let you decide what you think.
And if you disagree with our opinion, expressed in editorials or columns, or if you think a reporter missed the boat in his or her news story, feel free to let us and other readers know. Write a letter expressing your opinion, put your name on it and put your phone number on it so we can verify that you’re the writer (we won’t print your number).
Because, in the end, this is Sweet Home’s newspaper. I’m the guy who is responsible to run it, but it belongs to you, the readers, as well. It’s yours to read and it’s yours to respond to.